A windstorm swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. They went to him and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” Luke 8:23b-25a
A friend of mine took a series of
classes to learn how to drive race cars.
Fast race cars. And the teacher
told him, “The most important thing for you to remember is how to come out of a
skid when you’re driving 150 miles an hour.
What most people do when they start to skid is to focus on what they
fear most—crashing into the wall.
Instead, you must focus on the path where you want to go.”
In a sense, the teacher was saying
that when you’re in a crisis, like a race car skid, it’s most important to focus
on the solution, rather than on the problem.
Focusing on the solution of the path where you want to go will help
guide you through a skid because what you
focus on is often where you’ll end up.
The disciples were in a boat,
traveling across the lake, when a huge storm arose with thunder and lightning
and wind and waves. They were in a “boat
skid.” They were terrified and were in
danger of sinking. And what did they
focus on? The wind and the waves. They woke up Jesus and said to him, “Master,
Master, we are perishing!” Jesus awoke,
rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and asked them, “Where is your faith?”
Many of us travel on our journey through life
at 150 miles an hour, or at least sometimes it feels like that. And when we do, it’s inevitable that we’re
going to skid. It will be a “life skid”;
much like a race car skid or a boat skid.
And sometimes we ask ourselves, “Why is this happening to me? Why can’t I get my life together? Why do I have good intentions that never seem
to bring me what I’d like?”
Remember:
what we focus on is often where we’ll end up.
The disciples forgot to focus on Jesus, even though he was right there
with him. And we sometimes forget to
focus on Jesus when challenges come our way.
But if you focus on Jesus, keep your eyes on him, and look to him
always, then when Jesus says to you, “Where is your faith?”, you’ll know that
your faith is in him.
Jesus
still calms the storms in our lives.
Keep your eyes on him. Put your
faith in him. It makes all the difference
in the world.
Questions to Ponder- Do you agree that what we focus on is
often where we’ll end up? Why or
why not?
- Do you have
short term goals? What about long
term goals? Think of three of each.
- Do you have a
goal of drawing closer to Jesus? If
so, what is helping you toward making that goal a reality?
Prayer for Today: God of power, calm my
storms, calm my mind, and calm my spirit.
Let me find rest in you. Ease my
anxiety, and let me simply “be”. Let me
rest peacefully in your arms. In
Christ’s name I pray. Amen.
Listen to this awesome song....Living he loved me....dying he saved....
Keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep your eyes on the cross.
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