LONGSHOT

6MAR25

24 And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 But He said to them, “Where is your faith?”

Luke 8:24-25 NKJV

Luke chapter 8 is a very iconic story in the Bible. In this passage, we see Jesus and His disciples in a boat traveling across a lake. While crossing this lake, they encountered a storm that was very powerful. This storm was so powerful it was filling the boat with water. Jesus was sleeping while His disciples were acting hysterical. While that may seem to be a valid reaction to the situation, there is an important lesson on the power of focusing on Jesus that can be learned here.

In verse 22, Jesus said to His disciples, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” Before they ever left land, Jesus stated what they were going to do. They were going to cross to the other side of the lake. When they encountered this storm, what did the disciples do? They focused on the storm. They were scared of the storm that was seemingly going to engulf them. The disciples immediately awoke Jesus in hopes that He would save them. Scripture says Jesus arose and rebuked the wind and the raging water. The storm ceased and the water was calm. Jesus then turned to the disciples and said, “Where is your faith?“

Our lives are like this more often than not without us even realizing it. We spend more time and energy focusing on the storms of life than the promise of Jesus to get us through them. Scripture declares in multiple places that Jesus Christ will take care of us. Psalms 55:22 says, “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.” Next time the storms of life approach you and you don’t know what to do, seek Jesus and His promises that He has given us to make it through the storms of life.

Prayer: Dear Lord, as always we first give thanks to You for all things. We thank You for the blessings you give us daily. We thank You for sending your Son to die on the cross, and to pay the payment we could never afford. We thank You for being our firm foundation through the storms of life. Lord, we pray that whenever we encounter the storms of life, You give us the strength to remember that they are no match to the promises You’ve made to us. We know that life will bring storms, but we also know who is in the boat with us. We pray that whenever we encounter these storms, that You’ll remind us of the promises in scripture that you’ve given us for times like these. Forgive us when we have little or no faith. Give us the desire daily to grow closer to You. Give us the desire and the knowledge to plant and retain your words deep in our heart to remember in times of trouble. Forgive us of our sins and falling short of Your glory. As always, in Your name we pray, Amen.