I know I have been focused on the 'Relationship Challenge' for the past week, but God shared something with me when I was trying to go to sleep last night that has been stirring my heart all night long. As soon as I woke up this morning, I had to write it down to share it with all of you.
Has anyone else been having a rough week thus far? I know, it's only Tuesday and I am saying that! ;-) But in all honesty, I have felt beaten down in the past 2 days. I have had things bothering me.. my husband and I have had car trouble... he has a difficult decision to make so he has been rather moody. It has been one trial after the next for us this week.
I was laying in bed last night, exhausted, but having trouble sleeping, and I just kept saying, "This is tough, Lord. Where are You when this stuff is going on because I have to be honest with You-- it does not feel like You are here at all. I feel abandoned. How can I feel so close to You some days... yet when my family needs You the most, I can't see or feel You at all?? I feel like we are getting no help with some of our situations.."
And he sent me to Mark chapter 4.
Beginning at verse 35, we read about Jesus taking the disciples on to a boat. As they were enjoying their time on the boat with Jesus, a terrible storm hit. The waves were breaking over the edge of the boat and the disciples were scared! Guess where Jesus was? SLEEPING. Yes, he was sleeping in the stern. The disciples woke him up and said, "Jesus, do you not care that we could drown?? It's storming so bad out here!!" Jesus then arose from His sleep, said "Quiet storm! Be still!" and all was calm. Jesus then asked the disciples, "Why are you so scared? Do you not have faith?"
This hit me hard.
I'll be honest with you.
I know Jesus knows where I am at in the struggles AND I believe that He, at times, places us in the struggles to teach us something. (Although, I forget this at times...)
Do you know what body of water the disciples were on with Jesus during all of this?
The Sea of Galilee.
Here's something interesting about the Sea of Galilee:
The peaceful calm of the Sea of Galilee can quickly become transformed by a violent storm. Winds funnel through the east-west aligned Galilee hill country and stir up the waters quickly. More violent are the winds that come off the hills of the Golan Heights to the east. (source)
Isn't that interesting?
Jesus took His disciples to a place that was PRONE TO STORMS. Storms would pop up without any warning here. And they wouldn't just be storms--- they would be violent storms. Jesus KNEW this. He knew that this sea would produce a storm. A violent storm. With wind... and high waters. But He took His disciples there any way.
Why?
To prove that regardless of our circumstances... even when it seems like God cannot hear you... even when it seems like He is no where near you... He knows where you are. He knows how to calm the storm that is around you. And sometimes, He takes us to a place where there will be a storm to teach us about faith... love... patience... trust.
The disciples thought Jesus did not care about their fate, but He did. He was just requiring that they have a little faith. That they put their trust in someone other than themselves.... that they put their trust in someone rather than things.
It's important to realize that sometimes God is going to put us in our own 'Sea of Galilee.' Storms will indeed pop up occasionally... and we probably aren't going to understand it. We are going to get mad... scared.. frightened.. frustrated.. lonely.. but here's the key:
HE KNOWS WHERE YOU ARE!
He knows the circumstances that face you. But He also knows that if you will just call out to Him.. rebuke your situation.. pray without ceasing... that storm HAS to leave. If Jesus can speak to a storm and calm it, why fret? He has the power (and that same power is in you! Acts 1:8) .. He just needs you to have a little faith.
He isn't going to leave you. I promise. I know it might seem like it, baby, but He won't. I felt that way last night. I just kept saying, "I can't even feel Your hand on these situations, Lord! I don't understand..." But I left it there in His hands. And I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and renewed in my spirit!
I am praying and seeking His face for YOU today. For those waves that are rising up and crashing around you. You aren't going to drown in them. He is right there.. It might seem like He is sleeping, but He is there if you call out to Him! I know what it is to feel like the walls are caving in on you. To feel crushed. To feel like you cannot even breathe. To feel like you are drowning and you cannot find which way is up. To feel like you have been abandoned. To feel like no one understands. To feel like you are lost. I know.. I've been there! But please know that He loves you SO SO much. He would never want to hurt you! He just wants to help you grow. He just wants to show you that He cares.. and that He will be with you.. even when you think it is impossible.
Trust Him. Know that He might have prepared this storm for you... But He WILL be there in the midst of it all!
