When Jesus got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marvelled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8.23-27, NKJV)
What kind of Man is Jesus? Jesus is the friend of sinners. The Bible says He did not come for the good and the righteous, He came for ordinary people, He came for you and me. Jesus came to demonstrate the love of God towards us.
God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5.8)
Don’t you care about us?
In this story in Matthew 8, the disciples were in a ship and a storm arose; I’ve been to Israel and visited the sea where this story occurred, I know exactly what storm is like there. The disciples were afraid because they thought they were going to die. They said, “Lord, don’t You care about us?”
The disciples were exactly the same as we are today: worried that somehow a sovereign God is distant and unconcerned. But God does care! God does know your circumstances. God does know your life. He is concerned enough to change it for the better. When they were in a ship and the storm arose, what did Jesus do? He calmed the wind and the waves. So many people think about religion as just rules and regulations; as church attendance and ceremony; they say, ‘Oh God is just in heaven and doesn’t care’, yet God is concerned about every one of us. God is concerned about the practical things in your life. And He demonstrated this: when the disciples came to Him and said we are going to die, Jesus rebuked them by saying, “Where is your faith? Don’t You trust Me?” I want to ask you the same question: Can you trust God with your life? Jesus calmed the storm for the disciples, and He can calm the storm in your life too.
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16.33)
Being a Christian doesn’t exempt us from distress and frustration; Jesus Himself said they would come, but He gave us a secret: Be of good cheer - be confident, certain in your faith and undaunted by circumstances - for He has overcome the world.
O Lord, You have searched me and known me… You are acquainted with all my ways… How precious it is, Lord, to realise that You are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me! (Psalm 139)
‘When it hurts so bad’ used by kind permission of www.vinesong.com