Page 76 - Personal Spiritual Life Syllabus w videos

Sometimes God takes us into the storms of life to see if we have faith in Him. Sometimes He uses these
storms to prepare us for future ministry. But most of the time, He uses the storms in our lives to display
who He is: the mighty God.

The boat began to sink and Jesus was sleeping on a cushion. Did you ever wonder how Jesus could sleep
in a storm? The boats were open to the elements. Jesus was surely getting wet with the crashing
waves, yet he slept on…. waiting. The disciples surely were doing what they can to keep the boat from
sinking. But finally, in desperation, they woke Jesus up. Jesus, in their mind, was now their only hope of
salvation.

The disciples asked Jesus, “Don’t you care about us?” Of course He cared. He was looking for them to
exercise their faith in Him. He could have said, “What took you so long to wake me up?” So to prove
who He was, and to demonstrate His power, he rebuked the wind and the waves, and instantly, the
wind ceased and the sea calmed.

John had already announced that Jesus was the Messiah, God with us. In chapter 1 of Mark, he had
healed a man with an unclean spirit, healed Simon’s mother-in-law, and then healed all those who were
oppressed by demons or were sick with various diseases. He even cleansed a leper. In Chapter 2, Jesus
healed the paralytic and demonstrated to his disciples that he had the right to forgive sin. Surely the
disciples knew these things had occurred. They followed him because they believed him to be the
promised Messiah – the God Man.

Now after Jesus calms the storm, they look at one another and ask, “Who is this man?” Obviously they
lacked the full faith to believe that He was truly God on earth. However, Jesus demonstrated to them
His power over the elements. Only God can control the wind and the sea.

What Jesus was demonstrating to them was that no matter what storms of life are, he would take them
through in the future, know that He was with them. They needed to have faith in who He was – the
great I AM.

In your future, you need to be a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. You need to trust Him through
every storm of life, for He is able to take you through the storm and bring you to the calm waters. What
He requires of you is that you remain faithful to trust in Him.

What are marks of a faithful servant, one to whom God says, “Well done”?
1. Faithful servants suffer willingly for Christ and others.
2. Faithful servants trust God’s sovereignty.
3. Faithful servants seek to understand God’s mysteries.
4. Faithful servants are made by God.
5. Faithful servants work through God’s power.
6. Faithful servants are humble.
7. Faithful servants share God’s mysteries with everybody.
8. Faithful servants are selfless.

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