Young Adults' Group

Finding Faith In The Storms Of Life

by Pastor Mark
April 30, 2015

Apply faith when our life is in peril

In times when we are seemingly in peril, we are meant to apply our faith in the Lord Jesus to overcome these challenges. But more often than not, we are unable to apply our faith and end up feeling a great sense of fear and distress. We tend to think of the worst…that we might die due to our dire straits.

Should we panic and become stressed out or should we learn to find the faith that will help us face up to these challenges? The Lord Jesus had to help His disciples with their faith.

A faith that is equal to each storm

“And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.” (Luke 8:23)

As the Lord Jesus and His disciples travelled on a fishing boat, a storm arose. Though some of the disciples were seasoned fishermen, they were frightened by the intensity of the storm, “And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” (Luke 8:24) The disciples were in a great panic and were thinking that they were going to perish. They sought to wake up their Master and to ask Him for His help.

Jesus offered a contrast in response. Jesus was sleeping! “But as they sailed He fell asleep” (Luke 8:23) Despite the severe storm, Jesus was sleeping away. He was not at all perturbed by the storm in any way. This showed that Jesus was in absolute control of the highly difficult situation. The storm was not going to harm them in any way. Should not the disciples have applied faith to believe that the Lord Jesus will keep them from harm? The challenge is to apply our faith that is equal to the challenge of the storms of life.

Faith in the awesome power of the Lord Jesus

“Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.” (Luke 8:24)

The Lord Jesus awoke and demonstrated why He had been able to sleep. He had the power over all nature…including the storms. At any time, He could have stopped the storm. It showed that He was the Lord of all nature…indeed of all the world. When He rebuked the storm, they ceased and there was calm. This was whom the disciples should have faith in.

Problems of faith

1. Not able to apply our faith

“But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25) The Lord was expecting more from the disciples. He rebuked them for not applying their faith. It was not that they had no faith but that they were not able to apply it as they should. Their faith was not found when it should have counted the most. Let us be challenged to check our faith.

2. Lack of understanding

“And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!” (Luke 8:25) The disciples’ response would reveal that they still did not have a full understanding of the Lord Jesus. Jesus had taught them and done many miracles for them. They should have understood Him to be the Messiah who controls the world. Let us be challenged to grow our understanding and faith so much more that we may have a faith that is more than equal to the storms of life.

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