Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a little lesson about trusting God.
And it’s a topic that you’ve obviously studied; when it comes to trusting God, you know the verses; you’ve heard the sermons, right? So for a moment, when it comes to trusting God, let’s take a fresh approach. Let’s do it with this familiar story from the Gospel of Mark chapter 4, verses 37-39, okay? Now here’s the scene: Jesus has been teaching the crowds by the lake all day long — in fact, there were so many people that He had to get into a boat and push off slightly from shore. I'm certain at the end of the day, He was bone tired, and when evening came, He decided to go across the lake with His disciples. Now, there they are out there in the middle of the water, and this is what happens next (just picture yourself in this scene): “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was at the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, 'Teacher, don't you care if we drown?' He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!' Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.”
I hope you were able to imagine yourself there in that boat, because it includes a powerful lesson about trusting God. For you see, if we had been in the boat, our faith would have had an advantage over the disciples. Unlike them we have the Bible; we have two thousand years of church history, as well as the examples of great men and women of faith through the ages and the really big one, we have (unlike the disciples in that boat), we have the testimony of the Resurrection and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The disciples had none of that.
So having such a huge advantage over the disciples, how do you think you would have responded when that terrible storm hit the boat? Well, with all the things going for me spiritually; with the Bible and church history supporting me and the Holy Spirit inside of me — nothing the disciples had — I would like to believe (and I bet you would like to believe as well); I’d like to think I would have held on to the rigging and then leaned over to whisper in Jesus' ear, "Savior don't wake up from Your sleep, Lord; rest easy because you have had a hard day and you and I both know that our Father in heaven will see me through this storm. You are the Lord of the universe, I can trust in you. You're in control no matter what You are doing — even if you are sleeping." Wouldn’t that be cool to do that? Oh, for the chance to show Jesus that, yes, yes I can trust Him!
Well, guess what: you and I have that very same chance every day. When a sudden trial hits, or an overwhelming disappointment — like a furious squall —broadsides you, you can — we really should — be able to say, “Jesus, both you and I know that our Father in heaven will see me through this storm, this disappointment, this hardship.” It’s like this old poem that goes, "I will not doubt, though all my ships at sea come drifting home with broken masts and sails; I shall believe the hand which never fails, from seeming evil worketh good to me. And, though I weep because those sails are battered, still will I cry, while my best hopes lie shattered, 'I trust in thee.'"
So there is your little lesson on trust today. And if you need any more help bolstering your trust in God, visit my radio page today at joniandfriends.org and ask for your free copy of “Where is God when Things Go Wrong?” Because no matter when that trial happens you can say to the Lord, you can whisper to him: “I trust in thee.”
© Joni and Friends
Compliments of Joni and Friends
PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376