Matthew 8:23-27 Great Calm
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living. True Christian living requires us to live according to Kingdom standards which bring Heaven to earth

By Marni Montanez

Matthew 8:23-27 New Living Translation

23. Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples.

24. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.

25. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

26. Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.

27. The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”

It is easy to follow God when things are comfortable and going well.  But what about when the storms hit hard and from different directions.

Jesus is the example of how to respond in times of these storms.  He rested in God; totally trusting His Father to do what He intended to do which was to get them to their destination, storm or no storm.   If we do not learn to rest in God we will get overwhelmed and stressed, sometimes to the point of not being able to cope.  Just like this storm that came suddenly, it is the same in our lives.  Sometimes there are no warning signs and we are knocked down with great force.  Being taken off guard can cause anxiety and fear. If we allow fear to overtake us that is when we begin losing the battle.

In our times of hardship our victory depends on us leaning into His grace. This victory is not about winning over the devil,  it is about winning over our flesh in all encounters. Our flesh or carnal nature is our biggest enemy.  Satan has no power over a Christian, but he can deceive and if a Christian is believing the deception than most likely there is a lie being believed.  We need to go through many storms in order to build up the muscles that give us the strength and character we need.  As we depend on God and let Him take away the lies we believe that cause fear and anxiety, the enemy will have no place to latch onto when he’s reaching to pull us down.  

These storms carry in them a destructive force of sickness, financial stress, relationship issues...etc… but the supernatural is the spirit and where God lives.

When we focus on the storm we will gravitate toward negative and fear based thoughts.  Just as a tired person who is driving at night.  When they are focused on the white line in the middle of the road they will tend to veer toward the line and over into the oncoming traffic.

We must keep our focus on God or we will veer over into another lane; where we don’t belong.  

Our responses are dependent on what we are focused on and our reaction can make a situation worse or it could make it better.  Negative responses like complaining or being critical and angry bring the storm into our hearts and weigh us down.  This can paralyze us so that we do not fulfill our destiny.  We need to use our mouths to praise and thank God so that we will stay in position where He can easily deal with what needs to be dealt with or heal what needs to be healed and the storms won’t be as long as they could be.  

Challenge: When we are put in a situation we have never been before our faith can be weak in that area.  It takes a little faith to simply push through. The first step is to rest in God and allow Him to take you through the storm.  The second step is to praise and thank God in the midst of it.  

God bless

Marni

Go on to: Matthew 10:16 - Sheep in the Midst of Wolves
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The purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.