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Matthew 8:23-27
Jesus has just finished giving examples of the importance of putting Him first in our priorities in following Him. He now boards a boat with His disciples and sets out to sea (Matthew 8:23). As He sleeps, which is a detail of His physical life to show us His humanity, a storm rolls in and is so violent that the boat is being overtaken by the waves (Matthew 8:24). And what His disciples did is a great lesson for us when we are stricken with trials and tribulations; they hurried to Him and cried out, “Lord, save us!”, as we see in Matthew 8:25, NKJV). What happens next shows us that the disciples of Jesus are still trying to figure out who Jesus is as Jesus questions their faith in Him. We should take note here that the disciples of Jesus came to Him to save them from the storm, yet He questions their faith in Him. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “Do you not know that I am in control, yet you question my power?” Jesus then stands up and tells the storm to stop, and it obeys His command. The disciples of Jesus are left in awe of the power of Jesus as He has brought a “great calm” (Matthew 8:26, NKJV). The (NIV) states, “it was completely calm.”
This is an example of the power of Jesus over all creation.
There is so much that we can learn and apply to our lives from this one passage of Scripture. When we find ourselves in the midst of the storms of life, about to be overtaken by them, we can, and should cry out to Jesus to save us! Our faith, like that of the disciples, is weak, but we know that Jesus is strong and will help us to overcome the storms of life if we will cry out to Him for help. When the storms of life hit us, we should run to Jesus!
We also see that in running to Jesus in times of need, He is worthy to help us overcome the trials and tribulations that this world will throw at us; He is powerful! John 1:2-3 (HCSB) states, “He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.” Jesus has power over all things, and He has the power to help you overcome the trials and tribulations of this sinful world, but you must ask Him into your heart and into your life, sincerely, and He will help you.
Dear LORD,
We know that You are more powerful than anything that we will ever face in this sinful world. Please help us to have faith in Jesus that You will prompt us through Your Holy Spirit to call on the name of Jesus when the storms of this life are about to overtake us, that through Jesus, we will overcome and give You all the praise, glory, honor, and thanksgiving. In Jesus name I pray, amen.