Series: Youth for Jesus
Number: Vol. 3, No. 42
“That evening, Jesus said to his followers, “Let’s go across the lake.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him in the boat just as he was. There were also other boats with them. A very strong wind came up on the lake. The waves came over the sides and into the boat so that it was already full of water. Jesus was at the back of the boat, sleeping with his head on a cushion. His followers woke him and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are drowning!”” (Mark 4:35-38NCV)
If we are going to fully enjoy God’s best for us in life and also become all that He wants us to become, we must not be afraid of encountering challenges. Instead, we must be ready to face them and deal with them, bearing in mind that God has said that He would never leave us nor forsake us (Heb 13:5-6).
As we see in the bible, one major reason many of the children of Israel that Moses led out of Egypt did not enter the Promised Land was unbelief (Heb 3:19). But what made unbelief take root in their hearts? It was their unwillingness to walk in the light of God’s presence with them and embrace challenges. God was always with these people, as we are told in Scriptures, manifesting Himself in a pillar of cloud that was over them during the day and in a pillar of fire that was over them during the night (Ex 13:21-22).
Nevertheless, each time they were faced with any trial or challenge, they forgot that God was with them and started grumbling, to their own hurt and destruction. Why? It was because they were utterly ignorant of the concept of God’s presence with men. They thought that once God is with someone or once He is asking someone to do something, the person should not have to face any challenge or trial while obeying Him – God ought to have dealt with whatever challenge that may want to show up before it even shows up at all.
Indeed, God often deals with most of the challenges that are coming our way before they show up at all. And I am sure we may not get to know all our challenges that He solved without our knowledge until we fully come into His eternal kingdom. However, the fact that God is with us or has sent us does not mean that we are never going to encounter trials in this life. We will certainly encounter them, even while doing His will. But as long as we don’t allow the enormousness of those trials to make us so afraid that we forget to take recognise and take advantage of God’s abiding presence with us, we will walk in victory over every one of them.
Look at what we have in our opening text, for example. It was the Lord Jesus Himself that told His disciples that they should embark on that trip on the sea. And they obeyed. Not only that, He was also with them in the boat and on the trip. Yet they were faced with a strong wind that threatened to take their lives. How do you explain the fact that Jesus was in that boat and still some wind was bold enough to want to capsize it?
See, that Jesus is very much present with us does not mean that Satan is going to assume that we are going to take advantage of His presence. We may not just take advantage of His presence and instead try to fight him off with our strength, intelligence, influence and so forth. And that is exactly what he wants. He wants us to ignore or forget the presence of Jesus in our lives and seek to resist him according to our own understanding. That way, he can make a mess of our lives or faith, right in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In any case, though those disciples had Jesus with them in the boat, sleeping, yet a strong wind came against them. And when they saw that their efforts to arrest the situation were getting them nowhere, they remembered that Jesus was with them and woke Him up. And why did they wake Him up? Exactly what did they expect Him to do? We are not told in clear terms. But I suspect that they were not expecting Him to do anything different from what they had been doing. They just wanted Him to be aware that all of them were in danger and that it was not a time for anyone to sleep.
Now how often do we also act like that? We talk to God about our challenges not because we believe He can handle them or expect Him to handle them but because we just want to keep Him informed. In any case, it is better than not talking to Him at all or ignoring Him. The disciples called on Jesus in that moment of distress and He answered them. He got up and rebuked the wind and the waves, asking them to be quiet and still. And guess what? They obeyed Him. (Cf. Mark 4:39-41)
So, if you are too are being harassed or threatened by any wind of difficulties or challenges, you need to first remember that the Lord Jesus is very much present with you there. Then you need to take advantage of His presence with you by confronting those challenges in His name. And they will have no choice but to listen to you. But don’t ever think that Satan will always spare you because Jesus is with you in the boat or because He is the one that has instructed you to do what you are doing. That kind of reasoning will endanger your faith and put you at the enemy’s mercies. So, wake up.
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