Live on Purpose

(This post is late posting because of the unusual SNOW DAY in Louisiana :))

You ever feel like there are very few things in your life that you can actually control? I mean look around you. There are so many things going on in our world right now that you have absolutely NO control over.

You can’t control Covid. Pandemics are kind of funny that way. They are out of our control.

You can’t control the political landscape.

You can’t control the weather. (As I write this there is the possibility of snow in the South! Update: IT HAPPENED! See above!!)

You get the point. There are tons of things in your life that are completely out of your control. So quit wasting your time trying to control them! We are funny like that aren’t we? We are control freaks.

I have a good friend from California where I served as Pastor for 6 years that used to often remind anyone who would listen to, “Let GO and LET GOD.”

There is something to that advice especially in the situation of things you can’t control.

You see, God is not surprised by a global pandemic. God is not surprised by who is elected President of a nation. God is not taken off guard by wintry weather. God is not overwhelmed. God is not scared. God is not tired.

So in the situations that overwhelm you…Trust Him.

In the events that you don’t understand…Believe Him.

It reminds me of the storm that blew up on the disciples one time. Mark writes it like this in Mark 4:35-41…

³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” ³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. ⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” ⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Storms are certainly beyond our control and THEY WILL HAPPEN. So how do we react when they do?

REMEMBER THE PROMISES OF GOD! The disciples had the promise that they would make it to the other side. (v35). When God makes a promise nothing can hinder that promise from being kept! Now, Jesus didn’t promise them an easy trip to the other side. He didn’t say the waters would be calm. BUT He promised they would make it!

REMEMBER WHO IS IN YOUR BOAT! Jesus was with these guys. They had been with Him when He had done the miraculous so comfort should accompany the presence of Jesus. God is with you! He will never leave you or forsake you.

REMEMBER JESUS IS THE MASTER OF EVERY SITUATION! For some reason the disciples hadn’t gotten that yet. He was master over fish and bread and sickness and demons but not over the wind and waves? There is nothing that surprises God and He is Master over everything that comes against us!

REMEMBER WHERE PEACE TRULY LIES! Peace does not always lie in the absence of pain but is often found in midst of it. Jesus is IN THE BOAT with them and HE IS ALSEEP. Because He was in God’s will and operating on God’s timetable, Jesus knew that this storm would not overtake them. So He slept. Many times when we are going through things that we can’t control it feels like Jesus is asleep but we have to remember that it is truly peace if we are in God’s will. The hard part is sometimes realizing that the storm is God’s will, but once we remember His promises, His mastery and the fact that He is with us, we can have the peace that passes all understanding!

REMEMBER TO CALL OUT TO HIM! It was OK that the disciples woke Him up. Even though he said their faith was weak, at least they knew where or in whom their faith resided! They ran to Jesus and shook him awake and prayed for mercy! He calmed the storm – that thing they couldn’t control and then challenged them to allow their faith in Him to grow – that thing that they could control.

Storms are hard. They are out of our control. We can’t predict them. We can’t calm them. But we can trust that Jesus is MASTER over them!

Live on Purpose!