Jesus will get me through the tough times.
Matthew 8:5-8 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with him, "Lord, my young servant lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain." Jesus said, "I will come and heal him." But the officer said, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed.
Matthew 8:23-26 Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" Jesus responded, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly all was calm.
Matthew 8:28-32 When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so violent that no one could go through that area. They began screaming at him, "Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God's appointed time?" There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance. So the demons begged, "If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs." "All right, go!" Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.
Here are four stories from Matthew chapter eight, three that realize who Jesus is and understand the authority that he has and one story in which they don't have a clue.
The man with leprosy says boldly "If you are willing then I will be healed."
The Roman officer says to Jesus "Don't bother to walk all the way to my house, you can heal my servant from right here."
The demons in the two possessed men called him the Son of God and yielded to his authority.
The disciples have Jesus in the boat with them and they are afraid that they are going to drown.
What is wrong with this picture? The guys that are supposed to be in the know about Jesus are the only ones in this group that are totally freaked out.
Aren't we all in the same boat? Don't we tend to forget who is in control and start to worry about what is going to happen. The storms of life can shake our faith even though we have Jesus right there in the boat with us and if we will just look to him, he will calm the storms that we are going through.
I need to remember that I am not walking through the storms of life alone.
Thank you Lord for being a friend that sticks closer than a brother.
