| KEEP ROWING THROUGH THE STORM Have you ever made a decision you thought was right and had everything go wrong? You were confident it was the Lord's will, but everything went south. Not only did you run into a storm of resistance, but wave after wave of bad news hit your boat. You feared your whole world was sinking into the darkness. You began to doubt you heard the Lord in the first place. The more things went wrong, the more distressed and depressed you became. Your family and friends looked at you as if you had lost your mind. Eventually, you faced a crisis of faith wondering if you ever did hear God's voice. It happens a lot. It happened to me recently. It happened to the men who had given up everything to follow Christ. Here's their story in Mark 4:35-41. On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? They came to the other side of the sea…" [NRSV] Here they were, dutifully following the Lord. He told them to launch the boat and head to the other side of the lake. They pointed the boat out to sea, began rowing in the confidence that they were responding to His will. Things were going along well. Rowing was hard, but expected; and it even brought them closer as friends as they shared the load. They were making progress and looking forward to reaching the other side and moving on with Jesus. Then it started to get dark. Storm clouds formed. The rain started. The winds got stronger and stronger. Rowing was no longer just "team building." It became a matter of survival. Then wave after wave hit and began to spill into the boat. They began to bail furiously. They feared they would sink and drown. And where was Jesus? Helping them bail? No! Giving orders on what to do in crisis? No! Encouraging them that it would be all right? No! Lending a hand? No! Praying for deliverance? No! He was asleep in the back of the boat, apparently unconcerned about their plight or their safety! What is this all about? Doesn't God care? He was the one who told us to head to the other side. We were just following His direction. Why the silence in crisis? It's like the time He heard about Lazarus dying and purposely waited two days to respond! This goes against all the preaching about God being there and caring and helping. Well, He was there, but not really involved. And what was his response? He was a little ticked off that they were panicked and showing no faith in God! This is a little harsh. After all, he was asleep in the back of the boat showing no signs of caring. So why wouldn't they doubt his concern? Then after chastising them for their doubt and panic, He rebuked the wind, it stopped and they got to the other side. What are to make of this story? For me, this story is packed with encouragement and wisdom. Just because we run into a storm, doesn't mean that we missed the Lord. Going through storms is a part of our journey with Him. Just because we get battered with waves of resistance, doesn't mean we are going the wrong direction. Just because it appears that our boat is sinking, doesn't mean that the Lord didn't lead us across the lake. There are times of darkness. The old guys called it "the dark night of the soul." These dark nights are common and even necessary for our growth. I only wish someone had told me about them earlier, but now I know. Watchman Nee says of these dark nights, "We know when we are servants of the spirit that God can use us. But the difficulty with many of us is that dark night…We would like to have death and resurrection put together within one hour of each other. We cannot face the thought that God will keep us aside for so long a time; we cannot bear to wait. And of course I cannot tell you how long He will take, but in principle I think it is quite safe to say this, that there will be a definite period when He will keep you there. It will seem as though nothing is happening; as though everything you valued is slipping from your grasp. There confronts you a blank wall with no door in it. Seemingly everyone else is being blessed and used, while you have been passed by and are losing out. Lie quiet. All is in darkness, but it is only for a night. It must indeed be a full night, but that is all. Afterwards you will find that everything is given back to you in glorious resurrection; and nothing can measure the difference between what was before and what now is! Death of the ego is required…The dark night is a real place it is an indispensable stage of spiritual growth both for the individual Christian and for the Church. We must take Jesus into our boat "as He is," not as we think he is. We think that Jesus doesn't care because He does not participate in our panic in storms, but He does care about us. He is not concerned about the storms and waves. He is concerned about our faith and trust in God during the tough times. He wants us to walk through them in peace, not panic. We must answer the question, "Who is this?" correctly. We cannot invent a "Jesus" to fit our fears or opinions. Life is getting to know Him as he is in truth. "And this is eternal life to know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." [Jn. 17:3] Inventing Jesus in our own mold only creates a false idol that makes us worthless. "They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.[Jer 2:5] Richard Foster explains, "Can you see how our very sense of the absence of God is an unsuspected grace? In the very act of hiddenness, God is slowly weaning us of fashioning Him in our image. Like Aslan, the Christ figure in C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia, God is wild and free and comes at will. By refusing to be a puppet on our string or a genie in our bottle, God frees us from our false, idolatrous [and arrogant] images...For me the greatest value in my lack of control was the intimate and ultimate awareness that I could not manage God. God refused to jump when I said, ‘Jump!' Neither by theological acumen nor technique could I conquer God. God was, in fact, to conquer me. " ["Praying in the Desert."] Fear is conquered by faith. "Why are you afraid? Have you still not faith?" Doubt displeased Jesus, but faith pleases Him. "Without faith it is impossible to please God. for he that comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." [Heb 11:6] Faith sees reality behind the appearances. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." [Heb. 11:1Faith brings the unseen eternal into the present. By faith we step out of time into eternity. Faith sees Him as he is – calm and caring. With Jesus in our boat, we will get there. "They came to the other side of the sea…" When he speaks the word, it is done. The storm will stop. So just keep rowing. When we row we face the back of the boat where Jesus is and turn our backs on the destination. Rowing helps us to keep focusing on Jesus and not on the storm. We are still active, but attentive to Him. Remember we are not the only boat on the sea. "Other boats were with Him." We are not in this alone which is encouraging. On the other hand, we should not be exclusive or arrogant. We do not have the only way across the water. Others are getting there and they are just as much with Him as we are. So keep rowing. You didn't miss God just because there are storms and waves. Others are crossing with us, and we will get there with Jesus in our boat. |