Deliverance: Where is the God of Miracles?

 

A number of years ago, my father died.  I was living in Southern California and he lived about six hours away in Northern California.  I received a phone call that he was in the hospital and that he had probably reached the end of his life.  So, I left to go see him, one last time.

On the way a tow truck in front of me dropped a chain that hit the freeway and bounced up into the engine compartment of my car, damaging a number of the hoses and belts. 

I had to wait for a tow truck, and then rent a car to continue to get to the hospital, where my father was.  It took about twelve hours.  My father was slipping into death and was lying on the bed.  He had tubes down his throat, his eyes were closed and he was nonresponsive.

I laid hands on him and prayed for him, asking God for more time.  Then my mom and I went to get something to eat. I hadn’t eaten all day.  When we got back, all of my father’s vital signs had revived and he was sitting up and removing the tubes. I got to spend a day with him before he died.  A Miracle.

All of us have times when we’re struggling.  All of us have times of great need; times when we think our circumstances are impossible. All of us have times when we need a miracle!  I believe there are times when all of us read our Bibles, and see the miracles that God has done, and think to ourselves, “Where is the God of miracles, now, when I need Him.”

Judges 6:11-13 (NKJV)
^6:11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites. ¹² And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!" ¹³ Gideon said to Him, "O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?' But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites."

Where is the God of Miracles?

At this time in Israel’s history, they were being harassed by the Midianites. Words often have double meanings.  In the Bible Midian is a place, a nation; but the word Midian in Hebrew means strife.  Another word for strife is struggle.

We’ve all heard about Shammah and the beanfield.  He fought and defeated the Philistines, protecting the harvest.  The Philistines represented the cares of the world.  He kept the cares of the world from stealing the harvest.  The Midianites in our text represent great struggle or hardship.  So, this is a time of great hardship for Israel.  Midian sweeps in and destroys their crops., keeping them poor and in need.  Every time they think they’re getting ahead; Midian comes in and beats them down again – over and over.  At this point Israel is desperate for a leader that can destroy Midian and deliver them from this oppression.  They’re crying out for deliverance.

How many times have you felt like Israel? 

“Every time I think I’m turning a corner in my finances – In my marriage – In my job – In whatever it is, something comes along and kicks my feet out from under me, and I’m right back where I started!”

That’s what Israel had been going through for the past seven years.  They’re tired, they’re beaten down and they need deliverance.

It’s in the middle of all this, that our text takes place. We come across Gideon and he is out at the wine press, threshing wheat.  The wine press is not the place to do that.  He’s doing it in hopes of keeping it from the Midianites. He’s hiding; he’s avoiding them.

That’s when the Angel of the Lord comes along and sits down under the Terebinth tree, and he says to Gideon, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

He hears those words, and he can’t believe it.  God is with us?  Really, God is with us?  The God my fathers talked about?  The One who did miracles?  The One who opened the sea?  The One who delivered the people from Egypt?  We need that God, now and I don’t see Him!

“Where is the God of miracles, now?

I’m willing to bet that Gideon isn’t the only person who’s ever felt that way.  Maybe even you’ve felt that way.  Maybe you read your Bible and you see powerful things:

Blind men who can see!  Lame men who can walk!  Demons cast out – defeated!  Dead men raised!  You say to yourself, “Where is the God who does that? How come I never seem to get miracles when I need them?  Why doesn’t God move like that for me”

God showed up for Gideon.  God came to him.  It was after seven years of troubles. (Seven is the number of completion.)  You can say God came to him when it was time.  Israel’s trial was over – It was time for deliverance.  God had seen that they had suffered enough!

Are you suffering, right now?  Are you struggling, right now?  Are you looking for a God of miracles?  Do you need deliverance?  He’ll come.  He sees, He knows,  He’s a deliverer.  He will deliver you.  Maybe you’ve prayed and nothing happened.  Maybe you’ve given up.  God knows, there have been a lot of people who’ve walked away.  People who’ve left God, saying to themselves, “There is no God of miracles!  I needed Him and He wasn’t there for me!”

Isn’t that what Gideon is saying?  “The God of miracles?  There is no God of miracles, anymore!  If there is, where is He?  Where’s the God miracles?  These Midianites are killing us!”  But the angel of the Lord has shown up, to call on Gideon to deliver his people.

Mighty Man of Valor

Judges 6:14-16 (NKJV)
^6:14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?" ¹⁵ So he said to Him, "O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." ¹⁶ And the Lord said to him, "Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man."

He’s sitting under the Terebinth tree – It’s like an Oak Tree.  It symbolizes strength.  It symbolizes power.  He sits under that tree and calls Gideon:

“The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

At this point he’s hiding from the Midianites.  I’m thinking Gideon isn’t feeling like a mighty man of valor at that moment.  He’s hiding – he’s fearful – He’s not valorous, he’s not courageous.  Gideon has been complaining that God has forsaken them and the Lord says –

“Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites.”

Me? Are you talking to me?  Who am I?  I can’t face all of Midian.  I’m not a powerful or brave man, I’m just a guy.  I’m just a man, I don’t have ANY power!  I’m just me.  Gideon knows who he is – He’s defeated before he even starts to fight!  It’s impossible – I’m weak! I’m useless! I’m the weakest in my father’s house.

You know, I get that – I understand that.  Sometimes I feel like I can’t do anything.  Look at me – I even need help to dress.  Have I accomplished anything?  Have I done anything to move the Gospel of Jesus Christ forward – to bring the kingdom of God to earth?

You know one time in Riverside…  Riverside has a lot of churches.  Big churches.  One has 15,000 people; another one has 11,000.  Big churches, lots of people.  So, we were outreaching at a night market.  And I met another pastor.  I had been there two years and so had he.  So we were talking and I asked him, just out of curiosity “How many people in your church?” Eighteen hundred!  Eighteen hundred after just 2 years. And then he says to me, “How about you?”  Thirteen… “Thirteen hundred?”  I didn’t want to answer.  Let him think that.  I couldn’t do it… “No, just thirteen!”

I was embarrassed.  I felt like an idiot.  I was like Gideon, “I’m worthless!  I’m weak!”  I am the least in my Father’s house.  Thirteen people; who was I to think I could deliver anything?

That’s where Gideon was at – That’s where some of you are.  “I’ve failed so many times – Who am I to think I could overcome, now?”  What did the Lord say, though?  What did he say to me?

“Have I not called you?  This isn’t your fight – I called you and I will be with you.  It’s time for deliverance, so pull up your big boy pants and fight!”

God is there in the middle of your suffering – And God will be there in the middle of the battle – And God will be there fighting alongside you.  I called you, and I don’t make mistakes. You can win this battle because God is with you. 

You can win this battle that you’re facing because God is with you.  God said, “Gideon you WILL destroy Midian, because I will be there!”  We need God to be there.

When God was about to deliver Israel from Egypt, Moses said, “If we go You have to come with us, because if You’re not going, I don’t want to go, either!”  God answered and said, “I will be with you.”  God will be with you, too.

A Miracle Happened

Judges 7:7-8 (NKJV)
^7:7 Then the Lord said to Gideon, "By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand. Let all the other people go, every man to his place." ⁸ So the people took provisions and their trumpets in their hands. And he sent away all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, and retained those three hundred men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

Judges 7:12 (NKJV)
^7:12 Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.

Gideon looks down into that valley and there’s the Midianites.  They can’t even be counted – there’s too many of them.  That’s a whole lot of problems.  That a lot of struggle – it’s never-ending.

That’s life.  That’s how life is, one struggle – one problem after another.  It never ends.  You get through one thing and a hundred more things are right there behind it!

Gideon looks back and he has three hundred men behind him.  How can he do this?  How can he win against these odds?  Because God was with him; and he did win – He defeated Midian!

Judges 7:16-18 (NKJV)
^7:16 Then he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet into every man's hand, with empty pitchers, and torches inside the pitchers. ¹⁷ And he said to them, "Look at me and do likewise; watch, and when I come to the edge of the camp you shall do as I do: ¹⁸ When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then you also blow the trumpets on every side of the whole camp, and say, 'The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!' "

That was God’s plan – three hundred men with no weapons – only trumpets, empty pitchers and torches:

Judges 7:22-23 (NKJV)
^7:22 When the three hundred blew the trumpets, the Lord set every man's sword against his companion throughout the whole camp; and the army fled to Beth Acacia, toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel Meholah, by Tabbath. ²³ And the men of Israel gathered together from Naphtali, Asher, and all Manasseh, and pursued the Midianites.

The Lord set every man against his companion.  The Midianites turned on each other and destroyed themselves.  God delivered them.

Why would He do it like that?  Why did he cut the number of soldiers down from thirty thousand to three hundred men?  Here’s why:

Judges 7:2 (NKJV)
^7:2 And the Lord said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, 'My own hand has saved me.'

He wanted them to know it was Him that delivered them; that it’s God who brings the victory. It's funny how when things go good, we congratulate ourselves, and when they go bad, we blame God.  God wanted them to know who brought the deliverance.

Do you know why the Bible has stories like this?  Do you know why God set this in here? So that we can see that God delivers – That God is with us.  He said, “I will not forsake you.”  He’s there, right in the midst of your struggles.  He will deliver you from the Midianites – the struggles and problems – in your life, so that you will give him the Glory.

Two final things:

1)   That other pastor, he may have had a lot more people, He may have had a lot more money, he may have had a much nicer facility.  I had only thirteen, but that was thirteen souls snatched from the gates of Hell, not from some other church.  On August 5, 2021 that little church celebrated twenty years in that city.

2)      I needed that time with my dad!  I was afraid that he would pass without me being there!  Without me being able to let him know I loved him.  God did a personal miracle for me! 

 He IS the God of Miracles!

Just Do It!

There are some people who like to think that they have faith.  They pray; they believe God; they do have a certain type of faith.  I’ve preached often enough that faith is action.  We take action based on our faith.  In other words, we live out what we believe.  Sometimes, though we’re hesitant to take a step of faith and even more than that sometimes we’re resistant to take a step of faith.  Today, I want to post on taking a step of faith:

Exodus 14:10-15 (NKJV)
^14:10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. ¹¹ Then they said to Moses, "Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? ¹² Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, 'Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians?' For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness." ¹³ And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. ¹⁴ The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." ¹⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.

God Has Already Moved

Here, we stand with Israel after leaving Egypt.  They have fled the country and are standing before the Red Sea and Egypt’s army is bearing down on them.  It seems pretty dire at this moment, but is it really as hopeless as it seems?  Yeah, the people are fearful.  Yes, Egypt’s army is looking for blood and revenge.  It’s not going to be pretty if they catch them. 

You can’t really blame the Israelites for their terror.  They’re stuck.  There are mountains blocking them from going north around the Red Sea.  There’s only the Red Sea ahead of them and Egypt is coming after them.

You have to remember what God has already done, though.  Look at this list:  He saved Moses as a child in the River Nile.  He brought him into Pharaoh’s household where he was educated and raised to be a leader.  He kept him for forty years in the desert to be the deliverer of Israel. 

He’d done ten major miracles to get them this far.  Water turned to blood, frogs, lice and of course, the death of the first-born.  Through all that He'd preserved them.  They didn’t have to endure the plagues in Egypt.  He’d come to deliver them from bondage.  That was His purpose in the first place.  In this moment, He has placed himself between the armies of Egypt and the people of God as a pillar of smoke by day and fire by night.

God had already moved powerfully to get them to the Red Sea and protect them.  Why would they think that God would bring them out there and leave them to die?  It’s because the problem wasn’t a problem on God’s part.  It was something in the Israelites character – unbelief.  They didn’t see a possible solution; what could they do?  The failing isn’t God’s it’s theirs. 

How many times are we like Israel in this moment?  We testify, “Wow, God has moved powerfully on my part.  Look at all God has done for me so far.”  When it gets hard; when it seems like trouble is coming, all of that faith goes right out the window and we say the same thing to God that Israel did, “Did you bring me this far just to kill me?”

We pray and we say, “God help me with this thing – I need you God.”  I have to tell you something God’s blessing almost always comes through adversity. 

I wrote it last week, “If there’s no battle there’s no victory.”  Look at all that Job endured.  In one day he lost his family, his wealth and his health, but in the end he went on to great victory.  He ended up with twice as much as he had before the calamity.  His wife told him to curse God and die.  Look at his response:

 Job 2:10 (NKJV)
^2:10 But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

When that adversity comes, though, we always say, “What happened to God?  How can I trust God in all of this?”  Then we give up, “I guess it wasn’t God.”  We look for someone to blame.  Israel chose Moses.  Who do you blame – Your husband, wife, business partner, pastor…or God? Or, do we cry out God, DO something – God YOU move! That’s what Israel did and what did God say?

Exodus 14:15 (NKJV)
^14:15 And the Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.

Take a step of faith.  Does it sound to anyone else like God’s a little irritated here?  Have you ever heard someone say, “God helps those that help themselves”?  People always think that’s in the Bible.  It isn’t.  It doesn’t say that anywhere in the Bible.  But in this scripture it does say, “I brought you this far, so trust me and just keep going.”

The Course is Set

Psalms 37:23-25 (NKJV)
^37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way. ²⁴ Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand. ²⁵ I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.

The psalmist is looking back over his life, “I have been young and now I’m old…”  I’ve gone completely through life and I’ve never seen God’s plan for His people fail, because it IS God’s plan.

In my own life I know that what I’m doing in Taiwan is God’s will for my life.  I know that this is God’s plan for my family, but I want you to know that this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.  It’s God’s will and plan for our lives, but it’s still a struggle. 

I feel like Israel sometimes, too.  God, why won’t people lock in?  Why don’t people give?  Why am I always worried that the rent isn’t going to get paid?  “Oh God, move in these circumstances.”  God is saying the same thing He said to Israel, “Just move forward and I’ll take care of the rest of it.”  Just don’t stop going forward, because that’s the place where God can move in our circumstances.  If we quit trusting Him and quit moving forward then He can’t push the obstacle out of the way.  He’s stuck there with us. 

Let’s go back to the Red Sea for a moment, and pick up where we left off:

Exodus 14:15-18 (NKJV)
^14:15 And the Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. ¹⁶ But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. ¹⁷ And I indeed will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them. So I will gain honor over Pharaoh and over all his army, his chariots, and his horsemen. ¹⁸ Then the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gained honor for Myself over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen."

If Israel stays where they are there’s nothing God can do, but if they move forward God can change the circumstance and take away the adversity.  He can open the Red Sea and deliver them…and He will.  God will bring us through the problems, just like He brought Israel through the Red Sea.  Do you want to know why?

Psalms 103:13-14 (NKJV)
^103:13 As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. ¹⁴ For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.

How many of you were able to trust your own father?  We know that our father has our best interests in mind.  We know that he loves us and wants the best for us.  If our earthly father is able to give good gifts to us, how much more is our Father in Heaven able to do that?  It’s harder to trust God though, because we aren’t always able to see Him moving on our behalf.  We aren’t always able to see what He’s doing for us.  Sometimes, what He’s doing even looks like a problem or like adversity, but God may be clearing a way or causing us to think in a different way.

In our text, Israel is stopped cold by their circumstances and with Egypt bearing down on them this must look like an impossible situation.  They really don’t have any choice but to trust God and go forward.  They can’t go back to Egypt at this point.  The death of the first-born pretty much burned that bridge.  Going forward is the only real choice that they have.

God does move and changes the circumstance.  The Red Sea is opened and they go through on dry land, God causes the Egyptians to follow them into he sea and then closes it on them.

The Struggle becomes and advantage, because Egypt doesn’t have the strength after that to pursue them through the wilderness.  The Israelites make a clean escape.  They’re free to go forward after that.  If that hadn’t happened Egypt could have pursued them all the way to the Promised Land and possibly destroyed them.

This is Where Faith Becomes Real

How easy is it to believe God when you’re not doing anything?  You’re comfortable; everything seems to be working out.  You’re not facing anything, so there are no roadblocks to progress.  It’s always smooth sailing.  It’s when we step out and try to do something that it becomes stressful and nerve wracking.  When we try to do something, that’s when our faith becomes real.  That’s when we really have to trust God. 

If you’re trying to do something, look back at what God has done to get you to that place.  What miracles has God done?  What circumstances has He changed?  What fights has He fought on your behalf?  Did He do all of that to kill you where you’re at now, or do you need just to move forward and let Him bust through the obstacles you’re facing now?  There’s an old Nike Sportswear ad campaign that has this tag line:  Just Do It! 

I’m not recommending recklessness.  You need to be sure that what you’re doing is God’s will.  You need to be “prayed up” and know that it’s God’s plan.  If you’re sure of that, then you need to move forward in faith.  Believe that God will bring you through the circumstances.  That struggle that you’re going through may be the thing that you need to succeed – Just like Israel.  The Red Sea at first, was an impossible problem, but then became the thing that guaranteed their success.

Maybe God is trying to teach you something that will equip you at a later point for a different obstacle.  The whole lesson here is to believe god and step out in faith.  Your faith becomes real in action.  It doesn’t take any faith to talk about what God CAN do, but it takes a lot of faith to move in spite of the circumstances and SEE what God will do.

Grace Continues to Work in You

Grace!  We’ve all heard of Grace, right?  That word grace can be defined as undeserved mercy.  Here’s an example:

Someone steals from you.  The theft not only takes something of value from you, but maybe you have a sentimental attachment to that thing.  Maybe your deceased father gave it to you. So, it’s not just that you lost something, you lost something that has value for you, beyond the monetary value.  The person gets caught, returns the item to you and asks you for forgiveness.  There are two things you can do.  You can send them to jail or you can forgive and go on.

Forgiving and moving on is grace.  The thief doesn’t deserve it, but you grant it anyway.  That’s grace – That’s what Jesus did.  While we were sinners, He came and died for us, so that we wouldn’t have to suffer God’s wrath.  We didn’t deserve it…but He did it anyway.  God’s grace.

My question for today is this:  Did His grace stop there?  Is His grace life-changing?  His mercy was; I’m not the same since I got saved.  But can grace change you?  That’s what I want to look at today.

1 Peter 5:10 (NKJV)
^5:10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

The God of All Grace

So God is the God of all grace.  He has called us to eternal glory.  You know, God could have just written us off.  After Adam sinned He could’ve said, “That’s it, I’m done with these people,” and just written us of, but He didn’t.  In fact, He had a plan to bring us back to Him; back to eternal glory, which is Eternal Life with Him in Heaven.  The plan was Jesus Christ:  Who would come and pay the penalty that we should have to pay.  Look:

Romans 5:12 (NKJV)
^5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—

Adam’s sin spread to all of us, because we have all sinned.  So, we have a penalty to pay – The penalty is death.  We will all die, but there is a gift:

Romans 5:15 (NKJV)
^5:15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many.

The grace of God and Jesus’ grace are gifts that come to all who receive them.  After all, a gift is only a gift if you receive it, right.

Romans 5:18-19 (NKJV)
^5:18 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. ¹⁹ For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.

That gift of righteousness makes us right with God and:

Romans 5:21 (NKJV)
^5:21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Adam’s sin resulted in the sin of mankind.  Sin became a part of our nature and we all deserved death.  But Jesus came and paid that price for us, even though we didn’t deserve it; undeserved mercy.  It makes us innocent, that’s what justified means.  This is a picture of the grace of God.

There is one other thing I want you to consider here.  God created the Garden of Eden and put Adam there.  He met every need that man would have in the Garden; a place to live, food, meaning and purpose (through the job given to him), companionship and his spiritual need.  God walked with Adam in the cool of the Garden.  They had a personal relationship.  God cared about Adam’s needs – He took care of him.  He walked with him – Spoke to him.  God is a personal God; an emotional God.  He loves us.

1 John 3:1a (NKJV)
^3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

He created us to have fellowship with Him, so we are also able to have that kind of relationship with Him.  We are the children of God.  God is a personal God, not a mysterious hidden deity.  He cares about our needs.  He cares about our suffering, in the same way a father cares about his children. 

In our text, He warns us that we will suffer for a while, but that He is in control and can use that suffering to do a work in us – To perfect us, establish us, strengthen us and settle us.  So, the grace of the cross didn’t end there.  Grace is ongoing.  God still works in us.  We are made better through suffering.  We’re not just suffering for suffering’s sake.  There is a purpose in our suffering. 

This is why I feel sorry for atheists.  For them all of life is futile.  You’re born into a hostile world.  You suffer all kinds of troubles and pain.  Then you die, never knowing the comfort of God’s grace.  There’s no meaning and purpose to life.  There’s nothing to look forward to.  There no hope of anything better.  What a bummer to think that life here, with all of its suffering, is the best life there is.  No wonder that so many people that don’t know God commit suicide.  There’s no real purpose to life outside of God’s grace.  It’s just one struggle after another.

God’s Grace Extends Throughout our Lives

His grace continues, even after we get saved.  It’s not just limited to what Jesus did for us.  Look at the second part of our text:

 1 Peter 5:10b (NKJV)
^5:10 …after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

I want to elaborate on what I said earlier, He uses our suffering to do a work in us.  

He perfects us – That word perfect means to thoroughly complete us.  This life is a training program; a preparation.  He’s making us ready for eternal life.  He’s working out all of the bad things in us; the selfishness – attitudes; the bitterness – bigotry, anger, and impatience, all the things that make us imperfect humans. 

God knows that we all have some of those things in us.  He uses our suffering to work those things out of us, to perfect us.  That’s how He makes us ready for Heaven.  In modern times, we use that word perfect to mean without flaws.  That’s what God is doing in completing us, taking out the imperfections and flaws.

He establishes us – That word establish means to set fast; to make permanent.  Another way to say it would be, to make it solid.  Sometimes, people have so much trouble serving God:  They’re in, they’re out.  One day, they’re sacrificing for the will of God, another day they can’t even come to church once a week.  They’re not solid, they’re not set fast.  When things go well they praise God; when things go badly they can’t even pray.  Our text tells though, that we suffer a while and God does a work in us.   That suffering can make us solid in the things of God, because when we get to a place where we can do nothing to solve or alleviate the suffering on our own, we have to turn it over to God.  It’s impossible for us.

They say there are no atheists in foxholes.  When the bombs are falling there’s nothing you can do to change the situation…except pray.  Life is like that.  We all encounter situations that we can’t change except by answered prayer.  That’s how we learn that we can trust God.  We realize that without Him life is pretty bleak, so we become less wishy-washy with our faith.  He establishes us in that faith.

He strengthens us – He strengthens our spiritual knowledge and power.  When things get really ugly in the world what do we do?  When we find out we have an incurable disease, or lose a loved one, or our job disappears?  When life gets really bad, what do we do?  Most of us pray.  Most of us want to draw nearer to God. 

Do you know that most people get saved in times of struggle and turmoil in their lives?  People want to come before God with their problems and plead for help. “Oh help me, God, help me!”  We begin to interact with God.  We improve our relationship with God.  We start to read our Bibles to find answers. 

By reading our Bibles we learn more about God:  Who He is and how he works in our lives.  Our knowledge of God increases.  By praying we are able to tap into the power of God.  We become stronger in those things.  Our relationship with God is strengthened.

Finally, He settles us.  He settles us in the sense of settling the frontier.  He builds something in us.  We become more grounded.  We’re not so easily moved.  We’re not so anxious  and worried over circumstances.  We trust God for his grace.  We know that He will come through.

People that are worldly live in fear a lot.
  

“What of this good thing doesn’t happen.”
“What of this bad thing does happen?”
“What will I do?”  

People get ulcers.  People have anxiety attacks, nervous breakdowns; go to psychiatrists, or just plain freak out.  Some of you may be able to see yourself in that.

We can trust in God to see us through.  That’s the faith part of the Christian lifestyle.  God’s grace is ongoing throughout our salvation. It doesn’t stop.  God is with us all the way through.

That’s How God’s Grace Helps us

We are so lucky to have found Jesus, but we have to be careful, because we sometimes take grace for granted.  We think that because His grace always works in us that we won’t suffer the judgment of sin.  We think thatwe can do whatever we want, but look:

 Romans 6:1-2 (NKJV)
^6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

We need to walk away from sin and allow God’s grace to work in us to do those things that we have just spent all this time talking about

Let Him PERFECT you!

Let Him ESTABLISH you.

Let Him STRENGTHEN and SETTLE you.

A Partnership for Deliverance

Today’s post is something that’s a theme for me as a pastor.  I see my job as a shepherd.  The job of a shepherd is to get the sheep from one place to another.  The job for every pastor is to get his congregation from earth to heaven.  But there are some difficulties and they are that 1) there must be a change that takes place in you, in order for you to get from here to there and 2) that change has to be lasting and permanent.  You have to grow spiritually.  What is growth, it’s overcoming your flesh.  In other words there should be a greater distance between you and the sin you struggled with before.

I was sharing some of what I was going to write with someone and they said, “You have to show them how to change.”  This person was recommending that I deal with specific sin that I see in people’s lives.

I can easily do that, but to me, I think that you probably already know that some of the activities you’re involved are sin and that you know what they are.  You know when you’re sinning.  But if you don’t let me offer this:

If you’re smoking, stop it.  Smoking is sin.  If you’re getting drunk, stop it.  If you’re fornicating, fornicating is sin.  What is fornicating?  It’s sexual intercourse without being married to the person.  If you’re stealing, or you’re selfish, or you’re gambling or you’re cheating, all of these things are sin.  If you’re doing any of them or all of them you need to stop.

But I wonder if that’s helpful.  Because most Christians already understand those things are sin and I believe most Christians are sincere about their salvation.  So, I’m offering this post today as help for you; as one way to find deliverance.  Deliverance, in a purely practical sense, means that God helps you to quit the sin that plagues.  The sin that plagues you is the sin you can’t seem to kick.  I think this is the bigger problem, you know that what you’re doing is sin, but you’re not sure how to get past it.  There are some things that will help you to find deliverance and today I’m going to highlight those things for you.

Romans 8:5-11 (NKJV)
^8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. ⁸ So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. ¹⁰ And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

You Have a Place in the Move of God

We like to think that when we’re dealing with God that God does things for us.  But in reality God does things through the decisions we make.  He doesn’t pull out a magic wand and just “poof”  our problems and addictions away.  He works through the decisions we make to empower us to change.  If God just changed us without our involvement we wouldn’t need the exhortation of the Bible.  We would just pray a prayer and our sinful nature would automatically just disappear.  If we are honest with ourselves we realize that none of us have stopped thinking about sin completely.

Why didn’t God take away your sinful nature?  Why is it there that are still sins that you can’t shake?  It’s because God doesn’t work like that.  If He did Adam and Eve would never have sinned in the Garden of Eden.  If He did then we wouldn’t ever struggle with sin after we got saved. We do struggle, though, some more than others.  How do I know that?  I know that because I know that I sometimes struggle, too.

So the question becomes, “How can I ever find deliverance?”  First, you will never be completely free from sin this side of Heaven.  The default position for us is to live in our flesh.  We’re carnal beings, carnal means, of meat or flesh.  In other words we have appetites that relate to making ourselves feel good.  We all want to feel good.   The Bible calls it the “pleasures of sin for a season.”  Why drink?  It feels good; it temporarily makes us forget our problems.  Why fornicate?  It feels good; we feel what feels like love.  That’s why we sin because it makes us feel good and we all want to feel good.

I’m sure if you examine whatever sin you are involved in you will see that in some way it makes you feel good and because of that it’s difficult to escape sin.  It goes against our nature.  There is good news, though, and that is that sin can be overcome.  We just have to take action to make it happen.

Romans 6:6 (NKJV)
^6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

So, there it is, we have to crucify the old man.  All that really means is that we put the will of God before our appetites or as our text puts it, be those, “who live according to the spirit.”  Be spiritually minded rather than carnally minded.  If the default position is to be carnally minded, then how do we overcome to be spiritually minded?  We have to make a decision to overcome the flesh and then take the actions necessary to make it happen.  Our desire to live in our flesh is relentless, it’s like a flood, it just comes no matter what.  The Bible tells us the enemy also comes in like a flood.

Isaiah 59:19 (NKJV)
^59:19 So shall they fear The name of the Lord from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.

He comes in like a flood; he’s relentless in his temptations.  God will lift a banner against him.  Do you know what a banner was used for?  A banner was a call to the battle.  It showed the place where the battle was taking place.  God raises the banner but we have to fight the battle.

The devil relentlessly drives us to live in the flesh.  He doesn’t force sin on us he only appeals to that appetite to feel good.  We call it temptation and it’s relentless.  Everywhere we look we see something that is appealing to that desire to feel good.  The only way to overcome sin in your life is to stop the flood of temptation.

Deliverance 101:  Damming the Flood

If this were a college course today we would call it "Deliverance 101:  Damming up the Flood."  Let me start with an illustration:

Say that you live near the beach.  Your House is right on the beach, and every night the tide comes in and destroys it.  You build it as strong as you know how, but every time the tide comes in; it comes in like a flood and destroys your house.  So you decide to build a brick wall to keep the ocean out. 

A wall will keep the water out.  A wall will protect your home from the flood.  So, how you build the wall will depend on how valuable your home is to you.  If you don’t care too much you will just do what’s easy and hope for the best.  If your home is valuable to you, you will do whatever it takes to protect it.  So, how valuable is your home?

Let’s go back to our illustration:  You start to lay the bricks and at first you are very careful to put the bricks in.  But the work is hard and the bricks are heavy, and it stops being fun to think about how well your house will be protected.  So you skip a brick here and there. 

This is how a person who doesn’t place a lot of value of their home will build the wall.  He’s done what’s easy.  He didn’t invest too much into the protection of his home.  There are people in church who think that way about their salvation.  They think, “I’m getting enough of the word of God at one service a week.” They think, “I don’t need to read my Bible.  I don’t really need to pray that much.  I can be late every service and miss out on worship.  I can just attend church once a week…mostly…and it’ll be all right; but do you know what you’re really doing.  You’re leaving bricks put of your wall and every time you leave out a brick it leaves a hole in the wall that the tide can come through.   If you leave out too many bricks when the tide comes in your wall won’t stop it from destroying your home again.  If the wall has too many holes it’s worthless as a protection against the flood. 

Those things I mentioned, church, Bible, praying, worship, those are opportunities to enter into the presence of God.  Every time we’re in the presence of God we strengthen our faith and our resolve to live for Him.  Every time we’re in the presence of God we add another brick in the wall.  If we build a good strong wall, we’ll keep out the flood.  Living in the Spirit is really just living for Jesus.

Secondly, we will never overcome sin through willpower.  We can’t say, “I’m not going to sin,” and keep sin from happening.  Say, for example your sin is drinking.  You can’t keep yourself from drinking just by saying, “I’m not going to drink.  I’m not going to drink.  I’m not going to drink.”  Ask any sobriety counselor.  They will tell you you’re always a recovering alcoholic not an ex-drunk.  Let me illustrate a truth for you.

Don’t think about a pink elephant.  Don’t think about its big floppy ears.  Don’t think about the little purple flowers printed across its back.  Don’t think of the big trunk with all its wrinkles.  Don’t think about it!  What were you thinking about?  You were thinking about a pink elephant.

If you’re using willpower to stop drinking and you say, “I’m not going to drink.”  What are you thinking about?  The answer is obviously drinking.  Now, think about a green giraffe.  Look at the long neck.  Look at how it reaches into the trees to eat leaves.  Look at how it wiggles its ears, the way it chews slowly.  What are you thinking about now?  You’re not thinking about a Pink Elephant.

If we concentrate on not sinning what we’re really concentrating on is the sin.  But if we turn our thoughts toward Jesus and we concentrate on Him we’re not thinking about the sin.  So, how do we focus our thoughts on Jesus?  At church we preach about Him.  In our Bibles we read about Him.  When we pray, we have direct access and conversation with Him.  The more we concentrate on Him the less we think about the sin and how good it feels.

Third, what we receive from our salvation is in direct proportion to what we put into it.  If we put forth a lot of effort we will have a large return. It’s like bank interest.  The bank used to actually give interest that amounted to something.  They don’t anymore, well; they still give interest it just doesn’t amount to much anymore. Your interest was given based on what you put in the bank.  If you wanted more interest you had to deposit more money.  The same is true of Christianity:  if you want more from God you have to put more into receiving from Him. 

We expect God to do for us.  Some of you look at God as someone who exists to meet your needs.  However, what you receive from God in terms of deliverance is in direct proportion to what you do to overcome.

I had a friend who was a heavy smoker.  He smoked more than one pack of cigarettes a day.  He always said, “God is going to deliver me one day,” but do you know what happened?  He died of Lung Cancer.  He expected God to “poof” away the sin, so he never took the step to get rid of his cigarettes.  He never stopped smoking.  He never threw them away and took the steps to build a wall against it.  Had he done those things God could have delivered him. 

If we want deliverance we have to take the steps to get it.  We have to make sure that we keep the holes out of our wall of protection.  We have to learn to focus our minds on Jesus and his plan for our lives, and we have to be willing to take the steps to receive deliverance.  Deliverance is a partnership with God

Deliverance is a Partnership with God

I hear people say, sometimes, “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian.”  There’s no rule in the Bible that says, “You will attend church!!!” but did you know that Jesus attended church, regularly? 

Luke 4:16 (NKJV)
^4:16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.

That verse right there tells us that Jesus regularly attended synagogue.  He went to church.  If you are a follower of Christ, that’s what Christian means, are you following Him to church?  Another illustration:

Diets have directions.  They tell you that you can and can’t eat certain foods:  That you have to eat certain amounts and quantities of certain things.  If you follow the instructions you will have success in your diet.  But what if you change the instructions and don’t follow the diet and basically do whatever you want?   Will you lose weight?  Maybe, but it will only be by accident, not because you followed the diet.

There are guidelines to help you find deliverance, but you have to follow them.  I’ve heard the Bible called “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.”  The Bible has instructions that will help you to live out your salvation successfully, In other words to make it to heaven, but you need to read the instructions. 

There are a lot of people these days that are struggling with doubt and confusion.  The problem is that you’re not following the directions.  For example, in our church, I never know if people are coming or not.  I’m usually worried in the moments before Church starts because the place is empty.  Someone who wants to protect their home, because they see it as valuable is going to be there to make sure they get all the bricks they need.

Worship service is a part of the service.  It helps to prepare you to receive the word of God, but some don’t give it any importance and that’s a mistake.  Worship will help you to focus on Jesus and take your mind off the sin. 

Sin is oppression.  It’s a hardship.  Serving God is a blessing.  I have to be honest, as a pastor, I’m concerned, because I see some people beginning to struggle and doubt.  I’m seeing them have less and less interest in their salvation.  I’m seeing them leave more and more bricks out of their walls and I know the outcome of that.

There is a guy who spent four years in my church.  Over the years he gradually started coming less and less.  First, it was a couple of weeks a month.  Then he would come one month on and one month off.  Then he missed five months in a row.  I tried to talk to him about it and he got offended and now he says he won’t come back.  You know that is?  That’s a guy whose wall couldn’t hold back the flood.  In every church there are others who are going in that same direction.  It won’t help for them to get mad at their pastor for telling them the truth.  It will help for them to seek the power of Jesus to change your life and deliver you from sin.  Deliverance comes through Jesus Christ.  It’s about resurrection power.  We’re dead in sin but raised to eternal life through Jesus.  It’s a partnership with God…You have your role to play.

Crisis of Faith: The Storms of Life

How many times have you encountered some circumstance in your life that caused you to doubt your faith? We like to think that we are all locked in, that we will always remain steadfast, never stumble in our faith, but that’s unrealistic. There are moments of doubt and struggle in everyone’s life. Or maybe it’s just me; maybe I’m the only one who wonders why it seems like my prayers don’t always get answered. Am I the only one who sometimes worries about where the money will come from? It would be wonderful to have staunch unshakable faith, but let’s face it, we’re people.

We read about the Heroes of Faith in Hebrews Chapter 11 and we think, “I could never measure up to that standard,” because we have these crises of faith. But even those that were with Jesus, had their moments of doubt and confusion.

Matthew 14:24-33
24 But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

In the Middle of the Storm

Here we see the apostles, out in the midst of the sea, tossed by waves, caught up in a storm that has blown up. Here’s the reference to that storm in Mark’s Gospel:

Mark 6:48
48 Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.

And John’s:

John 6:18
18 Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.
So they are in the midst of a great struggle. They’re battling for their lives, no doubt they’re afraid. And in the middle of that Jesus walks up to them.

This is an interesting picture of our lives isn’t it. How often does it feel like what you’re going through is a storm? There’s the feeling of a lack of control, there’s the fear and anxiety, the confusion of the storm. You’re straining and fighting the best you can but what is your strength compared to the power of a storm. The apostles are toiling at rowing; they’re fighting it out. They’re depending on their strength to maintain direction in the midst of this storm. That’s the predicament we find ourselves in when things go wrong in our finances, our marriages, at our job and in our families. Have you ever heard the expression, “I’m trying to keep my head above water.” We feel like we could sink at any moment. If you ever find yourself in a storm in a small boat you will recognize that emotion.

It is when we are caught up in these storms that well up in our lives that we lose direction. Have you ever noticed that it is much easier to believe God and to trust in God when things are going well? It is when things go wrong that fear and doubt overtake us. That’s when we begin to doubt God and his promises. We begin to struggle with the question, “Why has God forsaken me?” People backslide in these kinds of “wilderness experiences.” And yet it is also in the midst of these circumstances and storms when Jesus comes to us. Think about the moment you repented and gave yourself to Jesus. Was it while things were going well in life, or had all hell broken loose?

Matthew 14:25
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.

In the midst of the storm He comes walking out to them. He comes on the scene. It’s interesting that they don’t recognize Him.

Matthew 14:26
26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

Sometimes when He’s working in our lives, when He’s doing something to build our character or our faith, we don’t recognize that it’s him. How many times has something gone wrong in your life and you said, “The devil is attacking me?” How do you know it’s the devil and not Jesus trying to bring about some change in your life?

How does God change us? Is character built during times of crisis or times of blessing? Many years ago I worked at a vocational training facility for mentally challenged people. There were many times when I felt that I needed more patience. The people that worked there had been pampered; they’d never had to do anything they didn’t want to do. But a job isn’t like that; often you have to what you don’t feel like doing. So I began to rpay for patience and guess how God taught me patience. He brought every circumstance where it would require patience on my part before me. I learned to be patient by going through a lot of situations where I had to be patient. That’s how God works.

We learn character not through blessing but through trial. We are refined like silver or gold. Gold and silver are made pure by going through extreme heat so the impurities can float to the top and be scraped off: So many times when we’re going through it the devil isn’t attacking us, God’s refining us. We don’t even recognize his hand on us, and the fear and doubt overtake us. The apostles thought he was ghost, “and they cried out in fear.”

Notice also that Jesus waited to come to them. He didn’t come in the beginning of the storm He waited. He came in the fourth watch. In Roman times guard duty was set up in four watches in a night. If He came in the fourth watch, He came when it was close to morning. He didn’t come in the beginning of the storm. He let them weather it out for a while, struggling, fighting, trying to get through it. Doesn’t it feel like that when we’re battling it out? That he’s left us alone to deal with it: That He’s gone off and just thrown us to the wolf? We call it a wilderness experience, and we feel like we’re all alone, but that’s not the case.

Mark 6:47-48
47 Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land.48 Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by.

In this scripture, we see that even though He wasn’t with them He was watching. He was showing an interest in their struggle. He was concerned about them in the storm. As we struggle with trials and afflictions, he is watching us. He’s interested in what we suffer. He cares about what we go through. He stands watching. In the same way he came to them and brought comfort: “Be of Good Cheer. Do not fear,” He will comfort us.

We understand that intellectually, so why is it so difficult for us to maintain our faith. Why do we struggle with fear and doubt?

Maintaining our Faith in a Crisis

Matthew 14:28-31
28 And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Peter recognizes Jesus her for who He is as he is walking on the water and calls out to Him, “Tell me to come!” There is a faith here that Jesus can bring them through the storm. He believes that through Jesus he can walk on the water. But in the midst of all that’s happening, he begins to doubt and immediately starts to sink. Isn’t he just like us? We believe that we can see healing in Jesus’ name. That we can cast out demons in Jesus’ name. We believe that signs and wonder follow. We believe it all. We really believe it…until we don’t. We understand that we can do all those things, that we can see miracles. But when things are going crazy in our lives, it’s easy to lose that faith. “I believe that God can heal, but can he heal me.” “God can get us through storms, but can he deliver me?” It’s easy to keep the faith when things are calm, but when the storm is blowing; it’s a whole different ballgame.

Have you ever known a depressed Christian? Someone who looks at life as if the odds are stacked against him? Doesn’t that seem odd? I know a woman who is a Christian counselor and she is helping other Christians battle depression and other things. How can someone who is filled with faith and power struggle with depression? It happens when we lose sight of the power in our lives and begin to focus on the storm. That’s when we sink into depression. Peter becomes distracted and takes his focus off Jesus and immediately sinks.

You might think, “Well that’s Peter. After all he suffered a number of these types of faith crises.” What about the big one after the crucifixion, where he decides to go back to fishing? Peter placed all his faith in Jesus as the messiah, and now he’s been crucified. Peter thinks it’s all over. He didn’t see what was ahead all he saw was that jesus was crucified. He lost faith, went back to fishing. He lost faith in what God was really doing through all of that. He went back to his old life: He backslid in the midst of the trial.

Even Abraham, that hero of faith can lose it.

Hebrews 11:8-10
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise;10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

He’s called the friend of God because of his faith. He has a powerful testimony. He’s raised in a pagan nation, and yet when he hears the voice of God he recognizes Him and believes. He follows that voice out the a place where God promises to give that to his descendents. He’s a man of great faith. How many of us would recognize the call of God on our lives and get up and walk? How many of us would follow in Abraham’s circumstances? But do you think there were no moments of fear and doubt in Abraham’s life? Do you think he always carried a banner of great faith?

He follows God out to the land that God promises him. He believes God for that promise. He builds an altar to honor God. But a short time later there’s a drought and they travel down to Egypt, and Abraham tells his wife, “Tell them you’re my sister so they won’t kill me.” What happened to the faith? Where’s the great faith? The promise hasn’t been fulfilled, it won’t be if you die in Egypt…so where’s that great faith now? If this hero of faith suffers a crisis like that, how much more will average Joes like us suffer it?

The Antidote to Fear and Doubt

Matthew 14:30-31
30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Cry out to him and He will reach into the storm of your life and hold you above the swirling waters. As peter sank into the sea he cried out and Jesus reached into his life and caught him, because he cried out. He pulled him from the sea. As we cry out in the midst of fear and doubt he will pull us from the storm as well. He is the one who saves. He is the antidote to fear and doubt. His presence in our lives will bring calm.

Matthew 14:32-33
32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.33 Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

That was the end of that storm in their lives, but does that mean they never encountered another storm, another moment of fear or of doubt? Of course not!

We see Thomas in his moment of doubt after Jesus rises from the dead. We see the disciples locked in the upper room for fear of the Jews. We see Peter’s doubt and confusion and he curses in denial of Jesus. In each case, though, we see a response from a personal and loving God. Thomas sees jesus who has him touch his wounds, so that he can believe. The disciples hear a rushing, mighty wind and receive the comforter, the Holy Spirit. Peter sees Jesus on the shore of Tiberius, where He bestows on him the mantle of His ministry, with the words, “Feed my sheep.”

We all experience moments of fear and doubt, but they don’t have to destroy us. We can find the antidote, in Jesus, and allow him to calm the storms in life.