Luke 8:22–25 (ESV)
One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
Slow learners of the world unite! The apostles have seen Jesus perform countless miracles, even raising a man from the dead.
Now Jesus changes the weather, and this time they were afraid, and they marveled?!? What’s so special about is this miracle?
Well, why do insurance companies call major weather events “acts of God”? This doesn’t really make sense, but we’re used to it. It seems that large scale things feel more grandiose and thus more “God like.”
The same secular mindset is working in the apostles, and so this miracle really impresses them. Okay, whatever floats your boat. Eventually, they need to figure out who Jesus really is, and if this helps, fine.
For now, Jesus has the apostles at the, “now that I’ve got your attention,” stage.
That’s progress.
We tend to think of God when things get rough. We pray about the big things but assume we can take care of the rest. That misses the point.
We are supposed to grow in our dependency on God. We come to Christ thinking we’re able to do all things but, over the years, the list of what we can handle ourselves steadily shrinks. Great saints depend on God for every breath.
We forget that God is in control of everything and that things that may not look important to us can be important to Him. Frankly, we can be pretty bad at picking prayer topics.
Instead of lifting something or someone up in prayer, try asking God to lift us down. Ask Him to grow us small in our self-reliance and big in our dependency on Him.
This isn’t easy. Self-reliance is at the heart of usefulness and worth (in this world’s eyes anyway). Competence is a plus. For example, when someone makes coffee for the church, we expect them to not make lousy coffee; they’re supposed to try to make the best coffee possible.
It’s how we “try” that’s the key. Sure, you measure carefully, but do you think of God while you’re doing it? Are you mindful of His blessings or do you just measure carefully?
Practice the presence of God.
