"Trouble? Triumph!"
"About the fourth watch of the night He cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. But when they saw Him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out. For they all saw Him, and were troubled. And immediately He talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid" (Mark 6:48-50).
Our Lord's miraculous working in our lives may initially trouble rather than comfort and encourage us. We often do not recognize Him for who He is and what He is doing because "as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9). We know so very little in real terms regarding the countless details of His purposes and how we fit into them. God, however, operates according to the scope and measure of omniscience: "His understanding is infinite" (Psalm 147:5). Thus, His presence and working may look like trouble rather than the Lord Jesus walking in triumph upon the raging seas of our lives.
This constitutes a primary reason for keeping our hearts and minds in the Scriptures. Like the disciples of old, we will need our Lord to encourage our hearts by identifying Himself: "It is I, be not afraid." Apart from the Word of God and its infusion of illuminating confidence - "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God" - the Lord Jesus can be working and walking miraculously without our awareness (Romans 10:17). Even with the Scriptures hidden in our hearts, we may not understand how He is working and what He is doing. However, we are far more likely to see and affirm the triumphant Christ rather than a troubling spirit as the Spirit of God opens our eyes through the Word of God. "In Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9).
We often do not know what our Lord is doing in our lives. However, we can always know that He is doing. "Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6). Regular reading and remembrance of the Bible maintains our confidence in the fact of God's loving involvement and working. Thereby our hearts are kept in peace regardless of how well we comprehend the details of His triumphant walk upon the seas of our lives.
"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because He trusteth in Thee."
(Isaiah 26:3)
"Thy Word is a light unto my feet, and a lamp unto my path."
(Psalm 119:105)
Weekly Memory Verse
"Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."
(Philippians 1:6)
5638
No comments:
Post a Comment