Just like our covenant fathers (Abraham, Isaac and Israel), we all face one form of storm or another in our lives.
I heard someone say because he is in Christ, he has no storm in life. Well, it is either someone is deceiving that person or he is deceiving himself. It is obvious, there is deception somewhere.
The apostles lived with Jesus, ate with Jesus, heard directly from Jesus that they would go to the other side. Jesus was right there with them, yet there was a storm.
Jesus in your boat does not give you immunity against storm. Jesus in your boat does not mean storm will never come, but Jesus in your boat gives you the assurance that no matter the severity or ferocity of the storm, the storm will not see your end, but you will see the storm fade away by the word of God.
A key lesson to learn is not whether the storm will come, but what you do during the storm.
Jesus was visibly angry with his disciples, because despite the fact that they had been with him and was there with them, their focus was on the storm and on themselves instead of Jesus.
There are times we are in the midst of the storm and we focus on ourselves, our ego, our self esteem and our self image.
Jesus himself was in the midst of the storm at a point. The cross was his storm, but while in the middle of the storm, Jesus removed attention from himself, and focused on God the Father and He said… NOT MY WILL BUT YOUR WILL….
The BIBLE says of Jesus, for the joy that lay ahead of him, He endured the cross, He took the SHAME. He ignored the self image of the present to gain the glory of the future.
I just read a story of Pastor Benny Hinn who was in the middle of marital storm some time ago and focused on self image and God departed from him even though miracles were still happening in his ministry until he had a revelation when he had heart attack in 2015 and almost died.
In that revelation, he said he was on his way to hell, if God had not given him a second change.
He learned that no matter the self image, your relationship with your spouse and relationship with your God are two key things that determine whether you make heaven or not .
You cannot live in unforgiveness with your spouse and make it to heaven. Jesus knew this principle so well that while in the midst of the storm of the cross, despite the fact that he was innocent, He prayed…..Father forgive them….
I don’t know what storm you are going through this time, please remove your focus from self image. If you need to humble yourself to apologise to someone, do it. If you need to tell someone “I am sorry ” do it.
Because of heaven, be ready to TAKE THE SHAME SO THAT GOD CAN TAKE THE GLORY.
I hope this article is a blessing to you. God bless you.