July 25

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And He said to them, ‘Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.’ And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake… Luke 8:22-23

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🔊 This is the experience of all disciples at some time. We launch out in confident obedience, and then everything seems to go wrong, and worst of all, God seems unconcerned about our plight. The truth is that we are often so concerned with getting through the immediate activities of life, that we forget to believe in God. We serve our ministry, our ordered circumstances, our predictable and safe course through life. When He disappears from our view, we don’t notice how much we were living without Him until the crisis comes. Then we are forced to ask who or what we are really serving. All disciples must renounce everything, including the hold our Christian service has on our lives. We must trust Him – when things work out and when they don’t, when we feel His closeness, and when we feel abandoned. He is near, and He is our foundation even when all else moves beneath our feet, and we lose the sense of where we are headed. Abraham went out not knowing where he was going. This terrifying uncertainty is meant to keep us looking at the glorious certainty. Are you looking at the storm, or at Him?