God is Working in Your Storm

Mark 4: 37-38 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

One second you are floating comfortably along through your life. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and everything seems right with the world. The next thing you know, a furious squall comes out of nowhere. A storm you never saw coming and you were not prepared for. The waves are crashing down around your life to the point that you are sure you will drown in them. Can anyone relate?

This is how our lives can be at times. The boat in this story can be representative of our lives and into our lives, some storms will come. What we often forget as we are in awe of the waves is that Jesus is in our lives, just as He was in the boat that day with the disciples. But here is the rub. The fact that Jesus was in the boat should have provided the disciples with the peace and assurance they needed to weather the storm but it did not. I am not suggesting that they, or us, become like robots. We of course will react to the waves but when we fix our eyes on Jesus in our boat we should be calmed. Forget the storm, WE should be calmed.

We talk about the wilderness experience all the time as Christians. Maybe we call it the valley or the desert, but it all means the same thing. It is during these stormy times that God tests us and refines us:

For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. Psalm 66: 10-12

Unfortunately, we can spend so much time trying to figure out how to get out of our wilderness, or lamenting why we are in it, that we lose the purpose God has for us in it. God always has a purpose and a plan. There are plans He has for you that you are not ready for yet and that can be specifically why the storms come. Let's take a look at the life of Joseph. God would eventually use Joseph to deliver the nation of Israel from a deadly famine and he would be the second in charge over all Egypt. But he had to be refined first. He had to go through the fire. At the age of 17, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, who initially wanted to kill him. So being sold into slavery was the better option for Joseph. He had to assimilate into a new culture and learn a new language at 17. In chapter 39 of Genesis we see two different scenarios play out for Joseph but with striking similarities. In the first story, Joseph is a slave in the house of Potiphar, who is possibly the chief executioner in all of Egypt. Joseph is soon promoted and prospered in Potiphar's house. After being faithful to Potiphar, Joseph is thrown into prison after being falsely accused of rape by Potiphar's wife; even though he did the right thing by refusing her attempts to sleep with him. At the end of chapter 39 we see Joseph find favor again, this time with the prison warden and he is again promoted. The experience in Potiphar's house and the prison are two very different situations yet watch how God operates in both situations. Here are the similarities:

A)     God was with Joseph - Verses 39: 2 and 21:

39:2 - The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.

39:21 - But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him;

B)      God granted Joseph favor in the eyes of his masters verses 3 and 21

39:3- When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant.

39:21 - he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

C)      God promoted Joseph, expanded his territory verses 4 and 22

39:4 - Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.

39:22 - So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.

D)     God's blessings extend to the masters and they have nothing to worry about verses 5-6 and 23

39: 5-6 - From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. So he left in Joseph's care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.

39: 23 - The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

What is God saying? Why would God make such glaring similarities within two separate stories within the same chapter? I think what God is saying is if you treat your relationship with God consistently, then He will deal with you consistently as well; even in your valley. Remember, as consistent and great as these moves of God were in Joseph's life, this is still a 13-year wilderness. No matter how consistently God dealt with Joseph, he still was sold into slavery and betrayed and imprisoned in a dungeon for something he did not do. Yes he was promoted in Potiphar's house, but he was still a slave. Yes he was promoted by the Warden, but he was still in prison for something he did not do. I think the point of these noticeable similarities is that God wants us to realize that He is working in our valleys. He is working in our wilderness. Sometimes we spend so much time focusing on the bad things in our valleys that we fail to see the hand of God still working in our lives. Joseph could have been bitter about everything that had transpired. He could have harbored resentment in his heart but the scriptures do not indicate that he did. He was always able to see God moving in his life, even in the middle of this 13 year wilderness. Jesus was never at the back of Joseph's boat.

And that takes us back to the story of the storm. Notice where Jesus is in their boat? He is at the stern. The stern is the back of the boat. Where is Jesus in your boat? Is He in the back of your life beloved; or is He ever before you as David said?

David said about him: "'I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. - Acts 2:25

David was not shaken by the storms of his life because God was always before him; at his right hand. God is saying that we need to foster an active relationship with Jesus. We need to have Him at the front of our lives. We need to foster this through reading His word daily. We need to foster this by regular prayer having a relationship with Jesus. I fear that many Christians obtain their salvation and from that moment they may never get closer to God. Jesus takes a seat in the back of their lives. Maybe on Sundays He can come to the forefront, but where is He at work? Where is He on Wednesdays? In these perilous end-times we cannot afford to have Jesus in the back of our boat anymore. Look at the response Jesus gave to the disciples after calming the wind:

He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"- Mark 4:40

This is Jesus saying to them, "I am in your life (boat) do you still have no faith? Why are you so afraid of the things in your life that come against you when I am right here with you? We need Him at the front of our lives beloved. David referred to Him being ever before him, at his right hand. That is where Jesus needs to be in our lives so that when the storms of life come against us we do not need to look to the back of our lives and wonder if Jesus cares if we drown. How else can we see Him work in our storms?

It reminds me of the favorite Christian quote "Footprints"; where the believer sees their footprints next to those of Jesus at every point of their life. But the believer notices that at the most difficult times, there is only one set of prints and asks Jesus why He would abandon him at the most challenging times of his life. Isn't this just like the disciples asking Jesus if He even cares if they drown in the middle of that storm? Jesus of course replies that it was at those times that He carried the believer. How sad is it that as a believer we might get to the point where we do not even realize that God is carrying us? God is in your storm today beloved. He always has been. There is one set of footprints because He is carrying you. He has never left your life. He has never left your boat. He sees the same waves you do. His presence should bring you the peace you need to weather the storm.

In the middle of your storm God wants you to know He is with you. He wants to grant you favor in your storm. He wants to promote you through the storm and expand your territory even within it. He wants to extend His blessings in the middle of your wilderness. But He needs the preeminence in your life. He needs to be at the front of your boat. As David says, He needs to be ever before you; at your right hand. Then you will not be shaken when the storms seem so strong because you will see God working in the midst of it all and you will have faith and not be shaken.

Anthony Wade October 3, 2008