Mark 4:39 shares the ending of an awesome account of just one of the amazing moments of Jesus….
“And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
All of nature bows to God’s command immediately, without question. No matter what Christ said, no matter how opposite its nature, it immediately did whatever it was told to do. No hesitation. No fanfare. No reasoning things out or reluctance and searching for a good reason to not make it work.
When God asks me to work against my natural self I know He is looking to give the same results as happened when he gave commands to the wind, sea, sky, and even death…. God’s glory was put on display.
His glory was put on display when the storm ceased, when the sea opened, when the sun stood still, when Lazarus walked out of that tomb alive… Those were clarifying moments of just how powerful and awe-inspiring the God that we serve is.
No one walked away from the boat that night after Jesus stopped the storm comforted by their own self affirmation… When the sea opened up and allowed more than a million people to walk through safely, no one drifted off to sleep that night thankful about how awesome a Hebrew they were and how they were deserving of such provision…. And let me tell you, when the sun refused to go down so that every last enemy could be defeated and victory assured, not one man went to bed that night proclaiming his right to most valuable soldier trophy! I really doubt it crossed anyone’s mind who knew Lazarus and had wept for 4 days after his death that they had named this miracle and claimed it, therefore it was.
No one figured it was because of their awesome faith that God worked through them to get something so amazing done. Not one person after those supernatural events thought it was about them… their focus had temporarily been shifted from themselves to JEHOVAH.
Every single person who ever witnessed these events of the overriding of nature were humbled and struck with fear. Not one of them, whether they obeyed God’s ways or not, could argue that they were witnessing something far bigger than anything they had ever thought possible. Miracles, these things that defy nature, make us stand back and consider who God is.
How much more would God be glorified if His creation called ‘man’, that have a will contrary to God, ceased their own activity and obeyed instantly at His command? Then those around us would sit up and take notice that we were acting against our nature… That Someone else is was in control.
Those recordings in our Bible of how God works without any constraint against the hard and fast unforgiving rules of nature for Himself however He pleases is such a confidence builder. It’s the confidence I need when I’m asked to go against MY nature & MY will to do something that agrees with the character of God, not what I would be most comfortable with.
Most people choose to deal with a difficult situation in a way that points back to them. When they are dealing with hard things their focus is on self protection and building themselves up…. but no one watching stands in awe of who God is when we handle it that way. If you are in a hard place and people are patting you on the back and sympathizing with you… chances are you aren’t living a life of miracle expectancy. But when you know & believe (help thou my unbelief!) the God who really works miracles you handle your hard stuff differently. And that makes people take notice of Him, not you.
He really does change lives. So, if you are in a hard place and you hear people saying, “You’re crazy,… you deserve better….. You really think this God of yours is going to do something with all this?”… then you’re probably on the right track.
He’s glorified when we walk on the ocean floor, or fight until the sun finally sets, or we ask him to deal with that storm that’s rocking our world right now, or maybe even that too far gone impossible situation to be brought back to the land of living like Lazarus was…
What are your days full of right now? Hard things? Is God bringing you to a time when you need to learn to cease as ‘you’ and obey in quiteness to portray to the world around you the glory of the One you serve? Choose the path that will lead others to stand in awe of who God is and all He can do for all your messy.
~Shannon
Valley Women's Encouragement Conference 