Storms Reveal!

Storms Show No Prejudice

Storms come into every life. It doesn’t matter who you are, regardless of whether you are rich or poor, educated or uneducated, industrious or lazy. Your skin tone might be white, black, or any shade in-between. From an outrageous sinner to a genuine Saint, a fearful or faith-filled person, it doesn’t matter. Storms are not prejudice – they come to all.

Contrary to popular belief, storms do not make us or break us. They simply reveal us. Storms do not make people fearful; they simply show the fear that is already in them. Hard times don’t make us weak; they reveal weaknesses. Difficult times don’t make you difficult to get along with; they tell the difficulty that already lies within.

Jesus and Storms

One of my favorite Biblical passages is Matthew 4:35-40. “On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, ‘Let us cross over to the other side.'” 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’ 39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?'”

Even Jesus experienced a life-threatening storm, and His handpicked disciples went through it with Him. Again, storms come into every life on the planet. Don’t let the enemy convince you that you are alone in your struggle. The devil is a liar! Jesus feels the feeling you experience. He is willing and able to deliver. He is with you through it all.

 God Isn’t Surprised

This storm will not take you out, and when you come through it, you’ll be stronger than you were. Jesus is the great Teacher and is using everything you endure to grow you in His glory! We can learn much from this stormy encounter:

First, I think it is safe to assume that the storm didn’t catch Jesus off guard. The warfare you are going through now is history to God! He knew about it before it was ever an idea in the enemy’s twisted mind. And you need to know that God’s prevision is a guarantee of His provision. Just ask Abraham! Remember, he called the altar on top of Mount Moriah, Jehovah Jireh. We say it means the Lord is our Provider, and it does, but literally, it means, the Lord sees or will see to it. He’s got you covered!

On that particular night, on the boat, Jesus’ human body needed to sleep, and they woke Him. But the Lord never sleeps. Psalm 121:3 proclaims, “He who keeps you will not slumber.” You don’t have to cry to awaken the Master! You don’t have to send SOS signals to get His attention. Your shouts aren’t needed to bring Him out of a daze. He is very aware of your circumstances, and His ear isn’t “…dull, that it cannot hear.” [See Isaiah 59:1]

God’s Not Your Problem

Furthermore, just like that night, He has already declared you will make it. He said, “Let us cross over…” Regardless of what comes against us – let’s go over. Irrespective of who comes against us – let us cross over. He is with us! He believes His word, and He wants you to believe also. Trust Him. He says what He means and means what He says!

You need to know that He isn’t the author of this storm. Why would He rebuke what He initiated? God isn’t bi-polar! God is not your problem! Jesus is the Answer! There is an enemy who comes to steal, kill, and destroy. The storm is the devil’s doing. He desperately wants to stop us from arriving at the next destination on the journey.

The devil didn’t want Jesus to reach Gadara, so he unleashed the violent storm. Darkness ruled over the region of the Gadarenes. Demonized men terrorized the inhabitants. The enemy didn’t want to lose control, so in a last-ditch effort to keep his stronghold intact, he attacked. Take courage. This is the reason for the storms we are facing now! The enemy is nervous. Jesus is drawing closer! His Ekklesia is rising and beginning to manifest the last day anointing! The accelerated aggression is because the enemy is terrified of the Church, and you, as a member, will fulfill the next assignment.

Grow As You Go

Secondly, though Father isn’t the author of it, He utilizes the storm to teach us. Storms show us what is in us. They reveal us! Those first disciples discovered, though they thought they were full of faith, they were actually full of fear. Let the winds blow violently enough, and the starch is knocked out of the cockiest among us! Let the waters jump into your boat, drenching you and dipping the ship lower and lower, and all false bravado will disappear! Storms cause the things we are made of to come to the surface.

“Peace, be still!” It happened, just as He said. In an instant, everything miraculously calmed down. Like us, these disciples would have just moved on from their fearfulness. But Jesus wouldn’t move on without dealing with it. It comes up to come out. He wanted it out in the open so that they could be free. He turns to His drenched, dog-tired disciples and instead of a word of consolation or encouragement – He rebukes them. “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

This isn’t the American Jesus of the modern era. No. This is the authentic Jesus. He puts his hand on the burned part of your back. He prods in the area of your discomfort. Not to hurt you but to heal you. He never rubs your nose in your failure or weakness. His motivation to say, “I told you so!” He wants you to know where you are so that He can get you to your destiny.

Where Are You?

The most exceptional GPS in the world can’t get you to the destination until it locates where you are at the moment. We can never be free from something we don’t know binds us. We can’t arrive until we realize we haven’t arrived. So our loving Lord does the hard thing and uses the storms to highlight the areas in which we desperately need to grow. How about you? Is His finger-pointing, poking an area you want to ignore, and gloss over?

Don’t run from what the storm reveals about you. You need to see the real you. But whatever you do, don’t miss seeing Jesus in your rain. The highest purpose of God in the storm is to reveal Jesus freshly and compellingly. The story of that stormy night doesn’t end with the criticism of their lack of faith. It ends with these men marveling over Jesus. “And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” [Mark 4:41] They saw Jesus as they’d never known Him. And they would never be the same after that night!

See Jesus!

Their encounter with the great storm was, in reality, an encounter with the Great Savior! They saw Jesus. And they trembled. They were afraid in the storm, but they “feared exceedingly” when they realized how much more there was to Jesus than they had known. This was a different fear. They traded the fear of circumstances for the healthy respect of the Lord.

You too are going to make it! The great storm is about to be a great calm! The great struggle will be your great victory. And the great victory will not just be that you’ve made it through the storm. You will be stronger in Jesus, and Jesus will live more abundant in you. And the devil’s worst nightmare will become his reality – you will fulfill the assignment, and his kingdom will suffer a devastating blow!

*You’ll also be blessed by this blog from the same text: https://keithnix.net/the-other-side/

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