Your Storm Doesn't Mean God Abandoned You
FEBRUARY 18
So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. John 6:19
In the Bible, there are correcting storms and there are perfecting storms. Jonah, who spent the night on a foam blubber mattress, was inside a whale because he was out of the will of God. He was running from God. And God sent a correcting storm.
But there are also perfecting storms. Jesus’ disciples weren’t out of the will of God. Why were they in a storm? Because—don’t miss this—they were in the will of God. It was Jesus, Matthew tells us, who directed them to get into the boat and sail ahead, across Galilee. They were in this storm because they were obeying Jesus. Why would Jesus want them to be in a storm? Because He wanted them to grow.
King David wrote in Psalm 4:1—“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.” Another way of translating the word for “relieved” here is “to be set at large,” “to be set at liberty,” “to be set free.”
I’ve often shared these words, written by Robert Browning Hamilton:
“I walked a mile with pleasure, she chatted all the way. But left me none the wiser, for all she had to say. I walked a mile with sorrow, not a word said she. But oh, the things I learned from sorrow, when sorrow walked with me.”
Have you found this to be true in your life? Someone said that faith is like film. It’s developed in the dark. That’s when we learn to trust the Lord. Tomorrow’s devotional will have more light to shed on this. Remember, God doesn’t lose sight of His children.
For more from Love Worth Finding and Pastor Adrian Rogers, please visit www.lwf.org.
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