Boats

Sinking Boats and Community

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

 “When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon answered “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing! But at your word I will lower the nets.” When they had done this, they caught so many fish that their nets started to tear. So they motioned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both boats, so that they were about to sink” (Luke 5:4-7, NET).

I believe God spoke to me this morning during the sermon. What He said wasn’t part of the sermon, but it was in the text that my pastor was reading. It had to do with the disciples in the boat as they obeyed Jesus’ command to cast out their nets.

I believe that this text shows the importance of community. Without the other boat nearby, Peter’s boat surely would have capsized. If he didn’t have the support of fellow disciples, there’s no way he could have brought in that catch of fish.

That’s how it is with modern disciples. Often, it’s not our failures that sink us but rather our successes. I think that is worthy of a repeat: it’s not when we fail that can cause us to go under as much as it is when we succeed without a proper foundation or framework underneath us.

We need community. We need people who will tell us the truth and not always what we want to hear. We need people who can help us put both failure and success into their proper perspectives. So many times, a believer alone can take his or her eyes off of Jesus when there’s an unexpected failure or success. We can focus on the event rather than on God. We need people around us reminding us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, not what’s right or what’s wrong.

Lord, help us to lean on each other in community so that we won’t give up when we fail or get puffed up when we succeed. Keep us in the humility that doesn’t make us think more or less of ourselves but rather helps us think of ourselves less and the people around us more. Amen.

Sleeping in a Storm

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

image

I was recently reading over a very familiar passage in Matthew 8 where Jesus calms the storm. I’ve actually lost count of how many times I’ve either read that story or had it read to me.

The scene opens with Jesus and the disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat. It’s a calm sea, nothing unusual or unexpected. Suddenly, out of nowhere, hurricane winds start rocking the boat and the disciples start majorly freaking out. Like I would probably have done. I’m sure there was some hyperventilating and breathing into paper bags.

They find Jesus sleeping in the boat. I guess that’s not hard to imagine, since Jesus is likely exhausted from a very full day of ministry and teaching. Plus, He undoubtedly has been up all night praying.

What gets me is what I read today in a commentary. It said that one of the signs of true trust in God is being able to sleep in the midst of trouble. Like Jesus slept in the storm.

Jesus more than anyone modeled perfect trust and faith in His Heavenly Father. That allowed Him to sleep in the midst of crashing waves and strong winds.

I think the point of the story isn’t how Jesus keeps His children out of storms, but how He is with them during these storms. And just like the disciples, we end up finding out that Jesus really is in control of the wind and the waves and our lives.

I’m sure that if I got the easy, comfortable life I’ve often longed for, my faith would be weak and worthless. I’d never have front row seats to see how Jesus has faithfully come through for me in every crisis and storm and trial.

So I guess I’m thankful even for those storms. That’s where I learned just how close Jesus is to those who cry out to Him.

Storms

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 2 Comments

This is like one of those albums you buy where there’s a disclaimer that reads something like “all songs previously released. In other words, I’m not saying anything new.

I heard recently that there are three kinds of people: those in a storm, those coming out of a storm, and those fixin’ to get ready (as we say in the South) to head into a storm.

No one is exempt. Storms come to the just and the unjust, to the houses built on solid foundations as well as those built on sand.
What matters in a storm is being ready, because when the time comes, you won’t have time to get ready. You’ll have to be ready.

What does being ready look like?
I think it means you have Jesus in your boat.

I’m pretty sure when my storm comes I’ll be freaking out like the disciples did and telling Jesus to wake up so we can die together.

But Jesus has a way of speaking peace over the storms. And even when he doesn’t calm the storm, he calms his child in the storm.

I’d like to take credit for all that, but it’s not original to me. I’ve heard or read it all before. But these blogs are often reminders for me as much as they are for you.

So I can take credit for about two percent of this blog. It’s a good thing I’m not having to use footnotes.

Just remember he who is in you is greater than whatever’s out there, including storms.