More classic art masterpieces used as illustrations
TL;DR:
After calming a storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus asked His disciples, “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:25). That question challenges us as well. Despite having witnessed His power, the disciples still panicked, showing how easily fear can override trust. This devotional includes reflection questions and a FAITH acrostic.
Do I, too, need to hear Jesus' probing question to His disciples regarding their faith?
22 One day, Jesus said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!"
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement, they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."
The crashing waves spilled water into the boat. The high winds threatened to overwhelm it. Then a Man stood and ordered the storm to cease.
Commanded the storm? What a puny gesture that must have seemed to the rest of the men in the boat. They were experienced seamen working desperately to stay afloat. They sensed how completely they were at the mercy of that storm.
But scarcely had the command left that Man's mouth when the storm ended as abruptly as a curtain falling at the end of a play.
In that eerie stillness, the Man turned to the others in the boat and asked, Where is your faith?
He asked "Where is your faith?" rather than "Where was your faith?" Even then, some of the men were asking one another, "Who is this?"
We, too, sometimes want to demand of those men: "Where was your faith—and where is it now?" After all, they had been with Jesus for some time. They had witnessed something of His extraordinary power and wisdom.
Yet far too often, we are just as prone as they were to fear that we will perish in life's storms and problems.
We know about Jesus' power over the demons in the region of the Gadarenes and about the woman who was healed after touching His garment. Those miracles had not yet occurred when the disciples were in the boat. We know of Jesus' resurrection from the dead. His disciples didn't yet. Even so, Jesus seemed to think they had seen and experienced enough already. So, without hesitation, He asked them: "Where is your faith?"
From our point of view, we should expect His miracle-working presence and power today. Through His Holy Spirit, Jesus continues to work in ways that surprise us.
Yet, aren't there times when this Lord of nature, this mighty Healer, this Master over demonic power must ask even us: "Where is your faith?"
The Holy Spirit once used a youth group president to put that question to me.
We were in a church board meeting grappling with how to pay the interest on a short-term loan. A few months before, the little congregation had taken a giant leap of faith in purchasing a home for the pastoral family. Now, in the storms of life, Satan was making that decision seem foolhardy.
In a moment of quiet, we all sat looking at the floor. Then Nita Alderson said firmly, "I believe the Lord would have us pay off the whole loan this year."
I began to think of all the reasons why our little church couldn't do that. We didn't even have the money to pay the interest! Then I heard a quiet little voice inside me asking, "Where is your faith?"
Nita had been more in touch with the Lord than the rest of us were. In less than a year, that loan had been miraculously paid off.
Jesus is still the miracle-working Christ in the storms and problems of life. Where is your faith? Is it really in Him? The more we trust our lives to Him, the more He will instill within us a confidence in God that will banish demoralizing fear from our lives and bring assurance to our souls.
I remember singing a familiar old chorus in Southeastern Oklahoma Nazarene District youth camps. The tabernacle at Robbers' Cave State Park near Wilburton, Oklahoma, used to reverberate with: "I can, I will, I do believe . . ."
I want the affirmation of those short phrases to be the theme of my walk (or boat ride) with Jesus.
I wrote this devotional when Barbara and I were serving as missionaries in Italy. It is one of a series of 52 brief devotionals published in The Standard, a weekly adult Sunday school take-home published by The Foundry.
In Luke 8:25, Jesus asks His disciples, "Where is your faith?" after calming a storm on the Sea of Galilee. This question responds to their fear and apparent lack of trust in His ability to protect them during the storm. Jesus' question challenged them to reflect on their level of faith in Him and His power. He used the storm as a teaching moment to demonstrate that even amid chaos and danger, we can trust Him. It is a lesson we still need to learn today.
Faith goes beyond mere intellectual belief. J. B. Phillips renders the classic biblical definition in Hebrews 11:1 this way: "Faith means putting our full confidence in the things we hope for, it means being certain of things we cannot see."
Faith grows out of trust and deep-seated confidence in something beyond tangible evidence, providing consolation, support, direction, and meaning in the face of uncertainty. Faith is a guiding force in our lives and the foundation upon which people build their worldview.
For Christ-followers, faith is central to our relationship with God. Our faith demonstrates trust in the teachings of Jesus Christ and in the truth of the Bible. Our faith does involve intellectual assent to doctrinal truths. However, it is also a deep, personal reliance on God's promises and guidance. It is through faith that we find salvation. Faith is not blind. Rather, it is based on the revelation of God's love and grace, experienced through prayer, Scripture, community, and personal encounters with the divine.
F — Finding hope in every challenge,
A — Anchoring our lives in God's promises,
I — Investing our trust in Jesus,
T — Trusting Him through every trial,
H — Holding firmly to hope each day.
Like acrostics? Here are more of them.
