By: Dale Weckbacher
Matthew 6:21
For where your
treasure is, there your heart will be also.
(ESV)
In 2008, me and my family had the privilege of visiting the
nation of Israel. As part of our tour we
spent three days in a hotel on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The first two days there the weather was
beautiful but on the morning of the third day, we woke up to rain. This also happened to be the day our tour had
scheduled a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee making us wonder if the boat ride
would be canceled due to the stormy weather.
Fortunately, the storm subsided, after prayer, and the ride went on as
scheduled.
Storms on the Sea of Galilee are common for even Jesus
Himself had to calm such storms during His ministry (Matthew 8:23-27, Mark4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25). In each of these
accounts of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee we observe the
disciples at first fearing the storm and after Jesus calmed the storm, being
afraid wondering who Jesus was. Let us
now take a moment to look at how the disciples responded to this storm and
learn how this can help us in weathering the storms in our lives.
1)
These men were professional fishermen and most
likely had experienced many storms like this in their lives. The fact that they feared this storm means
that it must have been a storm of massive proportions. In our lives, we will experience storms both
large and small. It is easy for us, when
we encounter the small storms in life, to believe we can weather them based
upon our own knowledge and experience.
While this may be true, it is always wise to welcome God’s involvement
for even though we may be able to come up with a good solution, we lack
knowledge of the long-term repercussions of our decision and should welcome
God’s input. However, when the massive
storms of life come, it is normal for us to experience fear. However, just as Jesus was asleep in the boat
with the disciples, he is always with us in our hearts and waiting for us to
call on him to calm the storms of life.
2)
After witnessing the miracle of calming the
storm, the disciples realized they were in the presence of a man with enormous
power and authority. These were simple
fishermen from the poor section of Israel and most likely their fear was based
upon a feeling of unworthiness at having the privilege of being in the presence
of a man having such great authority. Proverbs 9:10 reminds us that to have a fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom, but
it is not a cowering fear but a reverential fear. (1) Such a reverential fear is healthy in our
lives and causes us to treasure God and His word more and become more dependent
upon God to calm the storms in our lives.
Matthew 6:21 tells us that where our treasure is, there our
heart will be also. Often, we use this
verse when encouraging people to give to the work of the Lord but it also has
other applications for what we treasure in our lives drives how we act, feel,
and think when we find ourselves in the middle of a storm. When we treasure Jesus and His Word we will,
1)
Act as if God has it under control. While the disciples feared the storm, they
knew Jesus was with them and asked for his help. Granted, Jesus was physically with them and
since they had already witnessed many miracles from him, no doubt believed he
could perform a miracle here too. While
we do not have Jesus physical presence with us in bodily form as the disciples
did, Jesus did promise never to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). When we treasure God our first action
therefore should be one of calling for his help.
2)
Don’t be ruled by feelings of fear. God has not given us a spirit of fear but power, love, and soundness of mind or self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7). However, we also still live in fleshly bodies
and must deal with fleshly fear of the unknown.
This type of fear is not like the fear mentioned in Proverbs 9:10 but a
fear of catastrophe. Unlike a healthy
reverential fear of God based upon who He is, this type of fear demonstrates a
lack of trust in God to calm the storm of life we find ourselves in. Learning to make Jesus and His Word the treasure
of our lives helps dispel the fear of catastrophe.
3)
Focus our thoughts on the promises of God’s
Word. When the storms of life come our
fleshly mind immediately goes to thoughts of pending doom and disaster. Instead of allowing these thoughts to govern
our actions and causing fear, we must learn to treasure the Word of God and go
to the promises contained there. Romans12:2 reminds us not to conform to the behavior and customs of the world but to
instead let God transform the way we think.
When we treasure the Word of God and spend time studying it, we are
allowing it to govern our thoughts, dispelling any thoughts of disaster or
doom.
The storms of life will come but when we make the treasure
of our life our relationship with God through our relationship with Jesus and
through God’s Word we have what we need to endure these storms.
1. Bible Hub. 3374 yirah. biblehub.com. [Online]
Bible Hub. [Cited: May 25, 2017.] http://biblehub.com/hebrew/3374.htm.
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