LESSONS FROM THAT STORMY NIGHT (episode 1)

Reference: Matthew 14: 22-33

Taking a look at that Scripture, we readily see that the disciples launched into the sea in obedience.
The Bible puts it in such a way that it appears it was against their will to launch out into the sea that very night.
It says that Jesus constrained them.
Probably the disciples, who had amongst them proficient fishermen, had watched the sky/cloud and deciphered that a great storm/wind was imminent, and so had put up a resistance when Jesus asked
them to cross to the other side of the sea via the instrumentality of a boat.
But Jesus constrained them to go.
And they obeyed.
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We therefore learn that no matter what our eyes have seen… no matter what our ears have heard… no matter what our senses have judged right, we are to obey once the Word of God comes to us.
Probably God has given you
a vision…
an assignment to perform…
a book to write…
a musical album to release…
a movie script to write…
and you’ve looked at the weather and 'mehn', the clouds seem to be gathering against you;
brother… sister… GO!
At the Word of God, MOVE!
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Back to the disciples.
So they ventured into the sea as Jesus had directed them.
Why did they do that?
I mean, what could have given them the confidence to cut their boat loose in the face of an impending storm?
Yes, Jesus directed them to do so; but more so,
I think that they probably thought to themselves,
“Since Jesus Christ is the one directing us to go, then the storm isn’t going to meet us.”
I believe that could have been their confidence.
But they were wrong, for the storm caught them right in the midst of the sea, a great distance from the shore.
And what a great storm it was!
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Hmmmm… This teaches us something.
That you are a Believer does not stop the storms of life from coming at you.
That God commanded you to start that project does not tantamount to the fact that there won’t be challenges in the midst of it.
That you married that lady or that man according to the Word of God does not mean your marriage would be a bed of roses.
It does not mean that the storm won’t rock your boat in the midst of the sea!
Wake up brother… for sufficient unto each day is the evil thereof.
Isaiah 43:2 promises us that there are times we would pass through the waters or through the rivers;
and then at other times we would pass through the fire or through the flames.
You remember Joseph, Mary, and Jesus?
Joseph and Mary had the promise of God… they believed it and walked therein.
But they still had their trying times!
Herod sought to kill Jesus Christ.
You think they flew to Egypt in a chopper that night God commanded them to flee to Egypt? Or they were translocated?
It wasn’t a funny time my brethren… it was a trying time.
My brother… my sister… in this your pilgrim’s journey, the storm is an inevitable phenomenon.
When you are fulfilling God’s purpose in your life, the devil must of necessity come to kill it.
But don’t give in…
don’t sell out…
don’t doubt the vision…
hold on to the One who gave you the vision.
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#ToBeContinued