Where is your faith?

You can see it coming miles away and you do whatever you can to prepare for it, but for some reason, when the storm hits, your fears surface and you struggle to wait for it to pass.

I'm not really talking about weather here. I'm talking about the storms of life. Life is a lot like weather patterns - sunny skies one day, humidity the next, and then bam! Storm hits. And you never have just one storm. Just because today is sunny, doesn't mean that there's not a storm brewing on the horizon.

When the disciples woke Jesus from sleeping in the little boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, they did it out of panic and fear. They had lost control and could not see beyond the storm. "Master, Master, we are perishing!" is the exact quote. (Luke 8:22-25)

After Jesus calmed the storm by His mere words He turned to the disciples, and I can almost see Him shaking His head as He asked, "Where's your faith?"

It would be easy to focus on us now and make a simple and obvious application. But let's go a bit deeper. What does this story teach us about Jesus?

*Jesus was with them in the midst of the storm

*Jesus was in complete control

*Jesus was their only hope

*Jesus rebuked the weather and it obeyed (ummm....wow)

*In other words, Jesus came through for them

*Jesus, through this one question, reminded the disciples that their faith should be in Him - if it is, then what do they have to fear

Okay, now that we see Jesus more clearly, let's apply. In the midst of our own personal storms and trials, are we alone? Is there no hope? Is anything outside of God's control? Will Jesus not show up or come through? Where do we place our hope?

You see, the storms of life reveal where our faith lies. If our faith is truly in Jesus, then we need to know Him better. Enlarging our knowledge of Jesus will only grow our faith, make it stronger, give us confidence that we are not alone.

That's why I am teaching through the book of Luke this fall. There is no better place to increase your understanding of Jesus than in one of the gospels, and Luke is a great one for women.

For those of you who are local, I would love to have you join me in my home on Tuesday mornings, beginning September 21st at 9:30 to go deeper into the life of Christ as we study the book of Luke. Because our facility is not yet ready, I am holding the study in my home. I do have baby-sitting lined up, so plan on coming and bring a friend! The study is open for all.

For those of you who are involved in your own studies, I want to give you a heads up as to why you are going to see a lot of Luke here on my blog this next year. If you can't join us in body, you can at least join us online! I think this is going to be a wonderful year of going deeper and growing stronger. I look forward to our discussions, both in the house and online.

Have a great day!