Facing Difficult Times

Living Inside Out (1)

At times we find ourselves going through trying circumstances. Broken marriage, ill-health, retrenchment from work, financial crisis, natural disaster – you name it. Often we have no control over these things happening, but sometime we ourselves are the cause of the trouble. It doesn’t matter how they happen, they do happen. The important thing is how we react to them.

One time Jesus was crossing a lake with his disciples. There arose a mighty storm that threatened to sink their boat. The disciples panicked but Jesus was sleeping soundly in the stern. The seasoned fishermen, amazed that the Lord could keep on sleeping in the face of such life-threatening circumstance, woke Him up and reprimanded Him of His indifference. But this was how Jesus responded:

Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” (Mk 4:39-40, NKJV)

Jesus’ disciples had been in the fishing business for a long time, plying their trade on the waters. We could trust them to recognize a life-threatening storm whey they saw one. They certainly reacted in a way that everyone would think reasonable. But Jesus seemed to think otherwise. Not only that, His reaction was totally opposite to that of his disciples. Why?

The reason is that Jesus did not live in the storm.

His disciples lived in the storm and from the storm - their whole beings were entrenched in their surroundings. They saw that strong wind wreaked havoc on the lake making waves as high as the mast. The waves were pounding on the boat and pouring into it. The disciples could hardly stand still as the boat rocked feverishly. Their senses told them everything was far from okay – they could be drowned anytime. What they saw and felt caused them to be gripped with fear internally. They had their focus totally zoomed in on the outside world, the storm. That’s where they lived.

Jesus lived in His Kingdom and from His Kingdom. In the world where He lived there was no storm. Perfect peace reigned. There was no room for fear. Jesus had His focus zoomed in on this internal reality, thereby oblivion to outside circumstances. He was sure that He was safe and would make it to the other side, therefore He continued to sleep.

In times of tribulation, there’s a simple way to take stock of things. Just ask yourself: where do you live? 

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