Title On the path of life / 2004.10.24..
content from
Mark 4:35-41, 2 Kings 6:14-17
One day, the disciples were rowing a boat across the Sea of Galilee with Jesus. At first, the lake was very calm, so everything was peaceful and easy. However, when the wind suddenly blew, the calm sea turned into a ferocious and gone.
In fact, the Sea of Galilee is so large that it feels like a sea. While traveling in Israel, I went to the Beatitudes Church by the Sea of Galilee. There was no wind while we crossed the lake, but as we crossed the lake and gathered in the courtyard of the church to listen to the explanation, the wind suddenly started to blow. I have had the experience of seeing the wind blow so much that I took off my hat and flew away.
In this way, while the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee, a sudden wind caused waves to hit the boat, and the boat was in danger. According to today's Bible verse, a 'great storm' occurred because of how strong the wind was. It means crazy wind. So the disciples were very perplexed. Although they were disciples of the Sea of Galilee as fishermen, they were helpless in the face of unbearable winds and storms.
The disciples were fishermen, but in the face of the storm, their lifelong skills, knowledge, and experience were to no avail. The disciples fell into despair. Humans were too small and incompetent in the face of a raging storm. I had no idea how to get my hands on it. The disciples were perplexed and panicked. 'We can't. I can not do it! That's it!' I had no choice but to raise my hands like this.
But the end of man is the beginning of God. When the disciples despaired, only then did they see the Lord. So it was only then that he shook Jesus from his sleep and woke him up.
There are storms in human life. No one lives life without problems. Everyone will face difficult obstacles in life. There are times when a sudden problem strikes in a life that was as smooth as a storm in the calm sea. There are times when a business that has been on the verge of success suddenly creaks. Problems come suddenly to the body that you thought could do anything because you were healthy. There are times when things don't go as planned and we experience failure. It is truly a blast.
This is the time to look to the Lord. Now is the time to shake the sleeping Jesus and wake him up. We are falling in the midst of a storm right now, and if the Lord is sleeping, how does the Lord say that He is ignorant of our difficulties? How could the Lord be indifferent to our problems? If you do not do well, it is easy to blame the Lord like this.
In fact, some people have a habit of blaming God when something goes wrong. It's a bad habit. I have a habit of passing my problems on to someone other than myself. It is not my fault that I was wrong, but because of the environment, because of the world, because of that person, because of it, and ultimately because of God, I hope that I do not become a person of ‘because’ like this. God's people become people of 'Nevertheless', not because of. Funding is a failure. It's difficult now. It's hard now. But, Lord, give me strength. I'll start over. This kind of Joseph's prayer is the prayer of God's people and the people who are blessed.
When the Lord slept, spiritually, it means that our faith in the Lord is actually asleep. When prayer sleeps, the word sleeps, and faith sleeps, storms meet. Also, when they encounter a storm, they panic and forget prayer, forget the Word, and their faith falls asleep. Sometimes we go on without even knowing that Jesus is in us.
One day, while on vacation, I went to Busan and my car punctured on a busy street. It was the first time in my life that I was changing tires that I didn't know how to do, and I wasted more than an hour of wasting and sweating changing tires, throwing away all my clothes and hands in the middle of an unfamiliar street. I later found out that in such cases, if you ask for service from the insurance company, you can get the service at no cost. It means that the insurance already has all the qualifications to claim that. Still, he didn't know, so he had to throw away all his clothes by himself. If you don't know, you can't use it.
When you encounter a problem in life and in life, the problem seems huge. It seems like it will swallow up my whole life. So they are discouraged, and they sink down with fear and anxiety. But the ship the Lord is with is safe. A ship carrying the Lord can overcome any storm. No storm can sink the ship the Lord is with.
It was when Elisha, a man of God, stayed in the city of Dothan. Having received this information during the night, the Aramaean forces laid a double and triple siege. It was a plan to catch Elisha. In the morning Elisha's servant woke up and found that the Syrians had completely surrounded him. There was a riot. He is terrified and frightened, not knowing what to do. Alas, what can I do, my lord? It was a desperate cry. Then Elisha said to the servant, 'Do not be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' (2 Kings 6:16) And I prayed to God to open my eyes and see. When the prayer was over, Elisha's servant's eyes were opened, and he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha, the man of God. Later, the Arameans were blinded and barely survived with Elisha's help.
If we only look at problems in the midst of problems, we lose the hand of God's help. You will miss the horses and chariots of fire that God sent to His children. We must open our eyes of faith to see God's helping hand. When the Lord is with you, there is the key to solving the problem. If you only look at problems, you become discouraged. We must look to the Lord. We need to shake the Lord and wake him up. please open the way Please calm the storm. Look back on my death! We need to shake the Lord and wake him up.
The Lord is in the person of faith. Therefore, you must shake that Jesus to wake him up. The hand that shakes Jesus to wake him--that is prayer.
'Lord, I am about to die. Help me.'
If any of you lack wisdom,
Ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach
If you do, it will be given to you. James 1:5
don't worry about anything, only
By prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Then the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7
They wandered in the desert road in the wilderness, and found no city to dwell in.
With hunger and thirst the soul was weary within.
So in their distress they cried out to the LORD.
Deliver me from that pain and lead me in the right way
He brought them to a city to dwell in. Psalm 107:4-7
Yahweh is all who ask him
He is near to all who make a sincere supplication.
He grants the desires of those who fear him,
He will hear their cry and save them. Psalm 145:18-19
Then Jesus got up. And he rebuked the wind and the sea.
'Shut up. Be still.'
The wind that blew like that around the heavens and the earth subsided, and the waves that soared and roared as if they were swallowing up the whole world began to subside. Again the lake returned to its clear and calm appearance. Jesus rebuked the disciples who wiped away their astonished hearts.
'Why are you so afraid? How can you have no faith?'
The Lord is the Lord with the power to calm the storm like this. The Lord often said, 'Be still, be still,' when the wind is strong and the waves are raging. In this way, Jesus commands a change toward the problem that comes into our lives like this. But other times, he changes us. It is also filling us with the strength to overcome, the strength to bear, the faith to break down, and the wisdom to get through. The Lord sometimes clears mountains on our way. But in some cases, he gives us strength to climb the mountain. So our job is to pray in any case. It shakes the Lord and wakes him up.
And when we pray, we should pray like this.
1. Don't get discouraged - Pray for 10 minutes instead of worrying for 10 hours.
Satan's storehouses are full of seeds of disappointment and discouragement.
2. Do not doubt--doubt is the destroyer of all relationships.
3. Don't give up--Prayer is about keeping yourself in God's time.
The times and seasons belong to God, so pray to the end.
4. By faith -- believe to the end that God is righteous and gracious.
Jesus is in you. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. Please open your eyes of faith and look. When the disciples saw the Lord in the problem, the problem was already solved. The wind calmed and the sea calmed. It happened when I saw the Lord with the eyes of faith.
Even if you sometimes encounter storms in your life and life, do not be discouraged or afraid. Let's not forget that the Lord is with us. Let's go boldly in prayer, believing that the God who created the world and controls the world will solve our problems and calm the storms of life. If you win with faith in the midst of trials and pains, you will get mature faith and a more fragrant character. And God's blessings are with you.
Before I was afflicted, I was wrong
Now I keep Your word.
It is good for me to be afflicted
By this I have learned Your statutes.
Psalm 119:67,71
In the same way, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.
Do we not know what we ought to pray?
but the Holy Spirit for us with groanings too deep for words
You are the one who saves me.
We know that those who love God
to those who are called according to his purpose
All things work together for good. Romans 8:26,28
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