What Do You Do When God Decides To Take A Nap During Your Problems?

(S)cripture:

Luke 8:22-25 "One day Jesus said to His disciples, Let's cross to the other side of the lake. So they got into a boat and started out. As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. But soon a fierce storm came down on the lake. The boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger. The disciples went and woke Him up, shouting, Master, Master, we are going to drown! When Jesus woke up, He rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. Then He asked them, Where is your faith? The disciples were terrified and amazed, 'Who is this man?' they asked each other. When He gives a command, even the wind and waves obey Him"

(O)bservation:

1) "...Jesus said to His disciples, let us cross to the other side of the lake. So they got into a boat..."

What struck me in this verse was the fact that Jesus wanted to be involved in their journey, He didn't say cross over to the other side yourselves, He said "Let Us" do it together. What dream or instruction has God given you? He doesn't expect you to go on that journey alone...He is telling you today, let US go on the journey together.

But the big question is, will you invite Him into your boat after receiving the instruction? A lot of us readily accept messages from God, but right after, we thank Him, jump into our boats, wave goodbye to Him and begin the journey ourselves.

God is telling you today "Let US do it together"!!!
Imagine you had Bill Gates as a friend, and he offered to start a business with you, i can only imagine what you would do. It seems a lot of us would treat Bill Gates a lot better than we do with the Almighty God.

The disciples got into the boat with Jesus and as they began sailing, Jesus settled down for a nap!!!

2) During every journey we start, there will be times when it seems Jesus has settled down for a nap, but even when we don't see Him, we need to be rest assured that His presence is still with us. When the storms came and the disciples panicked and went to wake Jesus up...His response was striking "Where is your faith?"

For Jesus to ask this question, it means He expected them to have enough faith?

He had already told them "Let us cross over to the other side?" Jesus expected that statement to be good enough for them, He expected them to hold on to that Word, to focus on the Word more than the raging of the storm.

What has God revealed to you? does it currently feel like He has settled in for a nap? have the storms of life come to discourage you? Where is your faith??? (It is just a test!!!)

James 1:2-4 says "...when troubles of any kind come your way (not if they come), consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So, let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing"

The storms of life come to test your faith, do you really believe what Jesus told you? The storms come to grow you into perfection.
Speak to those storms like Jesus did, rebuke the winds and the raging waves and stand firm on His Word.

(A)pplication:

When Jesus asked them "Where is your faith?", it suggests to me that they must have had faith at some point, but for some reason, it was nowhere to be found in that moment.
Personally, i believe the disciples still had Jesus in their heads and not yet in their hearts...

Motivation Speaker Niyi Adesanya once said, whenever he prepares for a talk, he prepares from his heart, because in his words "head to head communication only makes sense, it is heart to heart communication that makes a movement"

This is why i started doing the S.O.A.P strategy, i realized that whenever i simply read the bible, it was like the seeds that either fell on the footpath, rocky soil or among thorns in the parable of the sower (Matthew 13), the word just didn't translate into fruits in my life, but when i started going deep into the Word in meditation and documenting what i was observing, my life began to change, bad behaviours started to die and new ones were getting birthed.

Which heart do you have concerning that promise God has given you? "The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand Gods word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!" Matthew 13:23

Why don't you do a S.O.A.P on this same story of Jesus and post your observations in the comments section...can't wait to see what God will reveal through you 😀

(P)rayer:

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word today, I ask for the Grace to always invite you into every decision i take, into every journey i make. Help me remember that we are partners in this adventure of life, even when i don't see You, i ask for the Grace to always remember that Your presence is always with me.
Give me a deeper revelation of your word each day Father so that You won't have to ask where my faith is, I want You to be proud of me, proud of my obedience & trust in You. I want to do exploits with you and transform lives with your Message in Jesus Name!!!

"Seek First" is a platform inspired from Matthew 6:33 where we are encouraged to Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, live righteously, and everything we need will be given to us.

Our objective is to show you the practicality of this verse and hopefully inspire you to seek Him first daily. We use the S.O.A.P model as a study guide to help fulfill this mandate. We pick different scriptures and try to figure out how we can apply them to our daily lives, how they relate to the Kingdom of God and how we can live righteously through them. (S)cripture (O)bservation (A)pplication (P)rayer

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