Well, I’m back at the library again. But I do have some good news, we should have new internet up and running by Friday morning! Yay! Thank you all so much for your prayers, I so greatly appreciate them!!! I LOVE YOU!!!
“You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?” Jonah 4:10-11
This morning I was watching TV when I got a text from a friend asking for prayer. At the EXACT moment that I received the text this verse came across the TV screen:
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” – Matthew 7:7-11
And as the host of the show was reading the verse my phone rang at the words, “how much more”. And as my phone rang, so did my spirit.
How much MORE? How much more would we have today if we had but asked? How much more does HE love us compared to how much we love ourselves? How much more?
His love for us is exceedingly, abundantly, beyond all that we could ask or imagine!
In Luke 11:30 we read, “For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.” This got me thinking, what is it that Jesus has in common with Jonah? Ha! Guess what the first thing that popped into my head was.
“One day He got into a boat with His disciples, and He said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side of the lake.’ So they set out, and as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke Him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And He awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this, that He commands even winds and water, and they obey Him?'” – Luke 8:22-25
“So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.” -Jonah 1:15-16
While Jonah isn’t the one who calmed the storm, it was because of him that it was raging in the first place. The storm wasn’t raging because Jesus was in the boat, but it was certainly calmed because He was!
There are storms all over the place in life, small ones, big ones, storms so big that they seem absolutely impossible. We all have a storm we’re facing, and maybe we’re facing it because we ran away from the presence of God. Or maybe we’re facing it because it’s just part of life. This brings to mind another storm out on the sea that involves a boat and some sailors.
“Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, ‘It is a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.’ And Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, if it is You, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come’. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me,’ Jesus IMMEDIATELY reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God.'” -Matthew 14:22-33
My friends, raging seas and storm-force gales can not keep us from walking on the water with Him. With Him, the seas become calm. With Him, the storm must be still. Beloved One, HOW MUCH MORE is the Love of our Savior towards us than we could ever possibly imagine? No matter what you’re going through today, He is WITH you. Believe it, speak it, and walk in that TRUTH and you will see your victory as your storm calms right before your very eyes.
Tamar Knochel 