Roping Religion: He is in your boat

Many of the ideas and scriptures for this article are from the devotional “God Wants You To Win!” by world champion calf roper Jeff Copenhaver.

Matthew 8:23-27 Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. 24Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25The disciples went and woke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 26He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. 27The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”

It is a good thing to have Jesus in the boat with you. Last year we went to Tiber with our friends and enjoyed an afternoon boating and visiting. We got out of the boat and sat on the beach for a bit when the wind came up. It was a challenge to get the boat unstuck and turned around in the middle of the big wind that suddenly arose. Jesus and His disciples did not have a powerful engine on their boat. They suddenly found themselves in a dangerous situation. To make matters worse, Jesus was sleeping. The disciples are panicking and thinking that they are going to drown while Jesus is getting some rest. When the disciples wake Jesus up, He rebukes the winds and the waves and things completely calm down. When Jesus speaks things happen.

On our journey to become free and whole in Christ Jesus we are going to encounter some storms. The scriptures teach us that the horse is made ready for battle but victory comes from the Lord. There are some practical things that we can do to position us for victory when we encounter some of the typical trials of life.

My dad was great at keeping his vehicles maintained. His cars lasted for many years and many miles. He regularly had the oil changed and kept up on vehicle maintenance. If the tires did not look good he put new tires on. He prevented many problems by planning and preparing in advance.

We can’t plan away every possible problem. We can do our best and trust Jesus for the rest. I have found that God won’t do my part but that He is able to do more than all we ask or imagine through the Holy Spirit working in us.

I have never seen God connect the boat trailer to the pickup, load the boat with supplies, wax the boat, change oil, fill the boat with gas, untarp the boat or park the trailer. Certainly God gives us the ability to work, but God does not do our work for us. He enables us to work and enjoy the gifts He has given.

Rather than rowing harder for the shore and praying to God while they were rowing, it appears to me that the disciples wanted to blame Jesus for their circumstances and for not immediately rescuing them from their circumstances. It seems to me that often God will bring us safely through our trials rather than taking us out of our trials. We teach our young children not to quit something that they have started when the going gets tough. That is a great life lesson. The Bible teaches us that if we falter in times of adversity our strength is weak. We need to persevere and overcome in order to obtain the victory.

Jesus will not jump ship on us. He tells us not to fear. He can help us calm down and not panic when we are in the storms of life. If the boat does fall apart He can still get us safely ashore. Our times are in His hands. One strategy that we can employ when we are in trials is to praise Him. Don’t praise Him for the trials and don’t ask Him for trials. Praise Him because He inhabits the praises of His people. God notices when we call out to Him. We need to continue to do the next right thing. We need to make sure that we have built our lives on the foundation of Jesus. Let’s trust God and allow Him to work all things together for good for those of us who love Him.

May God bless you big.

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This is the 18th in a series of columns by Kevin Barsotti, pastor of Ark Church in Havre.