Luke 8:24-25 English Standard Version

24 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. 25 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?”

A sense of panic seems to be present in the world today. Uncertainty about the future can do that. Systems are failing all over the world and we see it in real time now. The news of what happens halfway round the world once took years to reach our shores and now we can watch it happening live. Panic sets in when we feel helpless in the face of danger. It causes us to react in the flesh.

Where is our faith? 

We put our faith in Christ who is able to affect real change. Why doesn’t He step in and do something about all this?

Asking that question misses what should be obvious but panic has set in and we have stopped listening by faith because we are distressed.

If we are to do His will by faith we need to trust Him who rules and reigns in our hearts.

In these opening verses Jesus performed a miracle in real time and the results of being asked “Where is your faith” was fear and wonder. Their response was not praise and honor. Glory to God was not on their lips.

When panic rules our minds we are making faith take a back seat to our actions in the moment. We are no longer living by faith, we are worried more about our will than His.

Cry out to the Lord, “What would you have me do?”

If there is anything you can do about the current situation then He who holds the power to affect change will tell you what is needed of you.

He told me, “Write the words I give you.”

Proverbs 4:20-27 English Standard Version

20 My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh. 23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. 24 Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. 25 Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. 26 Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.

Some spend a lot of time trying to decide what is the right thing to do. These are OT words but contain great advice because they say how to do right. Doing right is not a matter of deciding so much as it is a matter of being.

We walk by faith. We follow Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit as our companion on our walk. We have spoken of distractions which are identified here as a swerve off the path. We can see that in our driving and keeping focus on the road. When we look right our bodies tend to drift right and then we have to adjust back to the path of safety.

It must be noted that we already knew our course, where our final destination is and how to get there. We know that from the promises made by God and discovering His will in the life we live in Christ. It is in the being.

The pondering heart knows what Christ in us has to say about being together. It is in the being.

We are human beings and being human has its moments which are driven by the flesh which was given to us with purpose. God’s purpose is often misleading if we allow the flesh to be the center of our joy. The joy of the Lord is not in the flesh.

Romans 14:20 English Standard Version (ESV) Do not, for the sake of food(self-satisfaction), destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats(enjoys).

The (comments) are mine for the purpose of enlarging the conversation above and beyond foods offered to idols. We can make anything into an idol. When we allow anything to take over that place of affection in our minds and ignore our true heart.

As we spoke of recently, our right choices originate from the heart which is ruled by Christ.