Why Jesus Could Sleep In The Boat

2/27/2022

Matthew 8:23, Jesus, “got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ He 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. The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!’”

A couple of things seem obvious:

1) Jesus has the authority to rebuke a storm—to conquer nature, circumstances, weather, health, death itself, odds, physics, time, and enemies.

2) He’s SHOCKED when we don’t stay in a state of personal PEACE simply because things around us or inside of us are cra-cra. He EXPECTS us to see *HIM* through it all, and not lower our eyes to circumstances or self.

Can we all embrace BOTH things at the same time? :)

Jesus and His don’t need the Storms to stop to have peace. They already have peace. That’s why He could sleep.

Oh so glad to be reminded of the Provision and Expectation that I’d be peaceful in Him during concurrent internal and external storms. I Believe I can rest in Him! It feels like a camel going through the eye of a needle, but we all know how that is possible :)

I’ve been thinking a lot the last few days about the phrase “the joy of the Lord is my strength,” realizing more and more that there really is a lot of power in Joy. It’s not “the strength of the Lord is my strength” or “the power of the Lord is my strength.” It’s “the JOY of the Lord is my strength.”

It’s impossible to be joyful without that place of Peace, but that’s where we find the Lord’s strength. That is far more than anything I can grit my teeth and try try try soooo hard to do.