Okay, it’s December and I am still working my way through the October section of my Chronological Bible. My dilemma comes in trying to decide if I should read as far as I can until December 31st and then begin all over again or do I continue on and enter this New Year behind? I have wrestled between these two decisions the past few days. My organized and orderly mind insists that I read until December 31st, and then start over in Genesis; after all I couldn’t possibly enter a New Year and still be in the New Testament. But then my heart says, “What if God has a special message for me in the book of Ephesians, 1 Timothy or Revelation? Do I want to miss His message just because I don’t want to start the New Year “behind?”
When I began 2013, I was determined to take my time and not miss what God desired to say to me through His word, but I wasn’t thinking about the end of the year. Here I am at the end wondering what to do. This week I was in Mark 4 and God spoke so clearly. If you’ve read it, you will remember that Jesus had just been teaching and healing the multitudes of people. He was tired and suggested that He and his disciples row to the other side of the lake. They climbed in and as they entered the boat, Jesus made his way to the stern of the boat- the back!
Exhausted, he fell asleep on a cushion. As they began to row, they noticed that the winds were beginning to increase and the clouds were moving in. Picking up their pace, they continued to row. Then the rain started to fall, the thunder shook the boat and lightning threatened their well-being. Panic set in! Fear gripped them and they screamed out, “Lord, we are going to drown, don’t you care about us? Help!” Jesus stood up, now picture that! If you have ever been in small fishing boat, you know that you have to be very careful when standing, as to not throw off the center of gravity causing it to turn over. He commands the winds and the waves to be still. “Quiet, be still.” Immediately the storm ceases. Why? Because the One who created them and had control over them commanded that they cease their activity and be still.
Jesus then turned to the disciples and said, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Ouch! There have been times when God has had to address me in this way, “Dianne, My child, why are you so fearful? After all I have done and all you have witnessed of My glory and provision, do you still lack a great faith?”
The disciples began to ask one another, “Who is this? Even the winds and waves obey him?” If you look back in the previous chapters, you’ll see that Jesus called and appointed His disciples, turned the water into wine, healed many with illnesses and diseases, raised the widow’s son from his death bed, taught on being born again at Nicodemus’s house, changed the life of a Samaritan woman, spoke on fasting and prayer, healed Simeon’s mother, touched the man with leprosy and cleansed him, healed the paralytic who was lowered through the roof, healed a man’s hand and taught multitudes through using parables. The disciples had witnessed all these miracles and more, prior to entering the boat that day, so why did they not realize “who” was in the boat with them?
As I read these verses, I noticed that Jesus went to the stern, the place from which a boat is controlled. He could have positioned himself anywhere in the boat, yet he went to the stern. No matter the storm we find ourselves in, we can trust that God is at the stern – He is in control, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Unlike the disciples, who looked at their circumstances, forgetting all they had witnessed of Jesus’ power and omniscience, we must look back and remember what we have witnessed and trust Him! We must choose to exercise a great faith in the midst of the storm.
I think I have settled my dilemma. I am going to continue my way through the Word, listening and looking intently for God’s message for me. I don’t want to miss anything! I am going to choose to begin this New Year, not in Genesis, but in whatever book I find myself in on December 31st; anxiously awaiting His instruction for me each morning.
Father, oh how powerful you are! Thank you for your word and for desiring to teach us each day. I am grateful that you stretch my faith through the storms of life and that I can look back and remember your faithfulness! In the coming year, speak into my life the truths and lessons that you, as my father, desire to teach this your child.
dianne
Reading for December 31st, “ Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give youthis testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star. The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll. He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”