Day 297 - Even the Wind and the Waves Obey Him

Daily Reading:  Mark 4-6

The Parable of the Four Soils -- Matthew 4

Footnote:  The four soils represent four different ways people respond to God's message.  Usually we think that Jesus was talking about four different kinds of people.  But he may also have been talking about,

1.  different times or phases in a person's life, or

2.  how we willingly receive God's message in some area of our lives and resist it in others. 

For example, you may be open to God about your future, but closed concerning how you spend your money.  You may respond like good soil to God's demand for worship, but like rocky soil to his demand to give to people in need.  We must strive to be like good soil in every area of our lives at all times.

I've never heard it explained this way but I thought it was really good and true.

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet!  Be still!"  Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.  He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid?  Do you still have no faith?"

They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this?  Even the wind and the waves obey him!"  4:39-41

Footnote:  The disciples panicked because the storm threatened to destroy them all, and Jesus seemed unaware and unconcerned.  Theirs was a physical storm, but storms come in other forms.  Think about the storms in your life -- the situations that cause you great anxiety.  Whatever your difficulty, you have two options:  You can worry and assume that Jesus no longer cares, or you can resist fear, putting your trust in him.  When you feel like panicking, confess your need for God and then trust him to care for you.

The disciples lived with Jesus, but they underestimated him.  They did not see that his power applied to their very own situation.  Jesus has been with his people for 20 centuries, and yet we, like the disciples, underestimate his power to handle crises in our lives.  The disciples did not yet know enough about Jesus.  We cannot make the same excuse.

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All footnotes taken from the Life Application Study Bible, NIV