Monday, October 25, 2004
I've never been in a storm at sea and that's just fine! I've heard the stories, and that's enough. Like the ship some years ago that was making a transatlantic voyage from Liverpool, England, to New York. One night, at a time when most of the passengers were sleeping, the ship was hit by this mega Atlantic storm. The wind and the waves were so violent, that at one point they tipped the ship almost on its side, and down below passengers were thrown out of their bunks! That is what you call a rude awakening!
In one cabin, a little girl was thrown out of her bed, like everyone else, and her mother had already been awakened by the intensity of the storm. There was one thing different, though, about this particular passenger - her Daddy was the captain! Bleary eyed, she asked her Mom the only thing she really wanted to know about the situation, "Is Daddy on deck?" Her Mom said, "Well, yes he is, honey." The little girl's response was right to the point, "Then I'm going back to bed."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When Daddy's on Deck."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Matthew 8, beginning in verse 5. "When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him asking for help. 'Lord, he said, my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.' Jesus said to him, 'I will go and heal him.' The centurion replied, 'Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed, for I, myself, am a man under authority with soldiers under me. I tell this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and that one, 'Come,' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it.' When Jesus heard this, He was astonished and he said to those following Him, 'I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.'"
Verse 13 tells us the conclusion of it all, "then Jesus said to the centurion, 'Go! It will be done just as you believed it would, and his servant was healed at that very hour." Now in this story there is a powerful insight into the kind of faith that Jesus loves - and it gets things done! It says Jesus was astonished. Faith that amazes Jesus! He calls it great faith. Further on in the chapter, He says to the men who were with Him constantly, "You of little faith!" During the storm when they were freaking out, just before He got up and rebuked the wind and the waves and it was completely calm. Astonished! Why? Because He finally found a man who understood the connection between faith and authority. The centurion said, "I say something to my servants, and they do it. I have total authority over them. But Jesus, someone I care about is in a crisis I can't handle, but you have total authority over this illness. Whatever you say to this illness, it will do."
Faith is acknowledging the total authority of Jesus over the situation. That's what the disciples couldn't do in their storm. They acted as if Jesus didn't have authority over the storm, but He did! He spoke to it like a parent would speak to a child, and "it was calm." So the faith issue for you right now may very well be who or what you believe has the final authority in this situation. Will the company decide it? Will the economy decide it? Is this disease going to have the final word? Your mate? Your feelings?
Or is everything in this situation totally under the authority of your Savior, Jesus Christ? Yes or no. If it is, and you make that your bottom line, the panic is over. The peace that defies logic is kicking in. There's an unexplainable sense of well-being and calm that comes when you settle where the final authority is in this, and the shield of faith will extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, because Satan cannot touch something you've completely given to Jesus. Like that little girl blown around by that dangerous storm, all you need to know is if your "Father's on deck." There's nothing He can't handle, so you might as well go back to bed. Your Lord is in charge!