Jay's Message- June 25

What does faith have to do with faithfulness? The answer seems easy- that which is trustworthy is 

easy to trust. Right?

But in the dynamic of life, we have to remain faithful to the Lord in real time – when the crisis comes, we must choose whether or not to stand on what we believe. Consider an experience the disciples had 

and the Lord’s response to them.

The three “synoptic” gospel accounts all record Jesus calming a storm on the Sea of Galilee (Matthew

8:18-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25). In two accounts (Matthew and Luke), they acknowledge that 

they are perishing, and in Mark’s account, they hurl the accusation at Him, “Don’t you care!” Remember, several of them were experienced professional fishermen who were no doubt well acquainted 

with the sudden “pop-up” storms common to the Sea of Galilee. This one was beyond their seamanship. 

When Jesus calms the storm, He questions them regarding their faith. In three statements, which har-

monize perfectly, Jesus states that their faith is “little” (Matthew), that even after witnessing the mira-

cle of calming they “still” have no faith (Mark) and directs them to evaluate where their faith really is, 

or in what their faith is placed (Luke).

The essence of faith is trust, placing confidence in the absolute dependability of God and His promises.

God is faithful (Psalm 36:5-12). Consider:

1.Do we allow circumstances to blind us to God’s faithfulness?

2. Are we willing to accept that God may work things out differently than we think He will, and that

is OK?

3. Are we convinced that God’s ultimate purposes will be for our own good?

4. Is it our joy to glorify God?

Each Lord’s Day in June, we will be talking about faithfulness. My prayer is that we will become more

convinced than ever before that we can trust in God, always, with no exceptions. Question- had you

been in that boat, what would your response have been?