The Other Side of Faith

Mark 4:35
And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

I just read some articles by some of the more popular preachers. It seems from what some of these people preach that living for Jesus is nothing but roses. I do believe that God wants to bless us. He wants to give us abundant life. But that doesn’t mean that He won’t use hardship in our lives to mold us into what He desires us to be.

We hear the passage above, and we give the Lord Jesus praise for being the “peace speaker”. And we should praise Him for calming storms in our lives. But notice what He said to His disciples after He calmed the storm. “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” Come again, Jesus? Let’s flash back to what He initially said to the disciples. He said, “let us pass over to the other side” (v.35). They already had His word that they were going to make it. The storm was not calmed because of their great faith, it was calmed because of their lack of faith.

How often do we encounter storms in our lives? This passage should give us comfort in knowing that on our journey, as we progress in our walk with Christ that storms will arise, but we will make it to the other side. True faith is not seen in calming the storm, it’s seen in weathering the storm. In the book of Hebrews, we all know of the “Hall of Faith”, the eleventh chapter. And in this chapter we read about some of the victories that faith brought to those who trusted God. But somewhere around the thirty-sixth verse, we begin to read about those who encountered severe storms. They were mocked, beaten, imprisoned, stoned, sawn in half (ouch!), and killed with the sword. Yet, all these had faith! They trusted God, in spite of their circumstances.

True faith is not about living well, with no bumps in the road. True faith isn’t about money in the bank. It’s about trusting God-period. So hang in there with me, wait out the storms in your life, and let God mold you into the man or woman of God He has called you to be! God bless!