PURPOSE DRIVEN STORMS

Hi Folks, I thought it would be good to share with you what God spoke to me, this morning, during my Quiet time. It was timed so well for me, and I hope it is for you as well. God's word is all about "Timing". I know you'll agree.I was reading the 14th Chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. The author reports 3 incidents, namely, The death of John the Baptist, Jesus feeding the 5000 & Jesus, Peter walking on water.

God led me to the 3rd incident specifically (i.e) Matt 14: 23 - 33, and as a quick recall, the incident goes like this....

After feeding the 5000, Jesus sends his disciples ahead of him in a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. Several hours later in the night, the disciples encounter a storm. Jesus comes to them, walking on the water. This terrifies the disciples and they think they are seeing a ghost. Jesus tells them in verse 27, "Take courage! It is I.  Don't be afraid." Peter replies, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." So Jesus invites Peter to come. Peter gets out of the boat and begins walking on the water toward Jesus. But when Peter takes his eyes off Jesus and sees the wind and waves, he begins to sink. Peter cries out to the Lord and Jesus immediately reaches out his hand and catches Peter. As they climb into the boat together, the storm ceases. Then the disciples worship Jesus, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." I am sure you are quite familiar with this story. I just want to focus on one aspect here.

What was the purpose of the storm? 

I'm sure you are familiar with the book, "Purpose Driven Life" by the well known Author & Pastor, Dr. Rick Warren. Picking a cue out of this, I thought I could title my today's devotion, "Purpose Driven Storms"

We read in V 32. that the storm ceased once Peter & Jesus got on to the boat. Many times in our life we see storms as hurdles and often ask the question, WHY ME ? & WHY NOW ?. You see here in this incident that Jesus never rebuked the storm, but once Peter's test was over and he had boarded the boat, the storm ceased. Peter, however flunked his test & infact Jesus remarked, "You of little faith, why do you doubt?" Folks, Be encouraged that  through this storm (challenging situation) God is building "a better you". I am sure Peter learned his lesson that day, which is "To keep his eyes on Jesus". 


What is God teaching you through the storms in your life ?  Lets think it over !