Last night before falling asleep my husband read the news of the day. He mentioned that ISIS had publically beheaded a British aid worker. My thoughts immediately turned to prayer for this man’s family and asking God to dispel this evil in our world.

This morning, I read the Book of Ephesians (because we are studying Ephesians in our current message series). I’ve read and listened to Ephesians dozens of times, but there is a phrase that has not touched me in the past.

“Therefore, put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13 – NIV)

Evil is rampant in our world, but God has given us what we need to battle this evil (Ephesians 6:14-18). Truth. Righteousness. Gospel of peace. Faith. Salvation. The Word of God. Prayer.

Dear friends, there is a battle going on (Ephesians 6:10-12). Are you willing to stand your ground?

High Winds – Blogging A to Z

I live in Colorado. Over the past 18 hours, we have been experiencing some very gusty winds. Our personal weather station only records winds up to 30 mph…we’ve hit that mark on several occasions and believe we have gone above that speed.

There is some wind damage on our property. The winds cleared the deck of items that have never blown off and we have had some high winds before. And then there is a portion of the fence that landed in our neighbor’s yard.

My husband waited for our neighbor to get home from work before temporarily fixing the issue. It was dark, cold, and the snow began before they fixed it to their satisfaction.

I am reminded of the section of Scripture when Jesus walked across the water to meet His disciples. Among the disciples were seasoned fishermen and they had been sent by Jesus to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus retreated to the mountains by Himself to pray.

While Jesus was praying on the mountainside, the disciples were battling wind and waves in the middle of the lake.

In Matthew 14:25 (NIV), the story gets interesting. “During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.”

In the middle of this raging storm, Jesus walked to the disciples, who were a considerable distance from the shore. The disciples were terrified and cried out in fear. Not of the wind and waves, but of the “ghost” walking toward them.

But then Jesus spoke, telling them who He was and not to be afraid. Peter questioned that this was really Jesus. Why didn’t Peter recognize Jesus’ voice? Didn’t Peter just leave a miraculous event and had heard Jesus speak? Peter had been with Jesus for quite a while at this point and he still didn’t recognize His Master’s voice?

Peter asked Jesus to prove who He was. He wanted evidence that this person was who He said He was. It’s no wonder Peter received these striking words from Jesus. “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31 – NIV)

We may not be so different from Peter. In the midst of wind and waves in our lives, perhaps we question if Jesus is really speaking to us. Perhaps we question if He is really with us.

So what can we learn from this passage of Scripture? Let’s look at a few points.

Lesson #1

Recognize the voice of your Master. If we are in God’s Word, we will hear Jesus’ voice. We come to know and recognize His voice. Get into the Bible. Read it daily. Know for certain when you hear Jesus’ voice that you will recognize it.

Lesson #2

We can believe that Jesus is with us. If we look to Jesus’ words, we find that He is with us. Later in the Book of Matthew, Jesus reassured His disciples (and us), that He would be with them. “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20b – NIV) We have His word. Jesus is with us.

Lesson #3

There is no reason to doubt. Yes, Jesus is with us at all times, but there is no reason to doubt that He is with us through the difficulties of our lives. Regardless of what winds and waves we experience, Jesus is with us. He will show up in our most distressing times, but we must be looking for Him, not something or someone else.

Lesson #4

Do not fear. Fear is crippling. Fear keeps us from doing what we need to do. With Jesus by our side, we are able to work through the wind and waves and press on to victory. Remember what happened to Peter because of his fear? He began to sink. We will too if we do not look to Jesus for His presence, strength, and guidance.

The fence doesn’t look so bad this morning. The winds have died down a bit and there is still work to do, but it is much better than it was last night.

Much like our lives, things seem to look better when daylight arrives. Don’t give up. Keep working toward the goal. Look to Jesus. He is always with you.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Donna