Who's boat are you in?

Devotional 9-3-11

Mark 4:35-41. “³⁵ That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” ³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. ⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” ⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” I am sure that if you have spent anytime in church this testimony has been shared with you either in Sunday school or the pastor has shared it from the pulpit. But this morning I wanted to share something that I have heard and had forgotten. It was not only His boat in the water. “There were also other boats with him.” Now you ask why that is important because many times we are asked to pray and trust God to provide for others. On average I get five to six phone calls everyday and that does not include e-mails and texts asking that I pray for this or that. Well it never really dawned on me until the other day when I was having a bad day and someone called. It is often easy to want to tell someone I can’t help you. It is often hard enough to carry our own load. But you know what I have learned; when we go to God and pray for others needs we are also proving how much we trust God to keep His promises. We have seen God do so many wonderful things around us that sometimes we forget He will do the same for us. Those in the other boats did not shout over telling them to wake up Jesus so they could survive the storm. Those in the boat with Him had to wake him. They both received the blessing but not everyone is in the boat with Him. When we pray for others God can and will do His will in their lives in the meantime we can learn to trust Him more with our own life. When he calms the seas around you it affects all those who are nearby. Have a blessed and merciful day in the Lord.