SESSION 2 Now when you're in difficulty, what do you want? Little more redemption? "Send a little more difficult to my way, Lord, I'm not redeemed enough yet." You're sitting in the moment of a life mass and you're singing, "Redeemed how I love to proclaim it. Redeemed by the blood of the lamb." I don't think so. I mean, there are moments where we're very tempted to attach our ascent to the faithfulness of God to his willingness to remove the difficulty. That's the spiritual equation for us. You remove this difficulty, I'll gladly praise you. So now the waves are still blowing. Waves don't blow. Waves are still crashing. The wind is blowing and Jesus is now walking out on the water toward the disciples. When it says he meant to pass by them, it didn't mean that he needed a GPS. It means that Jesus wanted to take a big enough arc so all of the disciples would be sure to see him. Now back to your Bibles. Verse 49, "But when they saw him walking on the sea, they stood and sang the doxology." Oh, that's not what my Bible says, actually. But when they saw him walk in the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out. They're not heartened at all. Amazing. This is one of the clearest physical demonstrations of the utter glory of Christ and the wonder of his grace in all of the New Testament and these guys are freaked out. They're not feeling heartened at all. Unless you and I be too hard on the people in the boat. What happens inside of you when you face unexpected trial? Do you wonder about God's goodness all over again? Do you wonder if prayer works all over again? Do you wonder if God is near all over again? Do you wonder about his faithfulness all over again? Are you tempted to bring God into the court of your judgment and question his faithfulness and love? Do you go through the same panic all over again? Be honest in this holy moment, do you? The shocking thing about this moment is these people had seen his glory. They had just recently watched him raise a little girl from the dead. She was dead. Dead dead. And she lived again. They had actually watched him calm another storm. They had watched him feed a large multitude with a little boy's lunch. They had seen the stunning glory of the Messiah, yet here they are in the same old panic all over again as if they had never seen anything. What about you? You've seen God's glory. You've seen God's glory again, and again, and again. What happens to you when you're in the storm? I hinted at this, but what happens next is a picture of stunning grace. Notice the scene now. Jesus now standing next to the boat. The storm is still going on. The waves are still crashing. The wind is still blowing. These guys are still in this situation way beyond their strength and way beyond their ability, way beyond their ability to solve. Nothing has changed in the moment, but now Jesus is in this moment with the disciples. And although they don't recognize him, although they're in the same panic, Jesus doesn't say this, "I've had it. I've taught you, and taught you, and taught you. I've revealed my glory over and over again. Get out of the boat. I'm getting new disciples." That's what I would've done. Out. But not this one. Jesus speaks the most beautiful words that could ever be spoken. They are literally words that if understood and received will change everything about you and everything about your life. They're that amazing. And I don't think the English translations do very well with this little statement, "Take heart as I. Do not be afraid." I'm deeply persuaded that what Jesus is doing is taking one of the names of God. He's saying to the disciples, "Don't you understand the I Am is here. The I Am is here. The I Am is here. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Lord, King Creator, the Sovereign One who holds everything together by the word of his power, the one on whom all the covenant promises rest. The I Am is here. The I Am is here. The I Am is here." It's impossible for you to ever be in the storms of life by yourself because your life has been invaded by the grace of the One who is the I Am. The I Am is here. That moment is meant to transform the disciples. That moment is meant to give them a nuisance of identity, a nuisance of meaning and purpose, a sturdiness of faith that can keep them even when life is hard. The I Am is here. My hope is not in people. My hope is not in locations. My hope is not in situations. My hope is in one thing, the I Am has invaded my life by his grace. I have hope. Amen.
Transcript: Session 2
WOMEN HELPING WOMEN
25
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