Luke 8:22-26 - "And a Windstorm Came Down..."

For the past several days we have been talking about “going to the other side” with Jesus. I can’t emphasize it enough, that the heart of God is the redemption of mankind. This is the storyline of the whole Bible! Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost! The world of people is in darkness, sin and shame, and then Jesus came as the Light of the world to pay the penalty for our sin and to show us the way of salvation. People are perishing and we must throw out the lifeline of hope and the cross to save them.   For some of us, the “other side” might simply be across the street to a neighbor. It might be “other side” of our neighborhood, or the “other side” of town, or the state or country. It might be the “other side” of the world where there are 3.5 billion precious souls in the 10/40 window who have little or no access to the Gospel. Romans 10:13-15 reminds us that before they can call upon the name of the Lord to be saved, they need to hear about Him! “For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"   We must pray, give, go, and send, so that those who are on the other side might hear and be saved!   I have often heard people say, “The safest place to be in the world is in the will of God”. Actually, in Scripture we learn just the opposite. “The most dangerous place to be might be in the will of God.” In this passage shortly after the disciples got into the boat and obeyed the Lord to go to the other side they encountered a terrific storm that threatened to sink their boat and drown them.   Remember that before our faith can be trusted it must be tested. I can assure you that when you truly surrender your life to Lord to obey and do His will, you will be tested! The storms of life will come down upon you and threaten your very existence. The storms of opposition from family and friends are usually first. The storms of finances soon follow that. Then the storms of temptation and persecution from the world and others bear come blowing and raining down on you too!   Can I remind you that ten of the original twelve disciples died by martyrdom. Paul had his head cut off by Nero. Jesus promised His disciples that they would be treated the same way He was! And that in this world they would face tribulation (John 16:33), but to be of good cheer, He had overcome the world.   Can you imagine how terrible this storm must have been for the disciple who were seasoned fisherman with tremendous amount of experience on the same sea to be so afraid that they thought they were going to perish. And guess where Jesus was? He was sleeping!   My friend, when you attempt in obedience to go to the other side you will no doubt find yourself in this same boat. And just when you need Jesus the most, He will appear to be sleeping. In Mark’s Gospel the disciples accused Jesus of not caring. “They awoke Him and said, “Teacher, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing” (Mark 4:38). Remember Martha and Mary had the same issue later when their brother Lazareth died. They both told Jesus, “If you had been here, our brother would not have died” (John 11:21, 32).   We can attempt to avoid the storms by choosing to disobey the will of God, but we will also miss experiencing His marvelous and mighty miracles as we join Him in bringing precious souls to salvation on “the other side”!   God bless!