Be Thankful Even in the Storm!

This past Sunday, we studied the passage in Matthew 14:22-33 where the disciples are sent ahead by Jesus to cross the Sea of Galilee, allowing Him to be alone. Jesus was exhausted and was also grieving over the beheading of his cousin, John the Baptist. Talking about storms - what He must have felt like. In fact, in this passage, this was not the first time He had tried to get away by himself to pray.

We've all been there; grieving over the lost of a loved one, hurting from exhaustion from the stress going with our pain. Jesus, as man, was just as we are and he wanted to get by Himself to pray to His father.

The Luke account shows that while Jesus was up on the mountainside praying, he saw his disciples in a storm of their own. They had been rowing 3 1/2 miles across a 7 mile lake. A furious storm had overtaken them so that they could not go forward and could not go backward. They were in a state of panic.

Jesus knew just the right time to come. After all, He's the Master of the Sea and the Storm. The storm was in the sea and it's interesting that Jesus came to the disciples walking above the storm of the sea. No storm was going to slow him down!

His disciples saw him coming and thought He was a ghost. To calm them down, he exclaimed, "be of good cheer! It is I! Do not be afraid!" Matt 14:27.

But the ones who had been living with Him, following Him, and serving Him did not recognize the Master of the Sea. And Peter, one whom I believe was His best friend said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." Peter was asking Jesus to allow Him to walk above the storm!

We all do that don't we? We pray and beg the Lord to calm the storm, to allow us a way out of the storm. In other words, to allow us to walk above the storm to safety.

Jesus said to Peter, "come on!" Peter stepped out of the boat and as long as Peter had his eyes on Jesus, he was able to walk above the storm just as he had asked. But the minute Peter took his eyes off of Jesus, the storm returned all around him. Finally Jesus reached down and grabbed Peter and walked with him into the boat. And the storm ended.

Wow, what a story! But what did we learn?

1. We can be thankful knowing that Jesus is always praying for us when in the storm!
2. We can be thankful that Jesus is able to walk above the storm. We can be thankful that He's not taken by surprise and we can be thankful He's certainly able to handle any storm!
3. We can be thankful that at just the right time, Jesus, above the storm will come and lead us to safety. But we must keep our eyes on Him, not doubting, but believing and walking in faith.
4. We can be thankful as 1 Peter 5:8 and following reminds us in that we are not alone in the storms of life but that others around the world are fighting the same storm. We are not the only one in the storm!
   
5. We can be thankful that at the right time, with our eyes on Jesus, He will end the storm and lead us to safety!

So many lessons for those in the storms of life! And at this season of Thanksgiving, these 5 steps give us so much to be thankful for, even if we find ourselves in the many storms of life this season!

Happy Thanksgiving!