When we receive Kingdom peace from Jesus and move throughout life living under His expectation that we go, live, and walk in this peace, does that mean we will never have tumultuous times? No, it does not mean that at all. We will have storms that come throughout our journey. Some will be sudden and unexpected. Some will be short-lived in duration, while others will be marathons. As the storms come and go, we are to remember who is in the boat with us. The disciples had to learn this, and so do we."On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, 'Let us go across to the other side.' And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, 'Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?' And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Peace! Be still!' And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, 'Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?'" (Mark 4:35-40).
The disciples here were guilty of the sin of unbelief. Sar-Shalom, The Prince of Peace, was in the boat with them. Jesus was sleeping and not threatened by the storms of life, and He does not want us to be either. He desires that we walk in the peace that He gives, even during the storms of life.
Because Jesus was sleeping and not anxious like they were, the disciples accused Him of not caring about what they were going through. Can you imagine? They had God Himself in the boat with them and were accusing Him of not caring. That's the sin of unbelief.
The fruit of the sin of unbelief is anxiety, worry, and stress. These are the opposites of the peace that Jesus gives. When we are guilty of the sin of unbelief, we must be quick to repent and realize that with Christ in the vessel, we can smile at the storm.
With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm,
smile at the storm,
smile at the storm.
With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm,
As we go sailing home.
Sailing, sailing home.
Sailing, sailing home.
With Christ in the vessel we can smile at the storm,
As we go sailing home.
—Selected
As revealed by Jesus, there is peace in His Kingdom. That peace is imparted now in the citizens of the Kingdom through the residing presence of the Holy Spirit. Beloved, go in the peace of the Kingdom.
Excerpted from the book, The Kingdom According to Jesus by Gregory A. Johnson. Copyright © by Gregory A. Johnson. All rights reserved.
Know that you are loved,
gaj
