Wake Up, Lord

The sea is a great place to look for metaphors on life. Are you adrift, looking for a lighthouse, tossed to and fro by the wind and the waves? Do you need an anchor, are your sails drooping, are you rudderless or about to capsize? Are you cresting the wave or in a trough right now? Are you in the middle of a storm or is it clear sailing?

Laurie and I are in the middle of a storm. It blew in out of a clear blue sky, and though we know that storms are temporary things, that they always blow over…this one seems mighty and raging at the moment. I know that’s an illusion…but I still can’t help feeling that I have to wake up the Lord…

Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee, Rembrandt, 1633

And when He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but He was asleep. 25 And they went and woke Him, saying, Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And He said to them, Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then He rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?” Matthew 8:23-27 ESV

Oh how comforting, yet confusing, this passage of scripture is to me. He did calm the storm I remind myself. But I totally understand the disciples’ fears and what those fears led them to do. Even as I type this, I want to shout, “Wake up, Lord, we’re being swamped by the waves!” My beautiful wife isn’t as concerned about what the waves are doing to her, not nearly as much as she is about what they might keep her from doing for others. Which just makes me want to shout even louder, “Wake up, Lord!”

Is that wrong? It seems right…it seems sooooooo right…so right to cry out to Jesus whenever, wherever, and however I need help. At every level it just seems right…heart, soul, mind and strength…right, right, right and right…I seek you, Lord! So why did Jesus–the Savior ask, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”

This fear of the storm account appears in all three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:35-41, Luke 8:22-25), and in each case the Lord is disappointed at the disciples’ lack of faith, and the fact that they were afraid. But He never asks, “Why did you wake Me up?” or say to them, “Don’t bother Me, you don’t need My help.” And if I’m right, then I know He’s disappointed in me right now too–not for the first, thousandth or ten thousandth time either. I don’t want to fear, but I do…and though I do have faith–oh how it needs to grow…like the disciples in the storm…or this poor man…

17And someone from the crowd answered Him, Teacher, I brought my son to You, for he has a spirit that makes him mute…….21 And Jesus asked his father, How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23 And Jesus said to him, If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, I believe; help my unbelief!” Mark 9:17-24 ESV

But I need to be like this man…

And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, Lord, if You will, You can make me clean.” And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matthew 8:2-3 ESV

Or this man…

When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” And He said to him, I will come and heal him.” But the centurion replied, Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who followed Him, Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment. Matthew 8:5-13 ESV

The leper and the centurion don’t even sound that concerned as they make their requests of the Lord. Is that true? I think the answer is yes and no. Living a life of leprosy, and having a favored servant lying paralyzed…how could they not be anguishing over such storms? But the anguish didn’t leak into their words because they knew they were looking at the answer. “If You will…Only say the word,” both phrases spoken with absolute confidence! Lord, give me faith like that!

O Me of Little Faith

Neither the leper or the centurion knew what I know. Certainly they heard and maybe even saw some of the miracles Jesus had performed. But they didn’t have my 2,000 years later vantage point, there was no way they could realize just exactly Who they were talking to…not like I do. The leper may have witnessed a miracle of healing before he approached the Lord, but I can’t imagine he saw anywhere near as many as I have–I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve seen hopeless cases turned around by the power of prayer, usually with much richer, deeper answers than merely a physical reprieve. And when the centurion said, “Only say the word…”, could he have known he was addressing the One who spoke the universe into existence? I do! And yet when I’m within the storm, and while I know that my part of the battle is to walk by faith–instead I fear and doubt.

The Lord hates doubt! Every time He encountered it in the Gospels He rebuked the doubters–“O you of little faith,” He laments over and over again. Why…why would that be? Even when we are faithless, He is faithful–Thank You, Lord! So why? It’s simple…because we are hindered by our lack of faith…

But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:6-8 ESV

And as impossible as it may seem…that…hinders…Him!

And when Jesus had finished these parables, He went away from there, 54 and coming to His hometown He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is not this the carpenter’s Son? Is not His mother called Mary? And are not His brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all His sisters with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” 57 And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” 58 And He did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief. Matthew 13:53-58 ESV

Whether you read that scripture and think their unbelief meant Jesus could not do many miracles, or would not do many miracles…in either case, the undeniable fact is this…HE DID NOT do many miracles!

I don’t want to be hindered in this storm, and I certainly don’t want our Lord to be hindered from bringing us through this storm. So, I find myself praying over and over again, “Lord, if You’re willing…increase my faith, please increase my faith. Let me move mountains and plant trees in the sea.”

Increase my faith, Lord, and then let me cry out to you. And I know I don’t have to wake You up, Lord…Your eyes search the earth to strongly support those whose heart is completely Yours…nor should I be surprised at the fiery trial that has come to test us…just as I know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose and that You will never leave nor forsake us.

But I want to do my part too…I need to do my part. The Lord told me, Ask anything in My name and I will do it.” So today, and everyday that we are in this storm I will kneel down before the Throne of Grace, and I will pray…fighting to put aside all doubt and fear, I will pray…to the One who rebukes the wind and the waves, I will pray…to the One who knit Laurie together in her mother’s womb, and knew ever day of her life before a single one was even written, I will pray…and to the One who knows what we need even before we know to ask, I will pray. I will cry out, ” Lord Jesus, only say the word, and we are saved.”

May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Jesus Christ,Mike

Storm Update

Most of this post was written in the first few days after we received Laurie’s test results. Sentences and paragraphs were drafted between bouts of tears. Honestly, it wasn’t as much me writing a blog post as it was my just trying to find a way to sort through the ‘impossible’ thing that had just happened to my wife and my life.  More importantly, it was written before we’d shared what was happening with anyone other than our immediate family, who were of course every bit as stunned as we were.  And it was written before any of us had truly thrown ourselves into prayer.  Since then we’ve reached out to the rest of our family, and friends, and church family…and the prayer response has been amazing and humbling!  I know that many of you who are reading this are part of that, and I cannot find the words to tell you how grateful Laurie and I are for your love and support.  And I want you to know that the Lord is awake…He is standing in the bow of the boat rebuking the storm.  Coordination for Laurie’s medical treatment was expected to take many days, maybe even weeks, but God did it in just a few hours–putting her under the care of one of the most respected oncologists in the region as He did.  And that’s just the beginning…so many wonderful blessings have happened in the past few days that it makes my eyes leak just remembering them…I’ll try to find ways to share them at some point.  But let me close for now with this almost incomprehensible fact–since Laurie and I–with all of our prayer partner’s help, have handed this burden over to the Lord, we’re not worried about the storm anymore.  The peace that surpasses all understanding has come upon us, and all our eyes can see is our Lord and His blessings.    THANK YOU, LORD! 

Comments

6 responses to “Wake Up, Lord”

  1. Vonnie Anderson Avatar
    Vonnie Anderson

    It doesn’t seem to matter how bad things are that happen to me; I can always praise the Lord for the situation. It is SO MUCH harder to praise Him when it’s happening to someone else. Someone I love so very much!
    So, I, too, have spent the last week crying out to God ……..reminding Him of His promises and to be honest, trying to manipulate Him into doing things MY way…..like I know best. Please forgive me, Jesus, and thank you for reminding me that we are to praise You in all things…..even those things that we don’t understand or agree with simply because You are GOD!
    So, I do praise You, Lord Jesus, for what Laurie and Mike are going through right now, but I also ask, if you will, please touch Laurie, so she may be healed. May this situation be used to touch another life and bless that person. Please keep Mike and Laurie’s faith strong and their eyes on you as they go through this terrifying storm. Thank you.

    Thank you, Papa Mike, for sharing your heart is such a beautiful way.

    1. Papa Mike Avatar

      Thank you, I can’t tell you how comforting your words are or how faith-building it is to know that we’ve got one of the Lord’s best prayer warriors crying out for us. May the Lord bless you right back!

  2. Nina Avatar
    Nina

    I just love reading your posts. I’ve been spending so much time in prayer for Laurie that I feel like it’s changing my prayers and my faith, which I’m so thankful for. Our pastor is teaching in Luke, and last Sunday we talked about the faith of the Centurion. I’m working on having faith that big! Thank you for your words of encouragement and insight. Know that many of us are praying just as much for Papa Mike and others that are also impacted by Laurie’s diagnosis.

    By the way, our pastor’s Sunday message was impactful and you can listen to it at Calvary Chapel New Harvest website if you’d like. It opens with a story about jumping (having faith) when you can’t see. I teared up hearing it thinking about how great our God is.

    Sending love and prayers.

    1. Papa Mike Avatar

      Nina, I listened to the sermon and was so blessed by it. You’re pastor reaffirmed so well that God is in control and we just need to TRUST Him. Thank you for sharing, for all your prayers and for being such a light to us both. Have a blessed day!

  3. bill Avatar
    bill

    I’ve always loved the old hymn, The Anchor Holds, though the storms rage.

    1. Papa Mike Avatar

      Bill, I’d never heard it before…but I have now, and I am blessed. Can’t wait to share it with Laurie. Thank you so much.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *