And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
And he said unto them, why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? Mark 4:47-41
Recently I had a similar experience to the disciples on the boat. I was having such a difficult week, it got so bad I had to ask the same question, Lord don’t you care? Don’t you care that I am about to drown in all these challenges, I’ve been praying, Lord will you not arise and help me? At that moment I was not thinking about this scripture, I was in a place of discouragement and I was somewhat afraid. Then the Holy Spirit brought this scripture to mind and I read it. He also reminded me of the story of Jairus and Jesus in Luke 8.
Jairus went to Jesus asking for his daughter to be healed, Jesus was on His way when Jairus got the news that the daughter was dead. And Jesus’ response was fear not, have faith.
When Jesus was on the boat with His disciples, the storm became fierce. The disciples thought the storm would destroy them, so they called out to Jesus saying – Carest thou not that we perish? and Jesus responded why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
Jesus’ response in both situations deals with – fear and faith
Then He impressed this question on my heart: If the enemy were to attack your faith, based on these scriptures what would he do? I thought about the question and my response was: that the enemy would manipulate the external circumstances to get to my faith.
The storm was an external circumstance that caused the disciples to be afraid, the death of Jairus’s daughter was also the manipulation of an external circumstance to cause him to fear. In both situations, the target was the faith of men and the weapon was an external circumstance. Right there, I realized that the manipulation of my external circumstances was only an attempt to attack my faith.
You know it is easy to rise in prayer and enforce your victory when the attacks of the enemy are obvious. But there are times when his attacks look like a natural turn of events and when interpreted that way, it’s so easy to give into discouragement and fear. When I think it’s just life, then it is easy to ask God if He does not care. But the moment I realized this was the enemy up in my circumstances attempting to destroy my faith, the recognition of that alone changed my response.
Today I just want to encourage and prepare your heart. To remind you that in this season of walking in abundance, the enemy will attempt to get you fearful and discouraged, he will attempt to get you to stop walking by faith because he knows that you take possession of God’s promise by faith. I have a word of encouragement for you- fear not. No matter how bad things get on the outside, fear not. Like Peter walking on water, you will walk in victory as long as you have your eyes on Jesus (The word God has given to you in this season). If you keep your eyes on the storm you’ll allow fear and you’ll sink. Keep your eyes on what God has said.
Secondly, spend time praying about your faith. Jesus said to Peter, “I have prayed for you that your faith fails not”. Prayer is one way you strengthen your faith and keep it from failing. Truth is, some situations can be very challenging, and if you depend just on natural strength, your faith might fail. It is God’s strength that keeps you regardless of the circumstances. Be sure to find time to pray specifically for the strength to walk and live by faith.
Economic predictions may not look promising and it may not look like things are getting better. Irrespective of the vacillations on the outside, I have come to encourage you – Fear Not. Never allow external circumstances to dictate your response. I know it’s easier said than done, but I pray that God will grant us all the grace to live and walk by faith. He has declared abundance and that is what we choose to respond to.
Love Always
Obebi
