Live out of your spirit

Have you ever wondered how Jesus slept through the storm on the Sea of Galilee? (Matthew 3: 23-27). The passage tells us that Jesus calmed the storm and that shows us His power over the elements. However, perhaps the greater lesson we can learn from this passage is that in the midst of the storm Jesus was asleep!

The disciples however were far from sleep; they were anxious and woke Jesus to do something about their predicament. I suppose it is testament to their confidence in Jesus power that they woke him to ask him to save them. And no doubt we would have been anxious too if we had been in the boat. But, objectivity tells us that if that boat had been swamped, not only the disciples but Jesus too would have been in the water. Therefore a far greater power than the storm was at work and this power enabled Jesus to sleep through it. He knew that God’s purposes for Him did not include drowning and this confidence allowed Him to sleep through the storm.

One could say that Jesus was living out of His spirit rather than out of what his five human senses were telling him about the storm. He knew that when the time came for Him to return to the Father His followers would need help and so He said,

‘you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you’, (Acts 1:8)

This power enables us as disciples to (with faith) have victory over the world (1John 5:4). We have a choice, do we live out of our spirits and what we know of the Lord and His purposes for us, or do we live out of our five senses and what they tell us of the world and what comes against us. If we do the latter we are in no better a situation than people who do not have the Lord with them.

Trust in Him, if He is in the boat with you, you are not going down!

Russell Bowles