August 16.
Sudden Storms

Matthew 14:24

But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.

Storms can come odd times. This one came when the disciples were in the midst of the sea. Midst means somewhere in between. They started traveling in the evening just before sundown and somewhere around the midnight hour they were now in the midst. What does that mean? It means that you have gone too far to turn around because it’s just as far going back as it is to go on to the other side. The Lord allows us to get in the midst of situations, and then he sends a storm. Now I better tell you that not all storms are sent by God. Some storms are sent by the devil. And some storms we bring on ourselves. In January, especially many of you will be in storms you brought on yourselves from buying stuff you don’t need with money you don’t have trying to impress folk you don’t even like. We would do better to spend more time sharing instead of shopping in order to avoid getting caught up in financial storms.

The storm came when Jesus wasn’t there. Doesn’t it look like trouble seems to come at the wrong time? Just when you thought you had it all together, suddenly a storm shows up without warning. There is no chance to prepare; the storm just showed up in the middle of nowhere. The ship was being tossed with the waves. It wasn’t just sitting there. The storm was rocking their little ship. And storms will rock you. Storms will have you sitting at your table unable to eat. Storms will have you lying in your bed unable to sleep, rocking you. Storms will have you sitting at a red light that’s green, rocking you. Storms will take you out of who you are. Don’t make a mistake and ask a person in a storm how they are doing. They’ll tell you about everything that’s happening in their life. A storm will consume your life. We need Jesus in our storms.