Have you ever felt like the things around you were keeping you from fulfilling the will of the Father for your life? Have you ever had experiences and circumstances that seem to be holding you back from what you believe God has created and called you to be? In Mark 4, Jesus and the apostles got in a boat and started an 8 mile journey to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. In the midst of the journey Jesus laid down and went to sleep. As Jesus slept a great windstorm started, it rocked the boat and created waves that began to splash and fill the boat with water. The disciples did everything they knew to do but nothing seemed to slow the water that was filling the boat and then finally, in desperation and frustration and fear they woke Jesus up and said “Do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus rose from his nap and commanded the storm to stop, immediately everything that was once out of control was calm, and then He rebuked the disciples, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you still have no faith?”
What the disciples discovered is something we may also need to find, and that is that their external circumstances were being used by God to reveal the internal hindrances to His will in their lives. Their problem wasn’t the storm, it was their fear, it wasn’t the wind it was their lack of faith. I encourage and challenge each of us today to allow the difficulties in our lives to reveal our hearts and give God the opportunity and the freedom to change our hearts rather than demanding that He change our circumstances. Storms are real, difficulties need attention, but it is only our hearts that hinder us from God’s will. May we give our hearts fully to God and let Him lead us unhindered, in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.