A SECURED DESTINATION Part 2
Segun Okunboyejo
Text: Matt 8:18-27.
Part 2:
1. The reason the Lord Jesus took the lead was because, whether
He takes the lead or something or someone else does, storms
will definitely come. And the outcome of the storm depends on
who is taking the lead or who is in charge. And the Lord better
be the One taking the lead of your life so that your destiny can
be secured. The presence of Jesus does not stop storms from
arising but from prevailing. Sometimes, God allows storms to
come our way to build our faith. Job was a righteous man yet
he suffered a great trial. It is a great deception to think that we
are shielded from trials when we are in Christ. The Scripture
declares, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little
while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials,
that the genuineness of your faith, being much more
precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by
fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the
revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1: 6-7. Trials will come
with or without Christ but the beauty of experiencing this trial
in Christ is that it will always turn out for our good. Rom 8:28.
2. In the midst of this great tempest which had filled the boat with
waves, Jesus was asleep. These are two contrasting
experiences. On one hand, the boat was filled with waves and
the disciples were afraid, and on the other hand, Jesus was
asleep. It is very senseless to sleep in the midst of crisis. This is
not always the natural response of man, and even believers. It
takes a sound understanding of the Scripture and a deep walk
with the Holy Spirit to walk in comfort in the midst of crisis.
Jesus’ action taught us a lesson-that one can experience rest in
the midst of crisis. After all He could not have been killed by the
storm while asleep in the boat? Peter, who had learned this
lesson, also demonstrated this principle of rest in the midst of
crisis. Knowing that James had been beheaded, and he, kept in
the prison, not knowing what his fate would be, was sleeping
the night penultimate the day his fate would be decided. Acts
12:1-6.
God’s will for us is to enter into rest even when we are in the
midst of crisis and one sure way to enter into rest is through
prayer.
Phil 4:6-7 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let our
requests be made known to God; And the peace of God,
which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus.” You can experience rest in
the midst of crisis either by divine working of the Holy Spirit (as
the case of Jesus and Peter) or through prayer. Have you
experienced it before? Have you been in a crisis or in a terrible
situation that you don’t know what to do but somehow you felt
a peace in your heart. You might not have even started praying
about it but you’ve started experiencing divine peace which you
can’t explain. At other times, this peace comes when you have
prayed. That is why you don’t stop praying about a situation
until the peace of God settles in your heart about it. The Article
in the edition, “Enter into rest through prayer” treats more of
entering into rest in the midst of crisis.
So when storms blow against us, we should not allow it to let us
lose our sleep. We should not let storms take our rest away from
us.
3. When the disciples had done all they could and nothing seemed
to be different, they called on Jesus the Lord. They called on
Him because they knew He could save them but their call was
mixed with fear. When Jesus got up, He rebuked the disciples
for been fearful. “But Jesus said to them, why are you
fearful, O you of little faith?” vs 26. They had a little faith
because they still believed He could save them. But their faith
was mixed with fear. The disciples’ action teaches us that we
should call on the name of the Lord when in crisis but our call
should not be made out of fear, it should be out of faith. Jesus
will not honor our fear; He will only honor our faith because
without faith, it is impossible to please Him. Heb 11:6. Faith,
which is both a fruit and a gift of the Holy Spirit, means an
unwavering trust in the living God. It is the confident assurance
that what you have not seen will come to pass. God says it
(because that is the factory of faith) and even though you have
not seen its physical manifestation, there is however a
conviction in your heart of the certainty of what God has said.
Faith judges that God, who has spoken, is faithful to fulfill His
Word.
Part 3:
4. When the Lord got up from His sleep, what did He do about the
situation? Cried about it? No. Blamed the disciples for sailing
unprofessionally? No. What He did was that, He got up and
rebuked the winds and the sea! Rebuked the winds and the
sea? This is unfathomable for me! How can one talk to
inanimate things and expect a result? But didn’t the Scripture
say that, “What is man that You are mindful of Him...You
have put all things in subjection under his feet… ” Heb 2:68. And also in Gen 1:26, God created man to rule over all the
earth. Jesus exercised this authority and then gave it to
believers to use through the use of His name. Whenever we use
the name of Jesus to address any situation, it is as if He is the
One addressing the situation. Gordon Lindsay of blessed
memory says this about the name of Jesus. “All that the
Christian has comes through Christ. There is no salvation,
healing, deliverance or power over satan, except through the
name of Jesus, and through the authority of His name. Jesus, in
giving the use of His name to His followers, gave them the power
of attorney. That is, He gave them His authority to use. When
they use His power, it would be the same as if He used it. The
extent to which the Father sent Him, He is sending us, with all
the resources of Heaven available for use. John 20:21. In giving
His disciples the use of His name, Jesus gave us unlimited
power. Excerpt from Prayer that moves mountains.”
Whoever is in Christ has this authority. And just as Jesus
rebuked the winds and sea, we also can rebuke circumstances
and situations and even physical things and see results. The
problem with us is that, we don’t exercise this authority and
when we do and the result is not forthcoming, we throw away
our confidence and conclude that we don’t have the authority.
Read Mk 11:22-25.
5. In between the time Jesus gave the command to go to the other
side and the time they eventually got there was this crisis. But
the good news is that, their destination had already been
anchored in the Word of Christ. Jesus had already secured their
destination with His Word through the command to go to the
other side. And eventually, they got there. Verse 28 opens with,
“When He had come to the other side…” Why didn’t the
Scripture use ‘they,’ after all, He was not the only One in the
boat. But the truth is that, the journey is not about the
disciples but about Him. When God gives you a Word
concerning a situation, a project, an assignment, your marriage,
your future etc, the thing is not about you, it is about Him, and
He’ll ensure He brings it to pass. Was Joseph’s dream of a great
future about him? He once had that thought. He was thought
the dream was about him. But while he was thinking of
greatness, God was thinking of preserving posterity for
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This he understood later. Gen
45:5. Your life is not about you; your career is not about you.
Sometimes I get amazed when I hear people say God has given
them a vision of ministry that reaches the nations of the earth.
And they get very excited about it, I think, not because of the
number of souls God is concerned with but because of the fact
that they will tour the world. Why do you think ministers put
the word ‘international’ on the name of their ministry? We get so
excited today when Governors, MD/CEO of corporate
organizations attend our programmes. We take that to be
success in ministry. But what did Jesus say regarding this?
“And you shall be brought before governors and kings for
My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.”
Matt 24:18. Paul the Apostle was brought before kings and
Governors but not once did he share a testimony in church that
God had given him success in the ministry. Brethren, we need
to allow the Holy Spirit to refine our thinking pattern so that He
can commit a great task into our hands. I have many things I’m
impelled to say. We all should check our motives very well. The
anointing of the Holy Spirit is not effective among us today
because of our selfish interests. Even some of us that even
speak the truth do so to gain attention. I pray that God will help
us to change and destroy the seed of this impure thought in our
minds in the name of Jesus.
This is conclusion of the message: If your destination is defined
by God, He will surely get there along with you. Storms may
arise, winds may blow, and all you have to do in these
situations is to thank God for what is happening and exercise
your God-given authority in faith and the crisis will stop.
God bless you all. Maranatha