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The Storm Growth, Part 8
He said to His disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Mark 4:40 NIV
In the Mark account of the storm calming that we have been studying Jesus implies that the disciples have �no� faith. In the Matthew account of this story, Jesus said, �you of �little� faith�. In the Luke passage He asked, �Where is your faith?� I did a little research here, because quite frankly I was confused. In the original language these phrases all mean about the same thing. You do realize that while the Bible is perfectly true, we are reading translations from the original language and they don�t always translate the way we speak today.
Jesus was basically saying, �You have such little faith, and it is positioned so inappropriately, that it is almost as if you have no faith at all.�
I must admit, while this helped explain the difference in the three accounts of the story, I was even more confused. Didn�t Jesus elsewhere say that with a faith the size of a mustard seed (cool name for a ministry by the way) that we could move mountains? So Jesus commends a small faith. So, why does He seem to condemn it in the disciple�s in this passage.
Let me share with you the truth God is trying to teach me. It isn�t the size of a person�s faith that is important to God. It is the size of the OBJECT of a person�s faith. Jesus didn�t condemn the size of the disciple�s faith. He condemned the size of the object of their faith. Jesus was condemning the disciples for seeing God as too small.
If the disciples had realized the size and the power of the One with them in the boat, they wouldn�t have had to be afraid. He was big enough and strong enough to meet all their needs.
How big is your God? How big is the object of your faith? You see, it doesn�t really matter how big your faith is if the thing or person you are placing your faith in isn�t big enough! If you place your faith in an airplane that won�t fly, it won�t m atter how big your faith in, you�re grounded!
Are you trusting in the power and magnitude of the God who can speak a creation into existence? How big is your God?
Dear God, forgive us for seeing You smaller than You are. Help us to see You bigger than we ever imagined, because You are!
In the Mark account of the storm calming that we have been studying Jesus implies that the disciples have �no� faith. In the Matthew account of this story, Jesus said, �you of �little� faith�. In the Luke passage He asked, �Where is your faith?� I did a little research here, because quite frankly I was confused. In the original language these phrases all mean about the same thing. You do realize that while the Bible is perfectly true, we are reading translations from the original language and they don�t always translate the way we speak today.
Jesus was basically saying, �You have such little faith, and it is positioned so inappropriately, that it is almost as if you have no faith at all.�
I must admit, while this helped explain the difference in the three accounts of the story, I was even more confused. Didn�t Jesus elsewhere say that with a faith the size of a mustard seed (cool name for a ministry by the way) that we could move mountains? So Jesus commends a small faith. So, why does He seem to condemn it in the disciple�s in this passage.
Let me share with you the truth God is trying to teach me. It isn�t the size of a person�s faith that is important to God. It is the size of the OBJECT of a person�s faith. Jesus didn�t condemn the size of the disciple�s faith. He condemned the size of the object of their faith. Jesus was condemning the disciples for seeing God as too small.
If the disciples had realized the size and the power of the One with them in the boat, they wouldn�t have had to be afraid. He was big enough and strong enough to meet all their needs.
How big is your God? How big is the object of your faith? You see, it doesn�t really matter how big your faith is if the thing or person you are placing your faith in isn�t big enough! If you place your faith in an airplane that won�t fly, it won�t m atter how big your faith in, you�re grounded!
Are you trusting in the power and magnitude of the God who can speak a creation into existence? How big is your God?
Dear God, forgive us for seeing You smaller than You are. Help us to see You bigger than we ever imagined, because You are!
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