Jesus asked questions.
He asked them of his listeners, his debaters, his disciples. They weren’t detours or delay tactics. They were issue oriented. They went to the core of some misunderstanding or need. They gave an opportunity to take a new step of growth and belief.
Sometimes we look at Jesus’ answers and forget to study his questions.
For the next few weeks, I want to examine some of those questions. The first one is a question that continues to haunt me from a storm story in Luke 8:22-25.
Jesus had finished telling some of his stories. When it was time to leave the crowds, he instructed the disciples to go with him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. They got in a boat and started rowing. Perhaps it was the gentle rock of the boat or his mental and physical fatigue, but Jesus went to sleep.
That was fine with the disciples until the storm came and threatened to flood their boat and take their lives. They had to wake Jesus up. After all, he was the one who sent them into the storm! I doubt they gently shook him. There was angst and accusation in their cry.
“Master, we’re going to drown!”
But Jesus simply rubbed the sleepy out of his eyes, stood up and commanded the storm to stop.
Then, he asked his question,
“Where is your faith?”
It is a very good question and I fear we don’t always have good answers. We’d like to say, “In You, Jesus; always in you!” Unfortunately, we anchor our faith in our good plans, good decisions, good dreams and expect good outcomes from them. Or we put our faith in what we know Jesus could do and, according to us, should do. But that either keeps Jesus from doing what he knows is best, or worse, makes us blind to his best when it comes.
At its core, Christian faith is an unrelenting belief that all that Jesus is, is all we need. We can ask for anything, but we don’t direct. We have settled the issue that because Jesus knows more and sees more than we do, he can do more than we could ask.
True faith finds its source in who Jesus is and not just in what he could do. When we want to be sure our faith is anchored in the whole person of Christ, rehearse who Jesus IS, not what He could DO.
We need a faith that will take us through storms, especially when we believe we’re living by the decisions Jesus has directed.
Where is your faith?
Don’t postpone answering that question until a storm comes. Instead, keep the question forefront every time you face a reversal or unexpected turn. Do you have faith in the character and unfailing love of Jesus? True faith anchored in the right way won’t take you out of storms; but it will take you through them. True faith reminds you that when the worst happens, the best that could happen in it comes from Jesus.
Where else would you want to put your faith?