Rough Seas, Part 2 Today's Three-minute Bible Study Print, Study and Apply Title: Rough Seas, Part 2 ------------------- Date: 2/16/2003 Keywords: "confusion" "hopeless" "pain" "storm" Welcome to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual temptation. Passage: Mark 6:45-52* 45. Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side of Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away. 46. After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. 47. When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. 48. Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them. 49. But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; 50. For they all saw Him and were terrified. But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, "Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid." 51. Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped, and they were utterly astonished, 52. For they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened. Questions 1. What is the biggest problem you face right now?   2. Where is God when it comes to your problem?   3. List ten blessings in your life.   4. How has your problem or problems eclipsed you ability to see God and your blessings?   Practical help God knows all the storms of our lives ahead of time. Take a look at the book of Job if you want more insight on this idea. So why does He permit them? In the world we live in, without storms, there is no life. Think about it. What if every day was a perfectly sunny day? Without rain, the grass would dry up, and a dessert would replace the beauty we enjoy in these happier moments of life. No water, no life. Water is sometimes packaged in storms. But, God, being all-powerful, certainly could construct a world where we wouldn’t need rain, couldn’t He? Well, actually He did this. It was called the Garden of Eden. Remember, it wasn’t until Noah’s flood that mankind had to deal with rain. So what happened? If we are really honest, the first storm was caused by man’s choice, not God’s. It was Adam who chose to disobey God in the garden and ate the fruit, knowing full well that God had instructed him not to. Could God have overridden man’s choice? Yes and no. He could have stepped in and altered the events, but only if He was willing to remove our freedom to choose. He wasn’t willing to do this because along with our freedom would go our ability to love. You see, there is more to life than storms or avoiding them. Real life involves loving even when it costs you everything. That is the message of the cross. Jesus chose to allow us sinful people to nail Him to a cross in order to show us how much He loved us, even if we don’t understand. Jesus permits your storms, but wants to ride them out with you. It’s your choice if you allow him to pass you by or get in the boat. To be continued…. eXXit homepage Index of three-minute studies Copyright 2003 by eXXit *"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission." ---