Thoughts From Tonight's Sermon

Tonight, a gentleman in our church preached a great message on the topic of "contrary winds." His text came from Matthew 14:22-33.

"And straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a ship, and to go before Him unto the other side, while He sent the multitudes away...But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid..."

The preacher made several good points, but two thoughts especially stand out to me from tonight's message.

1. Contrary winds do not mean that you are not in the will of God.

You will certainly experience troubles and trials even when you are smack-dab in the middle of God's perfect will for your life. The disciples had done exactly what Jesus instructed them to do and then they found themselves in the midst of a storm. Following God doesn't mean smooth sailing the whole time. The end of Hebrews 11 outlines what many of His followers have endured that involved suffering and hardship. Paul describes in II Corinthians 11 all the difficulties he experienced for the cause of Christ. "Contrary winds" of trouble and trial will certainly come. When they do, we shouldn't turn the boat around and try to get back to comfortable living but rather, we should stay the course and remain faithful to the Lord.

2. Lack of progress does not mean that you are not in the will of God.

The disciples had been toiling in the boat all night and they were only in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. They had only gone about 3-4 miles when Jesus came to them in the fourth watch of the night which would have been somewhere from 3:00-6:00 a.m. That's a long night of hard work to not get very far. But yet, the disciples were not acting against God's will. They were doing exactly what Jesus had told them to do. So just because we may not see much progress in a certain area of our lives or in a ministry with which we are involved, that doesn't mean we should give up. Jesus knew what was going on in His disciples circumstances, but He deliberately delayed showing up until the fourth watch of the night. When He did arrive on the scene and got into the boat, the winds ceased and, according to a cross reference of this text, they were immediately on land. God's timetable is not ours, but He certainly knows what He is doing.

These thoughts from tonight's sermon were especially meaningful to me as I prepare to go to language school in two weeks. I am sure I will encounter contrary winds somewhere along this new chapter of life, if not many times. But that doesn't mean I'm not in God's will. Contrary winds test and try my faithfulness. I am also guessing that there will be days when I will feel that I am not making much progress learning Spanish, or that I'll never get a certain verb conjugation correct! I am grateful for this reminder that a lack of progress doesn't mean God isn't at work, but that His timetable for success and accomplishment may be different than mine. That doesn't mean I give up, but rather that I toil for as long as it takes until land is reached.