The Advantage of Resting In God’s Word
If you really have faith in God, you should literally take Him at His Word. You should reach for His word in every situation (especially when you receive a negative report from someone), You should rely on the word of God. One of the requirements of having faith in God’s Word is to be obedient unto His voice.
Let us now explore an example of what I am referring in this scripture:
Mark 4:35-41: 35And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. 36And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. 37And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
In verse 35, Jesus proclaimed the end from the beginning when he said, “Let us pass over unto the other side”. When Jesus said “us”, He was referring to all who were in His ship and all who were in the other ships also. Jesus was very well aware of the storm that would arise when He first spoke the outcome in verse 35. This is what is meant by speaking those things that are not as though they were, and watch them come to past. Because of Jesus’ confidence in His Word, when the storm arose, He was in the back part of the ship, asleep. Notice at the end of verse 37 (where it says that the waves beat into the ship, so that the ship was now full of water) that Jesus was still asleep in the midst of all of the chaos, and His disciples were in an uproar. They disturbed their master from His peaceful sleep and insulted Him by asking Him whether or not He was concerned if they perished or not. Can you imagine how Jesus must have felt?
Jesus arose in dismay with His disciples. His response now was to address the elements; so He changed His posture, from lying down to arising. He then rebuked (expressed His disapproval sharply to) the wind, because wind is a spirit, and the spirit that was operating was contrary to His word. This spirit had entered into the sea and caused high waves to form and enter into the ship. Next Jesus gave a new command unto the spirit that was also hovering over the sea, which was “peace”, and He told peace (which is a fruit of His Spirit) to do what it was designed to do and that is to maintain the absence of violence or other disturbances within the sea. The beauty of this is that “Peace” obeyed Him. The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Now that Jesus had the assurance that someone had faith in Him, He now turned to His disciples, in whom He had much dismay (because without faith it is impossible to please God), and asked them why were they so fearful. This means that “they were filled with fear”. We all know that God did not give us the spirit of fear, but He gave us power, and love, and a sound mind. He next asked them, how could they allow “fear of the circumstances surrounding them”, to cause their faith in His word to vanish. Jesus was disappointed because they were not filled with faith, but chose to be deceived by Satan, by looking at the circumstances and not believing His Word.
After His disciples saw that the situation was now under control, they were now more fearful of Jesus, and they spoke among themselves in awe of Him by wondering what magnitude of a being He was, that He could disburse the elements that had caused them to fear by causing them to obey Him; when even they (His disciples) had disobeyed Him. These disciples were probably more fearful of what He could do to them, if He had subdued the wind and the sea in this manner.
This example shows us the importance of resting in God’s Words. If Jesus could rest in His own Words, then everyone else should certainly find comfort in them. This is why we should speak God’s Word to every situation in our lives, but most of all, we must believe it after we have spoken it. The scripture tells us that what things so ever we ask when we pray, if we believe it, it shall be done unto us. Jesus is aware of every circumstance that will ever arise in our lives. If we would only give voice to His Word, and then be assured that His Word cannot return unto Him void, but that it accomplishes that which He pleases, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto He sends it, then fear would never enter into us. Let us also always remember, that obedience is better than sacrifice.
Until Next Time,
God Be With You
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