THE LORD AS KNOWN IN TESTING AND PRESSURE
J. A. Walker
We read this section at home this morning and I feel constrained to say something about it, and trust the Lord may open up certain things to us. The Lord while here was bent on teaching His disciples, and proving them, helping them along and explaining things to them.
This is one of the things, where He proves them and instructs them in this incident, “they take him with them, as he was, in the ship”. He sent away the crowds first of all, crowds never feature too well in Scripture, then “they take him with them, as he was, in the ship”, in the glory of His own manhood, they take Him with them. And then there comes a violent storm, a likeness to the things that come up in our lives which sometimes seem impossible, sometimes frightening, may shake our faith as it did here. These things come up and the Lord allows them, but they had Him in the ship.
How many things come into your life and you try to battle away on your own and it does not turn out too well, but they take Him as He was in the ship and He is restful; He is on the cushion and He is comfortable. The Lord is superior to all these things, superior to all these difficulties, these trials, these tribulations, these things that come upon us, and there are things coming upon us. Many of our brethren are ill or weak, there are problems as to employment, and family difficulties, and many other things pressing in on the saints, but the Lord is superior and restful as to all these things and would have us to have faith as to them. They were fearful and agitated saying, “Teacher, dost thou not care that we are perishing?” They had Him in the ship, and I wondered at them thinking they would perish when He was there. But it was in this proving time that they might learn Him, learn who He was, learn to know of His Person and learn how He would come into their difficulty. “And awaking up he rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Silence—be mute. And the wind fell, and there was a great calm”. It might come up again but at the moment there is a great calm. Things are restful. He brings us into accord with His own mind, He brings us round to His thoughts and causes us to prove Him in the circumstances, He calms the pressure and the agitation and then he comes into the situation. He says, “Why are ye thus fearful? how is it ye have not faith?” These questions are that they would try us. So it is intended that we should not only know His presence in our circumstances, but make way for Him and prove Him coming into them. Whenever the test or whenever the trial it is that we might prove Him coming in. “And they feared with great fear, and said one to another, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
There is some further touch of His glory as we prove Him coming in, as we prove His support in the wilderness; as we prove His help, His comfort, His company; we learn more of Himself. They say, “Who then is this…?” They would never forget this incident. It is intended that we should grow as the Lord would put us through these things and test us; as we make way for the Lord we are intended to grow in our appreciation of Himself, “Who then is this ...?” It is some other facet of His greatness and glory as the Creator of the universe who was in control of the wind and the waves. He manifested Himself in other ways too. I could have read of others who proved the Lord and it resulted in formation, in a further appreciation of Himself. I just had this thought and felt constrained to say something of this tonight that we might be helped in our circumstances, for we are all tested in some way or another. I thought we might see that if we leave these things with the Lord, He would save us from being too agitated, and cause us to prove Himself in these things, and that it might result in a greater note of praise and response to Himself as we proceed upon our pathway, and we might prove Him in further occasions, so that there should be growth and formation in this learning time.
May we take courage from that if we are finding any exercises burdening and testing and making us anxious. May we leave things with the Lord so that He would come in, and bring about great calm in a situation where He can work and get some response. May we be helped along these lines and may it result in greater glory to Himself, for His name’s sake.
Word in meeting for ministry, Dundee
3 March 2009