1 00:00:02,630 --> 00:00:13,210 Speaker 1: Life Audio Welcome to the Crosswalk Devotional. We're glad to 2 00:00:13,260 --> 00:00:16,140 Speaker 1: have you listening with us. Today's topic is on how 3 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: God uses today's crisis to strengthen our faith for tomorrow's victories. 4 00:00:20,739 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: We'll return with the devotional after a brief message from 5 00:00:23,380 --> 00:00:41,310 Speaker 1: our sponsors. Encountering the God Able to Calm Our Fiercest 6 00:00:41,630 --> 00:00:46,690 Speaker 1: Storms Written and read by Jennifer Slattery They were terrified 7 00:00:46,850 --> 00:00:50,409 Speaker 1: and asked each other, Who is this? Even the winds 8 00:00:50,550 --> 00:00:55,160 Speaker 1: and the waves obey him. Mark 4, 41 Often when 9 00:00:55,220 --> 00:00:59,260 Speaker 1: difficulties hit, I want immediate rescue. In the past, when 10 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 1: God didn't respond as I'd hoped, I tended to feel 11 00:01:02,780 --> 00:01:06,990 Speaker 1: frustrated or abandoned. At times, I even accused him of 12 00:01:07,069 --> 00:01:11,330 Speaker 1: ignoring me when I most needed him. Yet, looking back 13 00:01:11,410 --> 00:01:14,140 Speaker 1: on our history, I'm able to see how often he 14 00:01:14,380 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 1: used my most challenging circumstances for my good, to liberate 15 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:24,420 Speaker 1: me from a harmful behavior, heal a wound, or deepen 16 00:01:24,459 --> 00:01:28,980 Speaker 1: my faith. While I occasionally still slip into old, panicked responses, 17 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 1: this after-event realization strengthens my soul. I'm able to pause 18 00:01:34,180 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 1: and reflect on all the times he's rescued me from 19 00:01:37,300 --> 00:01:41,619 Speaker 1: past storms and what this reveals regarding his power, nature, 20 00:01:41,660 --> 00:01:46,090 Speaker 1: and heart. I increasingly go from, who is this God 21 00:01:46,190 --> 00:01:49,870 Speaker 1: who commands even the winds and waves to, this is 22 00:01:49,950 --> 00:01:54,410 Speaker 1: the one who holds all creation, myself included, in his hands. 23 00:01:55,630 --> 00:01:59,110 Speaker 1: In the passage surrounding today's verse, Jesus was teaching the 24 00:01:59,150 --> 00:02:03,210 Speaker 1: disciples the same truth. This was relatively early in his 25 00:02:03,250 --> 00:02:06,970 Speaker 1: earthly ministry, and therefore early in his relationship with these 26 00:02:07,050 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: men who chose to abandon whatever dreams and goals they 27 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:16,139 Speaker 1: held previously because they believed he offered something better. Although, 28 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: they didn't yet understand what that meant, and in fact 29 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:22,390 Speaker 1: were operating on false assumptions that kept them from knowing 30 00:02:22,510 --> 00:02:26,989 Speaker 1: and therefore trusting in Christ's true nature. They'd accepted him 31 00:02:27,450 --> 00:02:31,460 Speaker 1: as the long-promised Messiah, Yet their comprehension of what that 32 00:02:31,639 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: meant and what he came to do remained far too small. 33 00:02:36,860 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 1: They wanted temporary solutions and comfort and freedom from circumstantial oppression, 34 00:02:43,340 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: largely at the hands of the Romans and the religious elite. 35 00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:49,700 Speaker 1: But Jesus was doing a much deeper work that would 36 00:02:49,860 --> 00:02:54,060 Speaker 1: anchor them through all of life's hardships. And he used 37 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:56,380 Speaker 1: the storm recorded in Mark 4 to do so by 38 00:02:56,530 --> 00:02:59,650 Speaker 1: first making them aware of their need, and the fear 39 00:02:59,930 --> 00:03:05,570 Speaker 1: this evoked. Consider he timed his rescue intentionally with his 40 00:03:05,690 --> 00:03:09,070 Speaker 1: loving gaze focused on the work he was doing in 41 00:03:09,450 --> 00:03:14,109 Speaker 1: their souls. He allowed them to feel the full weight 42 00:03:14,210 --> 00:03:18,200 Speaker 1: of the situation, not out of callousness or rebuke, but 43 00:03:18,300 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: rather to allow the doubts and lies lurking in their 44 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:26,070 Speaker 1: souls to rise to their awareness. Imagine if your doctor 45 00:03:26,430 --> 00:03:30,130 Speaker 1: knew how to give you medication without you realizing it 46 00:03:30,250 --> 00:03:33,820 Speaker 1: for an illness you didn't know you bore. This would 47 00:03:33,860 --> 00:03:38,100 Speaker 1: affect you physically in preventing whatever disease you might experience 48 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 1: as your disease progressed, but it wouldn't deepen your trust 49 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: in his care. If anything, that might convince you that 50 00:03:44,540 --> 00:03:49,690 Speaker 1: you didn't need his intervention. In contrast, your confidence in 51 00:03:49,750 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: him is likely to significantly increase if If the successful 52 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,740 Speaker 1: treatment comes after you felt the full weight of your 53 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:03,820 Speaker 1: condition and you're longing for relief. Jesus could have easily 54 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:07,190 Speaker 1: prevented the storm recorded in Mark 4. He could have 55 00:04:07,210 --> 00:04:10,250 Speaker 1: had the disciples wait to enter the boat until after 56 00:04:10,330 --> 00:04:13,610 Speaker 1: it passed or never asked them to cross the lake 57 00:04:13,750 --> 00:04:16,530 Speaker 1: in the first place. But then they never would have 58 00:04:16,589 --> 00:04:22,330 Speaker 1: reached the place where they exclaimed with awestruck amazement, Who 59 00:04:22,670 --> 00:04:27,039 Speaker 1: is this man who holds authority over even the wind 60 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,700 Speaker 1: and waves? Again, they knew before climbing into the boat 61 00:04:31,140 --> 00:04:35,620 Speaker 1: that he was the long-promised Messiah. They didn't realize, however, 62 00:04:35,740 --> 00:04:39,180 Speaker 1: how insufficient their view of him in that role was. 63 00:04:39,940 --> 00:04:43,930 Speaker 1: He was providing an expanded and much more faith-anchoring perspective. 64 00:04:44,589 --> 00:04:48,989 Speaker 1: To stand strong for all that lay ahead They needed 65 00:04:49,089 --> 00:04:52,810 Speaker 1: to recognize him as more than the father's chosen servant 66 00:04:53,410 --> 00:04:57,330 Speaker 1: or yet another divinely empowered prophet. They needed to see 67 00:04:57,410 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: him as he truly was and is, God the Son, 68 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:07,420 Speaker 1: co-creator in human form. Through this storm, he also forced 69 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:11,380 Speaker 1: them to confront a core need for safety, which only 70 00:05:11,580 --> 00:05:15,100 Speaker 1: he could fully meet. In this, he was teaching them 71 00:05:15,140 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: to rely on him rather than themselves, which ultimately positioned 72 00:05:19,900 --> 00:05:24,750 Speaker 1: them for strength. Notice also, his rescue didn't arrive a 73 00:05:24,790 --> 00:05:28,830 Speaker 1: moment too late. When all hope seemed lost and all 74 00:05:28,890 --> 00:05:32,650 Speaker 1: their fighting against the external chaos left them physically and 75 00:05:32,730 --> 00:05:40,010 Speaker 1: emotionally spent, he arose and brought enduring, supernatural calm. This 76 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,900 Speaker 1: helped develop their endurance and inner grit. the next time 77 00:05:43,940 --> 00:05:47,800 Speaker 1: they landed in a terrifying situation, they could look back 78 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,289 Speaker 1: on how he'd carried them through that frightening night and 79 00:05:51,330 --> 00:05:55,730 Speaker 1: trust that he could and would do so again. Intersecting 80 00:05:55,770 --> 00:06:00,210 Speaker 1: life and faith. God doesn't change. The same Savior who 81 00:06:00,270 --> 00:06:03,190 Speaker 1: remained with the disciples in their fear remains with us 82 00:06:03,390 --> 00:06:07,460 Speaker 1: in ours as well. The same Messiah who knew precisely 83 00:06:07,540 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 1: when to calm the winds and waves... understands when our 84 00:06:11,100 --> 00:06:15,620 Speaker 1: rescue will impact us most as well. His delays might 85 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:19,950 Speaker 1: feel frustrating and at times deeply unsettling, and that's okay. 86 00:06:20,490 --> 00:06:24,030 Speaker 1: He understands our overwhelm, and he longs to comfort us 87 00:06:24,390 --> 00:06:28,950 Speaker 1: in today's challenges. But he does so with his gaze 88 00:06:29,170 --> 00:06:33,989 Speaker 1: fixed on building a faith that progressively brings lasting peace. 89 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,020 Speaker 1: We reach that place in part by turning to him 90 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,159 Speaker 1: in crisis. asking for the help we need, but also 91 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 1: reminding ourselves of the heart and ways of the one 92 00:06:44,620 --> 00:06:50,290 Speaker 1: providing it. Because that, not circumstantial relief, is how we 93 00:06:50,330 --> 00:06:55,090 Speaker 1: develop the rock-solid faith that allows us to thrive regardless 94 00:06:55,250 --> 00:06:59,070 Speaker 1: of what life throws at us. We reach that place 95 00:06:59,370 --> 00:07:03,690 Speaker 1: in part by turning to him in crisis, asking for 96 00:07:03,730 --> 00:07:07,740 Speaker 1: the help we need, but also reminding ourselves of the 97 00:07:07,860 --> 00:07:11,260 Speaker 1: heart and ways of the one providing it. Because that 98 00:07:11,380 --> 00:07:14,860 Speaker 1: not circumstantial relief is how we develop the rock solid 99 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:18,810 Speaker 1: faith that allows us to thrive regardless of what life 100 00:07:18,850 --> 00:07:22,130 Speaker 1: throws at us. This is a topic of which I'm 101 00:07:22,230 --> 00:07:25,650 Speaker 1: highly passionate because it has provided me more relief in 102 00:07:25,690 --> 00:07:29,710 Speaker 1: my anxiety than temporary rescue ever has. And to build 103 00:07:29,750 --> 00:07:33,040 Speaker 1: these important truths into my soul, I spent much of 104 00:07:33,300 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: August discussing some of God's most comforting divine attributes. I 105 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: invite you to peruse my Instagram page to glean from 106 00:07:40,740 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: some of those reels and posts. Just Google my name, 107 00:07:43,100 --> 00:07:46,580 Speaker 1: Jennifer Slattery, to find me and more of my faith-building content. 108 00:07:51,010 --> 00:07:53,990 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to today's devotional. If you liked what 109 00:07:54,010 --> 00:07:56,090 Speaker 1: you heard today, we want to make sure you know 110 00:07:56,150 --> 00:08:00,110 Speaker 1: about our sister podcast, Your Daily Prayer. When you follow 111 00:08:00,150 --> 00:08:03,450 Speaker 1: Your Daily Prayer, in your favorite podcast app, you'll get 112 00:08:03,490 --> 00:08:06,610 Speaker 1: a brand new prayer and devotional each day so your 113 00:08:06,650 --> 00:08:10,270 Speaker 1: days begin in conversation with God. If you're looking to 114 00:08:10,330 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 1: grow in prayer or start your day with your heart 115 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:17,239 Speaker 1: focused on the right things, search for Your Daily Prayer 116 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: in your favorite podcast app and be sure to follow 117 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: the show so you get a new prayer delivered straight 118 00:08:23,460 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: to you each morning.