Mark 6:50-52
…”Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed,
for they had not understood about the loaves….
Last night five of my friends traveled with me to a church about 30 miles from our home that I had been told of an email from a nurse who knows of Nick’s situation. She felt led to invite me to her church as she said the “Spirit was moving in great ways!” How could I not go?!?!
The song service had me in tears. Surrounded by people who were praising God with all of their hearts and souls just overwhelmed me! Then the minister said, “Tammy Nischan, can you come up here for a minute?” (He had been told of my presence before the service began.) In tears, I walked to the front as he shared with the congregation about Nick’s fight with cancer. He then asked people to come pray with me and asked everyone who had had a child with cancer to come pray with me. I don’t even know what happened for the next few minutes. I was surrounded by people crying and praying, and I was crying too. It was amazing!
As I went to my seat, I knew that God was working in mighty ways, but I didn’t realize that the best was yet to come!
In the sermon, the minister spoke of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness and how the Bible says that when He left the desert he was filled with the POWER of the SPIRIT! He then went on to share that what the devil doesn’t realize is that when he tempts us or tests us and we are able to overcome by the power of the Word we are actually EMPOWERED and FILLED even more with the Spirit.
Ready to do bigger and greater things.
God “uses” the devils deception for His glory. God gives us the ability to withstand all temptation and every test and provides a way out of EVERY struggle. When we rely on His Word and do not give in to the devil’s schemes, we are then filled with more power!
Then he said something that I will never, ever forget……
The way we make it through our “next test or next temptation” (because there will be one) is by remembering what God has done in the past for us!
He told the story of the feeding of the five thousand and how right after this amazing miracle (which is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels), the disciples gather up twelve “extra!” baskets of bread and head out on the sea.
A storm develops and immediately the disciples are full of fear!
The minister said, “Here they sat with their feet propped up on Jesus’ greatest miracle and yet they feared the storm!”
WOW!
Are you feet propped up on things God has done for you and yet you are still afraid, discouraged, lonely, depressed, angry, or sad!?!
Mine have been.
I have had a basket of God’s great works right under my feet and yet I have been feeling fear and depression.
I think if Jesus could talk to us today, He may very well ask us the same question He asked the disciples in Matthew 16:8-10
“You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?”
My prayer today is that all of us will look down and see what our feet are resting on and in that moment find peace for the storm we are facing! Jennifer, you were right! This just had to be a blog post! I love you!
Your Fellow Basket-Footstool Friend,