Many years ago, I took my first restaurant job as a college student out of necessity. Let’s just say that walking into a Chinese restaurant kitchen at 0-dark-thirty was very intimidating. It was a new world for a tech guy like me. It seemed every task required use of new equipment and developing new skills. I was tempted to quit, but I needed the job to cover my daily college expenses. So, I stuck it out!
It seems like the accounts on faith have been standing out to me in my devotional time. It is because of the step of faith that Caryl and I have taken and the resulting steps of faith our Church will be needing to take in their search for a new pastor.
The account of Jesus sleeping in the back of the boat during a terrible storm is one that has impacted me from my first days of faith in Christ. We know the significance of the event from the professional fisherman’s perspective in the seriousness of the situation. “And they went and woke [Jesus], saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” (Luke 8:24a). Jesus addressed the situation when he “rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.” (Luke 8:24b). The reality is that faith is a character quality developed on the job. The life-threatening event that day would serve as a building block of trust for those men for the rest of their lives. “He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”” (Luke 8:25).
Our biggest challenge in the area of faith is that it requires that I trust the Lord to work in my situation. I am confident that the fishermen in the boat that day had encountered bad conditions many times in the past. Yet, it was this particular storm that brought them to the edge of their confidence in their abilities. This is where faith begins; at the end of our abilities. I have found that the Lord’s greatest work in my life is when I am forced to trust Him. If you are struggling with a situation that is beyond your abilities, you are right where God wants you to be, so you can trust Him to do what you cannot.
I would commend the disciples when faced with an impossible situation of making the right choice. They turned to the Lord for help. One of the essentials for the follower of Christ is to know that our God has our back. It is helpful to memorize verses like “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.” (Psalm 37:4–5 ESV) It reminds me to keep investing in my relationship with the Lord while I wait for him to show up to calm the storm and bring calm.
What these men learned that day, impacted their walk with God. Faith is a character quality that we do not get from reading a book. Yes, it is helpful to know what the Bible teaches about faith. Faith is developed on the job. Our faith grows as we progress through each life opportunity to make us a stronger follower of Jesus.
I remember the struggles of the first months working at the restaurant. There were many days that I wanted to quit, but I needed the job. The result of pushing through was the development of my skills and my knowledge of the operation of the business. The benefit of pushing through resulted in my being offered the AM shift supervisor position. It would have never happened if I had followed my emotions. There is a blessing in pressing forward in spite of fear. This is especially true when it comes to trusting the Lord in those challenging life situations!
-Pastor Joe Parkinson