Footsteps to Zion

No one ever wants to be in a storm. People generally believe that nothing good could ever come out of storms. This goes for physical storms and even more so for the unseen storms in our lives. But is this belief really true? The answer to this question lies in an account in the Bible of the time when the disciples of Jesus went through a very dark storm themselves (Matthew 14:22-33). From this story, we will seek to understand why God allows storms in our lives and how we can have the victory that God meant for us over our storms. STORMS IN OUR LIVES The story begins with the disciples getting into a boat at night, as Jesus commanded them to. Unbeknownst to them, they were about to get caught in the middle of a mighty storm. But more than just stormy weather, their situation speaks of the kind of storms we can go through in life. Storms are when we feel away from God. “And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when eveni...

“Now we exhort you, brethren…” (1 Thessalonians 5:14) In the dictionary, the word “exhort” is simply defined as “to encourage.” It originated from the Latin words: “ ex ” (thoroughly) and “ hortari ” (urge). We often see this word in the gospels when the author is trying to warn and strengthen his fellow believers in Christ. Those who exhort the brethren are the ones who can uphold the weak in the body of Christ. The Apostle Paul was one such exhorter. He lived up to being his “ brother’s keeper ” for the church in Thessalonica. Apostle Paul preached in the city of Thessalonica for three Sabbaths but soon after, they experienced great persecution, forcing Apostle Paul to leave. This left the Thessalonians who just received Christ barely knowing the gospel. Thus, Apostle Paul wrote this Book of Thessalonians to encourage them in their faith and to teach them more about God. Whether we are just starting to walk with God like the Thessalonians or we have already known God for ...

The enemy of enlargement is the thought that "this is as far as I can go." Have you ever faced your limit? Maybe the limit of your strength. Or the limit of your patience. Or the limit of your capacity in some work. Or the limit of your capacity to press on in God. Or the limit of your capacity to obey God. There are those days that God allows us to see our limits. However, it's not so easy to accept. What makes it difficult is seeing the distance between what we are able to do and what we want to reach and more importantly, what we know God has called us to. “This is as far as I can go” is essentially a statement of resignation. It can evoke frustration, grief, and discouragement. Nonetheless, God allows us to go through this for a good purpose. He wants us to better understand our limited capacity as human beings so that we may be humbled. Because the truth is we have an inaccurate measure of ourselves. We often esteem ourselves better than we ought to. And so ...