Reading: Luke 8:40-56

“Leave us,” Crowd A begged in verse 37.

Blind, ungrateful, fearful ignorance.

Deliver me from that!

I want to be like this instead:

“And it came to pass, that when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him” (40).

That is my choice.

I choose to wait for Jesus.

I choose to receive Jesus.

Gladly.

How then shall I live?

I want gladness and glad waiting for Him in my personal quiet time.

I want gladness and glad waiting for Him in the corporate services I attend.

I want gladness and glad waiting for Him all the time wherever I am.

Waiting — for Him to be with me, for Him to speak to me, for Him to do for me, for Him to lead me.

from Luke 8:49

A little bit more from Luke 8: Comfort. Faith. Wholeness. Peace.

Reading: Luke 8:19-39

The storm caught them on the lake. The water filled the ship. The disciples were in jeopardy. Jesus slept. So they woke Him up.

After He calmed the water and the wind, He directed His words to the disciples.

“And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him” (25).

What’s with that question?!

I don’t know. (But I’m sure the question was both just and justified.)

I thought their faith was in Jesus. After all, they went to Him in their distress. (Or did they wake Him because they didn’t want Him to drown in His sleep?)

I admit I don’t know why He asked the question and that I don’t know where their faith was.

As far as I’m concerned, though, the question is for me.

Just where is my faith?

Is my faith in Jesus? Or is my faith in what I think He can do? Or is it in what I think He wants to do?

I put my faith in Jesus. Blindly, if need be. I don’t need to know what He will do or when or how or why.

With His help, I will simply rest in Him. The details remain His to work through.

(Why does that feel like a scary thing to write?)

from Luke 8:21

A little bit more from Luke 8: What’s He Done to You?