Rooted in the storm

The Bible is full of stories where men and women encountered awful circumstances they never imagined would happen. They felt the same confusion and despair we experience today. What if you were about to face a storm of unparalleled pain, disillusion, and fear? Consider when Jesus’ 12 disciples sat down with Him for what became known as the Last Supper.

For the previous three years, they had been eyewitnesses to and participators in many amazing meetings and miracles. However, they are unaware they have just eaten their last supper with Him. Although they have been told many things concerning the future, they don’t understand what it all means. Some things are not intellectually understood because they are spiritually revealed. They have no idea how dark and difficult the next three days are going to be.

THE DISCIPLES’ ONCOMING STORM

The disciples were much like us. They focused on the things they could see with their eyes and understand. These men were wrapped up in the present circumstances. An argument even broke out concerning their place and position in the future. A crisis of epic proportion is ahead for all of them. Jesus is about to be betrayed, apprehended, convicted and crucified. Jesus even tells them,

“You will all fall away because of Me this night.” (Matthew 26:31).

What’s ahead for the disciples? Denial and betrayal. Disappointment, fear, and false accusation. Threats and abuse. Lies, jealousy, and anger. Suicide, desertion, rumors, and cruelty. These followers of Jesus knew the loss of hope and depth of pain and sorrow. They were aimlessness and hopeless; facing directionless days, and the death of future dreams, plans, and position.

However, before these storms hit, Jesus makes the disciples an oft-overlooked promise tucked within a passage of Scripture. In Matthew 26:32, He says,

“But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee” (NKJV, emphasis added).

Look at those last words carefully: “I will go before you to Galilee.”

Jesus didn’t just vaguely tell the disciples He would rise again from the dead. Instead, He specifically told them where they would meet again after the crisis was over—in Galilee. He explicitly stated they would survive the imminent crisis and experience life after the storm.

Jesus knows the difficulties our personal storm may bring. Our situation has not taken Him by surprise. He knows what is ahead. He knows where we will struggle and fail. He knows the pain and the sorrow we will endure. He knows the depth of our fear and the power of our doubts. He knows these things can send us to the edge of existence. But in these final hours, He leaves His friends with a promise that declares hope and a future are ahead of them.

JESUS IN YOUR CRISIS

Before your crisis hits, Jesus has already given you a promise concerning your future. There will be days when it will seem as if all is lost. After all, Jesus was crucified and bled to death on a cross. He was laid in a tomb with a stone rolled across the entrance and Roman soldiers standing guard. Jerusalem turned against all who followed Him, and the disciples hid in fear for their lives. Rest in Jesus’ words: “After I have been raised…I will go before you…to Galilee.” We have an appointed place where we will all gather together again. Right now, you may be in a very dark and lonely place, but you are not abandoned. You are not left without the same promise.

Jesus will meet you before, during, and after the storm.

Excerpted and adapted from “Life After the Storm” by Jan Harrison, copyright 2014, Harvest House Publishers