they are unpredictable…

crises in your life are inevitable, they are variable, they are impartial and they are unpredictable.  they can come suddenly, unexpectedly. 

in the story of JESUS and the storm, the disciples got in the boat and went out on the lake of galilee and it says in matthew 8.24 (niv), without a warning a furious storm came up.

the mediterranean sea is relatively near and storms often sweep in real quickly into the lake of galilee.  there are some steep mountains there and storms can come up quickly. 

if you talk to pilots, they talk about clean air turbulence when they’re flying.  you can’t see it but, when you hit it, you feel it. 

a crisis is like that.  you can’t see it coming.  none of us can predict tragedy.  that’s what scares us about it.  you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, next year.  you can’t predict it but when you hit it, it will hit you.

a fifth reality about a crisis is, i can choose my response to it.

in looking at verse 24 in its entirety we see two responses.  in verse 24a we have the response of the disciples.  in 24b we have the response of JESUS.  there are two options when you have a crisis.  have you noticed you can have two people, put them in the same crises and they react differently.  different responses.  the options you have when you face a crisis:  you can be filled with panic (like the disciples in 24a) or you will be filled with peace like JESUS. 

we’ll look in more detail at this tomorrow.

just a thought from the front porch…

what we can presume about 2012…

another mistake that james in the nt says we make in looking at our future is to presume about tomorrow.  presuming about tomorrow.

he says it is a mistake taking it for granted, assuming i’m going to live forever.  i’ve got the rest of my life.  james 4.14 & 16  (niv), why, you don’t even know what will happen tomorrow.  what is your life?  you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  as it is, you boast and brag.  all such boasting is evil.

there are a couple of reasons we shouldn’t presume about the future and assume that we’ve got tomorrow…

one is that life is unpredictable.  you don't even know.  none of us know what’s going to happen tonight much less this year.  all we can do is make guesses.  life is so unpredictable.  another war could start, the economy could get worse, your friends could leave you.  none of us know what’s going to happen in life.  life is so unpredictable

some of you work on commission or you are self-employed.  you go from feast to famine in your income.  one day it’s great and the next day it’s the pits.  you don’t have any assurance.  there is no guarantee of perpetual success.  none of us do.  realize that you can’t presume on tomorrow.

we shouldn’t let that frighten us, that life is uncertain.  don’t worry about it or be afraid.  just let it cause you to trust GOD more.  let it cause you to be more dependent on GOD.  you don’t know what’s going to happen in your life or your business.  it just forces you to trust GOD more.  let it cause you to be more dependent upon GOD.  you do’t know what’s going to happen in your life or your business.  life is unpredictable.

it also is brief.  you are a mist.  mist in greek is “atmos” where we get the word “atmosphere.”  your life is like a fog; it rolls in, in the morning but burns off by noon.  who knows how long we’re going to live?  none of us do.

how does the bible describe your life?  it uses phrases like a leaf, grass, shadow, cloud, puff of smoke, vapor.  i'm only one heart beat away from eternity.  i don’t know how long i’m going to live.  life is short.  it goes so fast from hot wheels to wheelchair.  diapers – dignity – decay.  life’s brief.  watch out and don’t presume you have the rest of your life.  don’t take tomorrow for granted.

just a thought from the front porch…

they are predictable and many kinds…

james 1. 2 (niv), consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  rejoicing when your facing trials or problems is not just positive thinking but it is based some facts of life.

here’s one… problems are unpredictable.

james says, whenever you face trials.  the word face in greek is “peripipto.”  it literally means “to fall into unexpectedly.”  it is the same word used in the story of the good samaritan where the man fell among thieves – it was unexpected.

trials are not planned.  we seldom can anticipate the problems we’re going to experience in life.  that’s probably good because if we could anticipate them we’d run the other way and we wouldn’t get the benefit from them.

we are facing a hurricane this weekend here on long island.  it is unplanned and unpredictable – we least expected it to come to new york.  that’s what makes a problem a problem.  often it’s inconvenient when you fall into it. 

here is another one… problems of many kinds.

they come in all shapes and sizes.  one thing about problems: you don’t get bored with them; there are a wide variety of them. 

now the word in greek for many kinds is literally “multi colored.”  have you ever tried to match paint?  there are problems of many shades and varieties. 

they vary in intensity, they vary in variety, they vary in duration.  some are minor inconveniences.  some are major crises.  we have all kinds and shapes of problems.  they come in more than 31 flavors.  some problems are custom made for you.

here is a sign:  “into every life rain must fall, but this is ridiculous.”  an earthquake and a hurricane on long island in the same week?  lots of varieties in our life.

just a thought from the front porch..