Luk 8:22  Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. 
Luk 8:23  But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. 
Luk 8:24  And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. 
Luk 8:25  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.

Luke 8: 22-25

Challenges are a part of life and they await all of us in all kinds of different forms. Some are small, some are big, some are foreseen and others appear out of nowhere.  Sometimes we choose a path we know will have more challenges and other times, through no fault of our own, a challenge finds us.  Given that we cannot avoid all of the challenges in our life or delegate them, we must face them head on to conquer them and achieve the results we desire.

Our passage today is the famous recounting of some of the disciples and Jesus travelling by boat when a storm hits.  Jesus was sleeping but was woken up by the disciples who were scared for their lives.  Jesus literally (using His words) rebukes the storm and the water and wind become calm once more.

So what is Jesus teaching us?  Let’s have a closer look.

First, acknowledge the challenge at hand.  He does not pretend it doesn’t exist and it is not a challenge that can be avoided or delegated.  Second, Jesus faces the problem head on – without second guessing.  Remember, just because a person does not second guesses themselves does not mean they have no fear.  Instead, what it means is that they have clear choices about how they will act in the situation.  Third, Jesus chooses an action to perform – and He does it with 100% of His effort – everything that He is.  If you are honest with yourself, there are very few things that you putt 100% of your effort into; and truthfully, it is not wise nor necessary to do such a thing because so much of your energy is used.  You need recovery time between ‘Max Out’ moments.

If you do these things in real life, I would dare to say that some might find you to be inspiring.  In the face of all odds, you face a challenge, choose an action, and execute it.  On a very basic level, this is part of the essence of living.  Notice how I did not finish the sequence with a  result?  It is because it is unknown, however, what you must do in your life is tackle challenges in the way Jesus tackled the storm challenge.  In our own lives, as in sport, you win some and you lose some.  The better you become as a person in all aspects of who you are, the more challenges you will win.  Just remember, that even players on the worst teams are still playing the game full out, and as such, just because you might lose sometimes or even more than you like to admit, it is not a knock on who you are.  The end result is often the culmination of many factors outside of your control.

The next time you have a challenge,  face it head on, choose a course of action, and execute it with all your effort.  You might be surprised to find that people will want to follow you and help you.

Sound familiar?