Be a Storm Sleeper
By Abraham Israel
Years ago a farmer owned land along the South Indian seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the seacoast, because of the awful storms that raged across the coast of the Bay of Bengal, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.
As the farmer searched for people to fill the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, appproached the farmer. "Are you a good farmhand?" the farmer asked him." "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.
The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quaters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!" The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."
Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down and nothing could be blown away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand had meant, so he returned to his bed to sleep while the wind blows.
My question to you is, "Can you sleep when the storms of life blows?" We see that storm sleeper was so confident of the work that he had done before-hand that he was not at all concerned whether a storm passes through his place or not, one thing he was doing, absolutely enjoying his night of sleep.
Jesus Himself said, "24 Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock." (Matt 7:24-25).
Jesus was a storm sleeper. Apostle Matthew beautifully portrays this incident in Matt 8:23-27, "23 Now when He [i.e. Jesus] got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”".
Here we see in the above incident the disciples were fearful of death because they were not full of the WORD OF GOD inside them. But Jesus slept in the midst of the great and a fierce storm that arose from the sea because he was full of faith by walking perfectly in will of God which was revealed to him through obeying the WORD OF GOD perfectly (John 8:28-29; 6:38; 7:17; Rom 10:17). In Jesus the eternal word of God was manifested in the flesh as a perfect human and fulfilled the perfect will of God (John 1:1-4, 14; Matt 5:17-18). Jesus rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith and then rebuked the storm. The unbelief ran away and the storm suddenly calmed down. Jesus was calm, composed and full of serenity in the midst of all difficulties because the very WORD OF GOD was made flesh in his life on earth. We too like JESUS should strive diligently to enter the rest of God through practicing and living in the WORD OF GOD before we face the storms of life (Heb 4:1-3, 11-13). Jesus demonstrated it so that we can follow Him in our lives.
Do you realise that when you have built your life based on meditating the Word of God and living accordingly, when the storms of life hits you unexpectedly, you will spiritually be without even an iota of confusion, fear, anxiety and restlessness. Instead you will be full of poise, peace, joy and tranquility while the stormy wind blows over your earthern house. It is possible to rest while the stormy wind blows, but it takes much hard work of faith, endurance and self-discipline to attain and enjoy this supernatural state of heavenly rest in your soul.
Choose a place of quietness and commune with the Lord through HIS WORD. Remember what our Lord says, "28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30).
As you lift up His yoke of obeying HIS WORD joyfully, His supernatural energy and peace will fill you and make you live the abundant life that Jesus has promised to all his obedient disciples. May the Lord's peace, joy and righteousness fill you more and more as you keep buiding your life based on HIS WORD. May you become a Spiritual storm-sleeper and as a result enjoy the heavenly supernatural rest in God. May God empower you to become supernaturally blessed to be a blessing to many around you, who also need the teaching of how to become a storm-sleeper themselves to ENJOY LIFE SUPERNATURALLY APART FROM THE CIRCUMSTANCES THEY FACE.
As the farmer searched for people to fill the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, appproached the farmer. "Are you a good farmhand?" the farmer asked him." "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.
The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quaters. He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!" The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."
Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins. The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down and nothing could be blown away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand had meant, so he returned to his bed to sleep while the wind blows.
My question to you is, "Can you sleep when the storms of life blows?" We see that storm sleeper was so confident of the work that he had done before-hand that he was not at all concerned whether a storm passes through his place or not, one thing he was doing, absolutely enjoying his night of sleep.
Jesus Himself said, "24 Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock." (Matt 7:24-25).
Jesus was a storm sleeper. Apostle Matthew beautifully portrays this incident in Matt 8:23-27, "23 Now when He [i.e. Jesus] got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”".
Here we see in the above incident the disciples were fearful of death because they were not full of the WORD OF GOD inside them. But Jesus slept in the midst of the great and a fierce storm that arose from the sea because he was full of faith by walking perfectly in will of God which was revealed to him through obeying the WORD OF GOD perfectly (John 8:28-29; 6:38; 7:17; Rom 10:17). In Jesus the eternal word of God was manifested in the flesh as a perfect human and fulfilled the perfect will of God (John 1:1-4, 14; Matt 5:17-18). Jesus rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith and then rebuked the storm. The unbelief ran away and the storm suddenly calmed down. Jesus was calm, composed and full of serenity in the midst of all difficulties because the very WORD OF GOD was made flesh in his life on earth. We too like JESUS should strive diligently to enter the rest of God through practicing and living in the WORD OF GOD before we face the storms of life (Heb 4:1-3, 11-13). Jesus demonstrated it so that we can follow Him in our lives.
Do you realise that when you have built your life based on meditating the Word of God and living accordingly, when the storms of life hits you unexpectedly, you will spiritually be without even an iota of confusion, fear, anxiety and restlessness. Instead you will be full of poise, peace, joy and tranquility while the stormy wind blows over your earthern house. It is possible to rest while the stormy wind blows, but it takes much hard work of faith, endurance and self-discipline to attain and enjoy this supernatural state of heavenly rest in your soul.
Choose a place of quietness and commune with the Lord through HIS WORD. Remember what our Lord says, "28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30).
As you lift up His yoke of obeying HIS WORD joyfully, His supernatural energy and peace will fill you and make you live the abundant life that Jesus has promised to all his obedient disciples. May the Lord's peace, joy and righteousness fill you more and more as you keep buiding your life based on HIS WORD. May you become a Spiritual storm-sleeper and as a result enjoy the heavenly supernatural rest in God. May God empower you to become supernaturally blessed to be a blessing to many around you, who also need the teaching of how to become a storm-sleeper themselves to ENJOY LIFE SUPERNATURALLY APART FROM THE CIRCUMSTANCES THEY FACE.
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