I had a philosophy professor in college once say, “If you can trust a chair, you can trust Jesus.”

When we gave him the expected puzzled look, he went on: “Do any of you know who made the chair you are sitting on? Not the company, but the actual man or woman? You have no idea about their qualifications, how long they have been a chairmaker. Where did they learn? Do they ever make mistakes? What is their safety record? Yet when you came into class, you didn’t hesitate. Why? Because you have a history with chairs. You have sat in thousands over your lifetime. They have lived up to their design and have held people up for centuries. So why is it that people still lack faith in Jesus when they have a book that attests to his divinity and track record of delivering on promises?”

That was a great point! The Bible is the living word of God and tells us exactly who Jesus is and what he did for us. And yet, we still struggle, even though the evidence is close at hand.

Before you go beating yourself up, remember one of our passages for today from Matthew 8 … Jesus and a few of the disciples were on a boat when a storm formed and started to assail the boat. Jesus was sleeping—sleeping! The disciples were probably scared and confused all at the same time. But Jesus wasn’t. He was calmly sleeping through it all.

Rather than take the lead from Jesus, who had just done some pretty miraculous healings, the disciples panicked. They woke Jesus and begged him to save them from the building waves.

Jesus did save them, but not without challenging them a bit. “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith.” Once again, like yesterday, I would be curious to hear how Jesus delivered this line. Was he chastising them, or merely a bit disappointed? Regardless, here were friends who had proximity to Jesus to rely on for evidence, and they still had fear and doubt.

Fear and doubt are OK. But Jesus desires a relationship with us built on trust in who he is and what he has promised. That takes time spent getting to know him better. So, thanks for reading this today! You are getting to know him better. Now, how is your trust?

Reflection:

  • Why do we struggle to trust Jesus even though we have the Bible to show us exactly who he is and what he can do and has done for us?
  • What is something you are struggling with today? Have you talked to God about it yet? Why or why not? If not, I encourage you to do so now and see how God shows up.