Sun Inspiration

Morning Inspiration with Pastor Merritt

I love the story I read about a man in Ohio who owned an oil well. When the oil well caught fire he put out an all points bulletin for help to put the fire out. He offered up a $100,000 reward to whoever could put out that fire. All the large firehouses from cities around sent help. They sent their best companies accompanied by the most modern fire-fighting equipment available, but none of those trucks could get within 200 yards of the blaze, because the heat was just too intense and the fire was too big.

There was a volunteer fire department in a little town, called Calcutta, and they heard about this problem and they really, really, needed that $100,000 for new equipment and new uniforms. They only had one rickety truck, which was equipped with a single ladder. It only had two buckets of water and three buckets of sand and a few blankets. The truck was so old it didn’t even come with a hose. When that old truck reached the point where all those other fire companies had stopped because the heat was so great this driver didn’t even hesitate. He just kept barreling ahead until he and his crew were right in the thick of that fire. They jumped out of that truck, threw the two buckets of water and three buckets of sand on that fire and then beat the fire out with both blankets and their bare hands.

That oilman was so impressed by their unbelievable display of courage he wrote them out a check on the spot for $100,000 and said, “What are you and your men going to do with all that money?” The captain shaking like a leaf said, “The first thing we are going to do is get the stupid brakes on that truck fixed!” Sometimes we get thrown into the fire through no fault of our own. We get thrown into the fire just for trying to do what is right!
Mark adds another detail in this story we’ve been following all week that Matthew and Luke leave out and it is a detail I really love.

“But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’” (Mark 4:38)

There is only one place on a fishing boat where you could get away from bad weather, or cold weather, and it was the only place that had enough space and protection to fall asleep and that was the stern. It was the most enclosed and it only protected a part of the boat. Furthermore, Jesus had taken a pillow with Him (probably a soft cushion or seat). Why does Mark add that particular detail for us? From the moment Jesus got on that boat He went to bed. This was a premeditated sleep! He didn’t just nod off. He didn’t just fall asleep. He purposely went to sleep.

Why was Jesus at peace while the other disciples were going to pieces? It is because He remembered something that they had forgotten. He was right where God wanted Him to be. He was in the center of God’s will for His life. He was doing what God wanted Him to do. Just as He was with the disciples, God was with Him. There is no need to fear when Jesus is near!