God’s School of Pop Quizzes

In many ways, the disciples who were with Jesus seemed to experience crazy situations without warning. In one case, they went out in a boat and a huge storm hit them. “They went and woke him [Jesus], saying, ‘Save us, Lord; we are perishing.’ And he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?’ Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?’” (Matthew 8:25-27, ESV). It almost seems as if this came up suddenly like a test for them.

How many of us experienced pop quizzes in school? I hated pop quizzes when I was growing up. I was one of those guys who would study for the midterm and the final. Pop quizzes, though, meant that I constantly needed to keep up and know what was happening.

Think about it. Those quizzes weren’t revelations about the teacher or the material; they were revelations about us. If we were keeping up with what we were being taught in class and knew the material, those quizzes showed it. If we weren’t, they showed that too.

Christianity doesn't work on a midterm and final test basis. It works on pop quizzes that abruptly show up and reveal where we are in our relationship with God. Wild stuff happens, and many Christians today aren’t ready for it any more than the disciples were prepared for that storm. Here comes the revelation. Jesus told his disciples that their poor reaction wasn’t a fear issue; it was a faith issue.

The wind and the waves, the things causing your fear, aren’t the problem. When you have big waves and little faith, you're going to have a fear problem. If you have big waves and big faith, you’ll rest in knowing God's got this. That's where God wants to meet us and help us. So when you’re in a turbulent moment, embrace the pop quiz life. Ask God to increase the faith in your heart. That's what God is asking us to do. Trust him, and grow in your trust of him.

^{After pastoring an inner-city congregation in Detroit for thirty years, Pastor Tim served at Brooklyn Tabernacle in NYC for five years and pastored in Lafayette, Louisiana, for five years. He became Senior Pastor of Times Square Church in May of 2020.}