When things go against you

Sometimes we experience that things go against us and they are not like we expected. When the Israelites were lead into the desert, described in the book of Exodus, it was a completely new world for them, different, wild and dry. Their previous, ordinary, comfortable life wasn't there anymore. Is God really with us still? they started to ask themselves.

The same happened to the disciples of Jesus, when he sent them off in a boat by themselves, described in Matthew 14. It is told that the wind "was against them." In both these situations, the people started to despair and doubt that that God was with them.  That is what it seems like when things go against us.

But what God wanted to show them, is that He is with us regardless of the circumstances. He rebuked the Israelites, and he rebuked the disciples. Why? Not because they were trusting in God foolishly, but the opposite. They didn't trust him enough to think that things would be solved.

When Peter approached God walking on water, he started to doubt because of the hard wind. "Will this really work:?" But Jesus said "Your faith is so small! Why did you doubt?"
God invites us to have a Big Faith. That means keep believing in God when things go against us.