weathering the storms

Jesus Calms the Storm (Matthew 8:23-28)

 ²³Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. ²⁴Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. ²⁵The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"

 ²⁶He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

 ²⁷The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

 

"Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" (Mark 4:38b)

You know, I was thinking about this story this morning.  Oftentimes, I think Jesus allows the waves to nearly overwhelm our fragile little boats, just to remind us 1. how powerful the world HE created is and 2. that we MUST have faith in his promises.  It seems perfectly apparent to us the waves are going to crash over the sides of our boat and we will drown in the world's problems, illnesses, financial problems, family crisis - you name it.  But, just like in this story, we are like the disciples who forget that the Creator of the Universe is in the boat with us. 

So, when those waves that occasionally rise up and threaten to crash our little boat perhaps, instead of freaking out and running to Jesus asking if he cares if we drown, we should stop and look for the learning opportunity - perhaps God has allowed this storm to come up because, in our pride, we've become overconfident and cocky in our approach to life.  Perhaps it is a way for God to get our attention and remind us we are not capable of steering the ship into anything but rocks (or a watery grave).  It's my hope that whether Jesus calms the wind and waves surrounding our little boat or not, He'll always be with us - with us as we weather the storm.  (Hebrews 11:1)