“Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
Matthew: Matthew 8:18, 23-27
Mark: Mark 4:35-41
Luke: Luke 8:22-25
Thoughts about serving others
This link includes a list of posts about Serving the Least, the Lost, and the Lonely.
My prayer is for you to join me on this journey. Subscribe to this blog below to get an email when a new post is available.
Let the Word evoke words. May your life encourage lives.
The miracle of calming the storm that arose is beyond explanation, even though I’m sure there is someone who would dare to propose some solution. Here we find Jesus is physically tired from preaching and teaching, but he doesn’t want to waste any time, so he tells his disciples to sail across at night. I’ve been on large lakes before and been in storms that seem to appear out of nowhere–it is a frightening experience for the novice! The disciples, by and large, were seasoned fishermen, so the storm must have really been serious for them to be desperately afraid. Jesus, asleep in the stern of the boat, is awakened by the desperados. His reaction reveals a few things about the person of Jesus and his character: 1) he was tired and grumpy and 2) he is God!
Jesus’ initial reaction gives me great comfort — he seems to be grumpy when they wake him up! Seriously guys, you think this storm is the way we end this season? I don’t think so! It’s a bit humorous to look at the event through these eyes, but this was no ordinary storm and they had no precedent for solving the problem the way Jesus did. Perhaps they had friends or relatives who had died on the lake as a result of such storms. I don’t know, but that would not be surprising (the Gordon Lightfoot song, The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald is now playing in my head!). Ok, so I looked up the song and found an interesting verse:
This is what the disciples must have felt, their anxious thoughts went from bad to worse. They panicked and woke Jesus. There are certainly times when I wonder where the love of God goes when things don’t go the way I planned–even though I know God has the better path.
Even before the words were spoken, the storm, as if it were a person, knew what Jesus was about to say. He spoke. The storm ceased. The disciples feared, reverently understood as if there were any real room for doubt. There are many miles to go, many days of preaching still ahead. The foundation for these few disciples gets stronger every day, even though they will be further tested.
We of little faith, so it seems, are quickly frightened when Jesus has our best interest in mind. I don’t criticize the disciples, they didn’t have the Bible to read, the stories to share, because they were living the story. I criticize myself for doubting, for acting foolishly when I know beyond any doubt that God not only wins in the end, but he wants us to be there with as many people as possible!
Lord, help us to be bold in Christ as we approach this day. Remind us that you are the rock and redeemer, that you would not put us in a storm that wasn’t for your glory. Help us to trust you completely!