Luke 8:22-25
Jesus Calms the Storm
22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement, they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
Jesus asked, “Where is your faith?” How would this story be different if the disciples had indeed shown faith?
The storm came, the winds blowing, waves crashing upon the boat and imminent danger a reality. Would the conversation go something like this? Peter would say, “Hey guys, don’t worry about the storm. Hang on tight. It will get rough for a while. Maybe it will challenge us beyond our strength and even possible death, but remember Jesus is with us. Look – He is sleeping not even bothered by the storm and blatantly not concerned about death! We can be at peace for the Lord is with us! (in this case literally)
Let us consider the wonderful life we have and be at joy and peace. We don’t know how or when the storm will end, but we do know it does end eventually. What remains afterward, we don’t know. But what we do know is that God never left us and if we are still alive, He will help us rebuild. If we have died, we will be with our Father in heaven.
Just a side note. Did Jesus need to be woken up? Were the disciples being caring in the midst of their selfishness by waking him? Did Jesus know the storm was there even though He was asleep? Was Jesus being calm in the midst of the storm or was He a really deep sleeper? Would Jesus be mad if they didn’t wake Him, so He could do his miracle? Would it be considered FAITH if the disciples woke Jesus with confidence saying, “Jesus, wake up. There is a storm and we thought you might want to do your thing, you know, calm the seas? If you don’t that’s okay, we just wanted to let you know is all.”
What is our role in a storm? In their case, they were taking on water. Are we to do our best to fight off the storm by getting buckets and bailing water or tying down the goods or seeking shelter? If we have faith, do we just sit there a wait on God to do something?
What can we learn from this passage?
1) We know that storms come and go. Now we know they even come when God is with us in the boat.
2) We know that God rode the storm out with us.
3) We know that God could calm the storm if He saw fit to do so.
4) We know that we are not to worry about the storm.
5) We know it’s okay to help defend against the storm the best we can and that starts by turning to God first. The disciples did get this right as they saw the storm and ran to Jesus.
6) We know storms will end. We will rebuild and tell stories of how we persevered. We will be a bit more confident by what we learned when the next storm comes our way.
I believe that when the disciples went on their next sailing excursion with Jesus, should a storm arise, they might have had a different perspective.
Just a Thought…
