Caught In The Storm

Matthew 8:23-25 – Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him saying "Lord save us! We're going to drown!"

On one of the last cruises I was on in the Navy, we got caught in a hurricane. The ship I was on was not very big. Within the hurricane the waves had risen to 55 feet, so our little ship was at the mercy of the sea. We were being tossed about like a child's toy in a swimming pool. All we could do was point the bow into the waves and ride it out. This was the worst time I had ever had at sea. The ship developed a three-foot crack in the bow from the pounding it took, and we were taking on water. The captain finally called general quarters and we donned our life jackets. I have to tell you I was scared. I had put my faith in that boat — after all, it was a United States warship. I had also put my trust in the captain. Now I hoped he knew what he was doing.

In Matthew chapter 8, we see that the disciples had a similar experience. They got caught in a bad storm on the water, and they were panic-stricken. They woke Jesus up and yelled at him, "Save us!" Some of these disciples were fishermen. They were experienced on the water, yet the faith they had in themselves and their boat disappeared. Now all they had left was to call on the Lord. We see that Jesus then tells them, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Both they and I were afraid for the same reason: our faith was not in Jesus. Our faith was in our vessel and our experience to carry us through. In so doing we forgot something very important in our Christian faith: our focus is to be on Christ and our faith is to be in Christ. When we get caught in the storms and problems in our lives, we are to put our faith in Christ and not in our surroundings to see us through. It is Christ who controls the storms around us. When we put our trust in Christ, he will provide us comfort and calm the storms.Prayer: Lord thank you for always being there for us when there are storms raging around us. Thank you for seeing us through these storms and helping us to grow from our experiences. Without you, we could not make it, but in your great love and mercy, you come to us and guide us. We can only offer our gratitude to you. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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