My husband hit a home run with his sermon Sunday morning. He shared the story in Matthew 8 where Jesus and his disciples where sailing on the Sea of Galilee and a “furious storm” came up. Jesus was exhausted from preaching, so he was sleeping. As the storm gained momentum the disciples—even Peter and Andrew, the experienced fishermen—started to worry. Finally, they woke up Jesus, and instantly He said, “Peace. Be still.”
Here were the disciples in the midst of a sudden and fearsome storm. All the while thinking about the Master, the Rabbi, Jesus, “I can’t believe you’re sleeping! Can’t you see what we’re going through?” In Mark’s rendition the story states, “The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’”(Mark 4:38).
Bruce made the point that many times we are like the disciples on that boat feeling like Jesus hasn’t quite woken up to the distress we are experiencing in the moment. Here we are doing the best we can, trying to be faithful, and the world seems to be crumbling around us despite our best efforts. Then it’s easy to think, “Hey, are you asleep up there, Jesus. Can’t you see what I’m going through out here? Don’t you care?”
Have you ever been there? A bill comes that you weren’t expecting—a big badda bill. Your only car breaks down and you need to get to work to pay to repair it. A person you love is in the operating room and you are in the waiting room, and here comes the wind and the storm.
These were my husband’s takeaways from this story: Jesus is always there. Sometimes He comforts you. Sometimes He doesn’t. There is always an objective in the storm, not the least of which is to increase our faith.
There will always be wind; but there will also, ALWAYS BE JESUS, and He will be with us in this life and the life to come. Whatever we’re going through, He’s there and He cares, despite how it seems. We just have to hang on!