Storms

 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A gale arose on the lake, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’ And he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, you of little faith?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?’Matthew 8:23-27

As we are gathered here in Taiwan, we found out that we are in the possible path of a typhoon. Anyone who has spent time near the ocean knows the threat this time of year of severe storms. It is that season and the storm that might come this way is not supposed to be too dangerous, but it reminds us how fragile life is and how easily storms arise.

Jesus was asleep and his disciples were in full fledged panic. The winds and the waves were swamping the boat and they thought themselves to dying. They were skilled fishermen and sailors, so they must have known this to be a very dangerous storm. They called out and Jesus calmed the wind and the waves. We often rely on ourselves and our perceptions of the storms of life until things are beyond our control and understanding. Jesus stayed with them despite their fear and stays with us in our worst storms. We are never alone facing the worst, no matter what we see or feeel.

Today I ask God to help me to rely on Christ alone and not on my own understanding. May we know as the storms increase we are never alone in the wind and the waves. May we find ourselves embedded in the heart of God as we wait out the worst and rejoice in the one who controls even the wind and the waves.