In the 4th chapter of Mark’s Gospel and the 8th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, you can find the account of Jesus calming the storm. In our home, we usually read this story from Sally Lloyd-Jones’s Jesus Storybook Bible. In this version, the title of the story is, “The Captain of the Storm.” As Lloyd-Jones paints a picture of the situation for young readers, she writes:
.....Now Jesus’ friends had been fishermen all their lives, but in all their years of fishing on .....this lake they had never once seen a storm like this one. No matter how hard they .....struggled with their ropes and sails, they couldn’t control their boat. The storm was .....too big for them. But the storm wasn’t too big for Jesus.
During this season, I feel like I have been struggling with my “ropes and sails.” I have picked them up again and again, hoping that if I just pull tight enough, or find the right knot, things will feel safe—normal. The reality is, I cannot control my boat in the midst of these storms. On my own, I am not strong enough. The storms are much too big for me, but, as we are reminded in the text, they are not too big for Jesus.
.....Jesus turned to his wind-torn friends. “Why were you scared?” He asked. “Did you .....forget who I am?” Did you believe your fears, instead of me?” p. 240-242 Jesus .....Storybook Bible.
This past Sunday night, I was giving this same message to our middle school and high school students at youth group. We had taken a field trip to Clementine’s Ice Cream in DeMun, and were spread out on the grass, under a lamp post, in Concordia Park. The weather had been pleasant and calm that evening, until I began to teach the lesson. As soon as I started to read the account of Jesus calming the storm, the wind began to pick up. A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance, and, by the time I had arrived at Jesus’s question to his disciples, a few drops of rain began to fall.
We arrived back at the church sodden and chilly. Even so, I was grateful that God had decided to bring His words to life in that moment. Storms will come—big and small. Right now it feels like we can’t get a break from one storm rolling in after another. It would be easy to give into fear or apathy, but that would be trusting in the power of the storm. Remember Jesus’s question to his disciples, “ Did you forget who I am? Did you believe your fears instead of me?” When we believe our fears or trust in the storm, we forget who is in the boat with us. We forget that God himself has promised that He would weather the storms of life beside us.
Jess
