“Calming the Storm”

Thursday, February 03, 2022

Calming the Storm

The story begins with the simple words of Jesus, “Let us cross over to the other side” (Luke 8:22).  Jesus wanted to go to the other side by a boat because it was one of the few minutes He could get away from the demands of the masses.  It had been a long day that began with confrontation and continued amidst the press of the immense crowd. People were crowding around Jesus. He hardly had time to eat. One of the very few times that Jesus could get away and rest was when He traveled by boat from one place to the other. So, He gets on the boat, and the very first thing He tries to do is settle back and try to get rest.  

And I’m sure it was a hard storm for them to understand.  Especially considering the journey they are taking is in obedience to Jesus!  Now, it’s one thing, if you’re like Jonah, and God says, “Go somewhere” and you rebel against God, and you go another way, and you get caught up in a storm.  You say, “Ah ha, storms, you see, are the result of disobedience.” But here are the disciples and they are exactly where Jesus tells them to be. They are doing exactly what Jesus tells them to do, and a storm comes. Maybe following Jesus doesn’t mean you always get smooth sailing.  

The humanity of these men comes out in that one little question, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”  Now, think about that question, because there is a subtle implication here. That is, that their question suggests Jesus went to sleep during the storm.  You see, they are not accusing Jesus of ignorance of the storm. They are accusing Jesus of indifference to it.  Now, if He had gone to sleep when it was still, they would have woken Him up and said, “Teacher, there is a storm here. Help us.”  That is not what they did.  They woke Him up and said, “Don’t you care about this storm?  You’re going to go to sleep in the middle of this thing?”  

Now, haven’t we often felt just like them? The storms of life have hit us. The winds are fierce, the waves are high, and we want to shout to God, “God what’s the deal?  Don’t You care about me?  Are you not noticing what I’m having to put up with right now?”  And I think the danger of that kind of attitude is that beneath it, there is the presumptuous implication that God’s relief and deliverance are a matter of debt and not of grace. 

Now, what are we going to do with that story?  I mean, that’s an incredible story.  “Are you going to try to tell me that a man stood up and spoke to water and wind, and it settled down?”  Some have said, “What happened here is that Jesus woke up and His presence was so reassuring, a great calm entered the hearts of the disciples so that they were able to steer the boat to safety.” The problem with that is that it doesn’t look at verse 41, because verse 41 says, “that even after Jesus calmed the waves His disciples were terrified.”  In fact, they were more afraid after He calmed the storm, than they were before.

Further, storms come even when we are near Jesus. Just because they were in the same boat as Him, did not mean they were exempt from the storms.  Just because we are Christians does not mean we are exempt from the storms that come from living life under the sun. It does mean, we know The Son who can calm the storms.

So, He silences the storm, but He’s not finished.  Because after He rebukes the storm, notice, He rebukes the disciples.  In fact, I believe He’s more displeased with the disciples than He was with the storm.  And He says to them, “Why are you so afraid?”  The waves did not swamp the disciples, fear did.  Now, I’ve been in a sinking boat, and I can think of a lot of reasons to be afraid when a boat starts to sink.  But Jesus said, “You’ve got reasons not to be afraid.”  What were they?

Well, one reason would have been His promise to reach the other side.  Another would have been His presence with them.  And another would have been His own calm demeanor amid the storm.  Can you imagine sinking with the Son of God?  But, you see, that gets to the real heart of the problem.  Because, He says, “Do you still have no faith?”  That’s an important question.  

You see, the amazing thing to me is not that He could still the storm.  The amazing thing to me is that He could go to sleep in the middle of the storm. I mean, the boat is tossing and turning, and Jesus isn’t.  He has a peace amid the storm.  

We don’t really know what a person thinks about Jesus until a storm comes.  

Prayer: Lord, please calm the storms of our lives. Please calm the storms of loss of life, betrayal, suffering and emptiness. The storms rag and we need you to command, “Peace Be Still.”

Share