Two Storms, Two Boats, ONE Savior

One day, after a long day of ministering to crowds who wanted him to work miracles in their lives, Jesus and his disciples climbed into a boat and headed across the sea of Galilee.

Jesus, drained by the demands of the crowd, fell asleep in the stern as his companions began to row to the other side. Shortly after they set out, a storm blew in on them and the boat began to founder.

Still, Jesus slept, undisturbed.

The men in the boat began to panic. They were fishermen and this was their sea, and they were afraid the storm would destroy their craft and drown them along with all of them.

Still, Jesus slept, as if he had not a care in the world.

In their fear and their sure knowledge they were as good as dead, they woke Jesus. “You are our leader, do you not know we are about to sink?!. Do you not care we are going to die!?!” they ask Him. I am sure they were in near panic.

Jesus looked at them, I am sure with a bit of incredulity mixed with compassion. He looked past the edge of the boat and saw the storm. Then, He spoke. As always, He spoke with the authority that was His through the Holy Spiri of God, the authority one who knew who He was, and whose He was.

“PEACE.” They heard Him say, and they looked at Him. (If it had been me, I would have been thinking,, “has He LOST HIS MIND?, We need to bet out of this storm, and He is yelling at the wind. Just who does He think He is?” )

Then, He said, “Be still!!!” (Yeah right, this storm is tearing a well built boat apart, and He thinks he can save us THAT WAY?”)

The silence was deafening and the calm staggering as the storm instantly ceased its violence.

Jesus spoke again, “Why are you afraid? Have you such weak faith?”

The men were stunned, “WHO is this?”, they wanted to know. Where does he get such authority that EVEN the wind and waves submit upon His command?”

Although it is but speculation on my part, I am sure that by the time they were asking these questions, he had gone back to sleep.


Another day, another boat. This day, Jesus just fed 5000 men and their accompanying families and servants (estimates say the total was 20000 people or higher). As evening came on, Jesus sent the disciples on across the lake while he went up into the hills to pray and rest. Again the disciples got just a short distance from shore, and ran into a strong headwind. And, where there is a strong wind on the water, there are big waves. Even rowing with all their might, they made little progress Do you ever wonder if any of them was thinking about the last storm, when Jesus was sleeping in the boat? Do you wonder if anyone was saying, “If only Jesus was here, he would calm this storm for us?”

I imagine it was about, as day was just breaking, one of them looked out and saw a strange sight. “Hey, hey, HEY There is something out there.” The others in the boat looked first at him, then they looked out to where he is pointing, off in the twilight and wave confused distance. Sure enough there IS something out there, something vaguely resembling a man, except it was ON TOP of the water. AND, it is COMING CLOSER. In the face of this wind they can barely row against, it is coming towards them and it is overtaking them. It can only be one thing. They are convinced, “It is a ghost!!” They exclaimed in great fear.

Then they heard a familiar voice, “Calm down, guys, it is just me, don’t be afraid.”

“JESUS!!” Peter cries out. “Jesus, if that IS YOU out there, tell me to come to you and I WILL WALK TO YOU!” So Jesus called peter to come to Him.

Peter got up, and stepped out of the boat. He walked to Jesus, and I am guessing he got pretty close (based on the fact that Jesus was right there to help him in a moment or so lter). Then Peter did a very Peter thing, he looked around and realized that, (A) he was ON TOP of the water, (B) the wind and waves were still raging as they were a few moments before, and (C) he was not in a boat.

OOPS. “I am a people. People are supposed to drink this stuff, not stand ontop of it. I am in deep kimchee right here and right…”

SPLOOSH. “NOW…”

GLUB GLUB…”JESUS, HELLLLLLLP!”

Jesus reached down and helped Peter stand back up. Now this is vintage, classic, Jesus, “Peter, WHY did you doubt? Why is your faith so immature?” And they walked back to the boat…through the wind and waves.

Only AFTER they got to the boat did the storm cease.

Now WHAT in all heaven is Jesus trying to teach here? Peter walked on water, in a storm. And Jesus chides him for his faith being weak. Not too long before that, Jesus was chiding all of them about their faith being immature in another storm. This time Peter got OUT of the boat. In the storm. This time Peter defied physics, every darn law, just about, and walked on top of the waves, in the wind.

Weak faith? I would not think so. But Jesus did.

I mean Peter made great advances since the last time they were in a storm tossed boat.

But Peter had not learned the full lesson…When Jesus is there, when God has called us to a task, when the Holy Spirit empowers us, we need not fear even the oddest of circumstances.

Jesus was in the boat the first time. He was sleeping, even though a storm was raging. Why was He sleeping? Because He KNEW that He had a purpose, given by God that lay on the other side of the lake. He knew the storm was not going to deter that purpose unless He allowed it. God had ordained that purpose, and it was Gods task to get Him there. He chided his companions because they had seen a lot of miracles, but when they were threatened they lost sight of God’s presence and the power that went with it.

In the second instance, Peter was bolder and began with greater confidence in Jesus than the others, but when the situation overcame him, his faith, too, failed. And thus Jesus was reminding Peter, and me, and all of us who believe, that our faith is only complete when we see the boat through the storm, and on to the other side of the sea where we fulfill our calling. We will only hear the words, “Well done good and FAITHFUL servant” at the very end of the journey, and how we reach the end depends on our perseverance through the entire course of our lives.

But even when we are at our loneliest, and seem to be the most isolated and the most persecuted, we are NOT alone. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit is in our boat with us except when he is taking us for a walk IN the wind,and ON the water.

Hope Delayed is NOT Hope destroyed

I was song surfing and found this from days past, but the message is timeless, unlike so much else in the Christian Pop music culture.

It speaks to me of the truth that my Savior has set aside a place for me that I will someday see, and which can in no way be taken from me. It is in this that I place my hope and it is this hope that however much delayed can never, never be destroyed, for I am more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus my Lord.