These last few years have been difficult years. The circumstances in our lives have shaken the very foundation of what we believe and why. Tough circumstances stir lies deep within our souls and bring them raging to the surface. We begin to question ourselves. Sometimes we question the commitment and love of those around us, and sometimes we even question God.
God has given me a picture in this season. The picture originates from a story: One evening, Jesus and His closest friends (disciples) decided to get into a boat and cross the sea. Well, Jesus fell asleep while they were making their crossing. While He was sleeping a violent storm arose. A majority of His closest companions were fisherman and very familiar with the sea. So, this storm had to be fierce because these men believed they were all going to die that evening. As the waves crashed over their boat and it began to fill with water, they woke their Friend; their Savior, Jesus. Now at this point in the story, many of us want to get frustrated at the disciples: “Guys, really, don’t you get it! How many times does He have to prove Himself to you before you finally realize that He is love personified and He will never leave or forsake you!”
You see His friends were looking at the color of the sky, the wind, the waves, the water in the boat… they were looking at every circumstance and making determinations based on those circumstances. How often do we do the same? When things get rough and the waves rise, and sometimes the storm gets so bad that water begins to fill the boat… what do we do? We may question ourselves: “I must be doing something wrong? Do I have some hidden sin in my life? Is God mad at me (and it’s my job to figure out why)? Or sometimes our focus is on others: “If you would just do this or that, everything would be ok (as if our “okayness” is based on someone else)? And then there’s always option number three: i.e. blame God. “If God really loved me…; If He really cared…; He is in control of everything, right?” How different are we than His closest friends who could not connect to Him because they were too focused on the wind and the waves? Did you ever stop to think that Jesus would not have rebuked a storm that His Father had caused. I think all of life comes from one place… Him. “Apart from Christ I can do nothing.” John 15:5. Jesus did nothing of His own initiative; He did what He saw the Father do and even the words He spoke originated from the Father! He showed us the perfect Christian life; the only one that has ever existed. That life is one of perfect dependence.
So here is my picture: The storm is raging with such intensity that it looks as if death is imminent. Jesus is in the boat. I can look at the wind and the waves. I can even look at the other disciples and connect to their fear or anger or disappointment… or I can connect to the One who is perfect peace in the storm. I can connect to the One who says “Peace”. I connect to the One who is Peace. Let us choose to take our eyes off of the wind and the waves and the others around us and their words and actions and discover Him and His truth in this storm. He is the answer. I want to lay down next to Him in the boat and put my head on His chest and listen to His heartbeat. I want to look up into His eyes and know what He is saying in this storm. He will either speak peace to the storm or He will speak peace to me while the storm rages, but whatever He chooses, I know He is always enough.