That day when evening came, He said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side. Leaving the crowd behind, they took Him along, just as He was in the boat. There were also other boats with Him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!”
This is another one of those great Bible stories that I dearly love. I want to look at several key points in this story. You see there are a number of lessons to be gleaned from this short story.
First of all Jesus told His disciples “Let us go over to the other side”. Let’s talk a bit about the other side. When we are sinners, Jesus calls us to go over to the other side. As Christians, heaven awaits us as our final destination when we cross over to the other side. Jesus calls us to a different place in our life. A place where we do our best to imitate Him and be a good example for others. A place where we strive to lead others to Christ both through our words and our deeds.
Secondly, they had to leave the crowd. Often if we go over to the other side, we have to leave the crowd behind. I think that this is one of the scariest things for sinners to do. We are called to follow Jesus and leave anyone who chooses not to follow Him behind. That’s really scary if our friends and family choose not to follow Him, but let me tell you something my friend, once you commit to that journey you will be so glad you did. You will be sorry for those who chose not to follow Him, but you will definitely not be sorry that you did.
Thirdly, we have this horrific storm. You see when we follow Jesus, he never tells us that our life will be a constant day at the beach. Often times, we face storms. We face trials and tribulations. We must be prepared for these times. We prepare for these by staying close to God through Bible reading and prayer.
Fourth and perhaps most importantly know that Jesus is with you as you go through the storm. I am amazed by the fact that the disciples had Jesus Christ in the boat with them and were frightened, but then I think about the times I freaked out when I faced a particularly rough storm in my life. Jesus is always right there with us. The Bible tells us we have nothing to fear.
The fifth thing we need to know is that all we need to do is call on Him. The disciples called out to Him when they were afraid. Jesus should never just be your 911 call, but you should maintain a close relationship with Him and should never hesitate to call out to Him when you have trouble.
Last but not least, have faith. God is faithful. He is there for us, but we have to believe. Jesus spoke to the wind and the waves and they obeyed Him. Nothing is impossible with God. I think sometimes that we forget who we are talking to when we cry out to God for help. Don’t you know that you are asking the creator of the universe for help. If he can put the entire universe together, he can certainly handle whatever your problem is no matter how impossible it may seem.
If you are going through trying times, I pray that you have a close relationship with God. This can make whatever you are going through so much easier. He truly can calm the storm.
Remember that even the wind and the waves obey Him, shouldn’t you also obey Him.
It is my prayer for you today that if you are facing difficult times that you call out to God with thanksgiving, as we discussed last week, and that you ask for His help with the full faith in knowing that He can do all things.
So the morals of today’s story are to get up and follow Him, don’t be afraid to leave the crowd, don’t freak out in the storm, trust in Him to pull you through.
Hope you have a great day!