“And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”” Matthew 8:23-37
One of the lessons from this miracle is that Jesus oftentimes leads us into the storms to wake us up to the reality that we desperately need Him.
Twelve men, many who are fishermen, not stick a worm on a hook and kick back with a beer type fishermen but true, on the water 18 hours a day sustenance and selling type fishermen. These are men who make their living in a boat. They’ve seen storms before on the lake. I picture this scene – Jesus sleeping in the back of the boat while the men argue and strain. Matthew says, ‘we’re going to sink!’, “we are fine” says John. Thomas says, ‘maybe we should wake Jesus!’ Simon responds, “WE GOT THIS!” Judas cries out, “I can’t swim, we’ll drown.’ James says, “just be quiet and let us work.” The storm grows, the waves crash over the side. John looks over at Simon and James, “maybe we should wake Jesus.” Finally, they let down their pride and become ‘weak’, waking the Lord. Jesus rebukes their lack of faith, then the storm. The storm abates.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit..” Matthew 5:3
To be ‘poor in spirit’ means to depend fully upon the Lord. Those who have can tend to believe they can do it (or have done it) on their own. The fishermen knew they could handle the seas. Why do you turn to God when you feel you have the skills yourself.
This is why I believe God allows the storms while He sits in silence. There should never be a doubt in anyone’s mind that Jesus is right there with you no matter how it may feel. Even in the ‘dark night of the soul’, Jesus is standing close by.
The storm is often necessary to humble and make the man ‘poor in spirit.’ The storms opens one’s eyes to the wisdom of knowing you need God. Even if you have the skills to handle the situation, those skills aren’t yours, they came from God.
My journey outlined in my book, ‘I Knew His Voice’, shows how I came to that realization. When the storm began to blow, I thought my prayer was enough. As the storm grew, I still prayed but started handling it myself more. Even in my ‘dark night’ when I felt abandonment of God, I’ve come to realize that Jesus kept just enough light on my path that I wouldn’t get lost. Despite His absolute silence, He stayed close at hand to fight off the worst wolves to keep me safe. It was then, in the darkest hour of the storm that I realized how much I didn’t have this and to finally truly turn to Jesus.
Oh…and those other guys who didn’t have the sailing skills, in my thoughts, they had it right, turn to Jesus now. But, they caved to the experts. We need to both recognize our desperate need for Jesus at all times and have the strength to call out to Him over the storm and despite what others may be saying.
Desperately depend upon the Lord. in your strength, find you are weak and need Jesus. When you feel the skill and strength to do it, turn to Jesus, God gave this strength and skill to you.