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Faith is the bird that sings while it is yet dark.
—Max Lucado
Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
—Matthew 8:23-27
Most of us would probably prefer to cruise placidly across still waters with our Savior asleep in the back of the boat. But it is only amid the storms that we truly see him as he really is. Only when we need deliverance are we truly aware of our Deliverer. His name means “God-with-us” and he walks beside us every day. But it is when we walk through the furnace that we feel his presence most palpably.
When the path is smooth and well-marked, it is tempting to rely upon our own understanding, and forget who it is in whom “we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) God is master of all the storms and could easily prevent us from encountering any turbulence.
But God longs for relationship with us. And he has built into us a vacuum that only he can fill. It is in the storms we learn surrender. And it is in surrender we learn to trust fully in his love and protection.
It is when we can no longer carry ourselves that we see God as he really is—as he wants us to see him—not as an aloof stern God whose arms are folded, but as a loving Father whose arms stretch to enfold us; a God whose heart bursts with love when we call out, “Abba, Father,” like toddlers reaching upward to say, “Daddy, will you carry me?”
Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A gallows seventy-five feet high stands by Haman’s house. He had it made for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.The king said, “Hang him on it!” So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.
—Esther 7:9-10
Just as Hamas was executed on the very scaffold he built for Mordecai, Satan was destroyed by the very cross he built for Christ.
That evening Jesus’ disciples went down to the shore to wait for him. But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum. Soon a gale swept down upon them, and the sea grew very rough. They had rowed three or four miles when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified, but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid. I am here!” Then they were eager to let him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!—John 6:16-21
What stands out to me most about this passage is not that Jesus walked on the waves, or that he calmed the storm, or that the disciples were afraid, or any of the usual lessons that are drawn from this scripture. What I see most clearly here is that the disciples got tired of waiting on Jesus and set off without him. Not surprisingly, they ran into some turbulence.
Isn’t this what happens to all of us? We get tired of waiting for God and set out on our own. What happens? The water gets rough, and we find ourselves in the dark struggling to stay afloat.
The LORD is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.—Lamentations 3:25
Wait for the LORD;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the LORD.—Psalm 27:14
Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him.
—Psalm 37:7
Though youths grow weary and tired,
And vigorous young men stumble badly,
Yet those who wait for the LORD
Will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.—Isaiah 40:30-31
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
—George Orwell
What is to give light must endure burning.
—Viktor E. Frankl
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