Monday, November 1, 2010

Storms

Here's the picture: Jesus has told His disciples that it is time to get in a boat and go to the other side. They all pile in the boat, Jesus lays down in the boat and goes to sleep. His disciples were probably pretty glad He did. They knew the demands the people (not to mention themselves) put on Jesus. They probably felt like I do when my husband gets a morning to sleep in, I sneak around trying to keep the boys quiet so he can rest.
And then, the storm hits - not just a few raindrops but a "furious squall". So the disciples wake the resting Jesus with "Don't you care if we drown?!?!" Jesus gets up speaks to the wind and the waves and immediately they stop. Order and peace are restored.

As I read this at bedtime to the boys, the Lord spoke to my heart. How often do the storms break in on my life (storms, read: whining children, messes, things not happening according to my timetable, bickering brothers, hurt feelings, the press of a long to-do list, and more...) and I react with a "Lord, don't you care?!?" But Jesus is there, present, in the boat, in the storm; so why should I doubt His care? Now I don't think Jesus minded being woken up (unlike me), but I think it was the way in which the disciples woke Him. I think He wanted them to wake Him, for only He could calm the storm and the waves which were breaking over the boat. But not with an accusation, but with a trusting request.

That night the Lord reminded me that He is my source for all that I need to calm the storms in my life, that He is willing to do that because He is the Lord. But it is all in the way I ask.

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