"You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Matthew 8:20
Peter was watching the sky. He didn't like what he saw. The sea had been calm when they started out, and he thought Jesus' idea to go to the other side would be all right. Jesus hadn't said why He wanted to go, but he was learning when Jesus said, "Let's go," it was better to go along than make up excuses. It had been all right so far, this following Jesus thing. Jesus had a lot of interesting things to say. He didn't understand everything and some of it seemed a little far-fetched, but he'd seen some pretty crazy stuff and everywhere they went people flocked around Jesus. Sometimes Peter felt like telling them to all go away and give the man some peace, but Jesus never seemed to mind healing another person or the whole town if need be. Peter was along for the ride most days, listening to what Jesus said and contemplating these new ideas and teachings. He'd never heard anybody talk about God the way Jesus did.
He'd always thought of Yahweh as distant and mysterious. Someone to be obeyed and repentant toward when he didn't live up to the high standards of the law. Jesus was changing that. He wasn't sure how or why, but His teaching made Him think differently about Yahweh. Jesus said His Kingdom was near. He wasn't sure what He meant by that, but the words intrigued him. Everything Jesus said made him think in new ways. And not just about God, but about himself too. Could he have this new kind of life Jesus talked about? Was he as valuable to God as Jesus claimed? Could he approach God and expect to receive what he asked for? Yahweh had certainly given Jesus the power to heal Sarah's mother when his wife had asked for that today, and then all those people this evening too. He had never seen anybody display Yahweh's power like that.
But now here they were, out in the middle of the sea, and he didn't like the look of those clouds overhead. The wind began to pick up and he got more nervous with each passing minute. As soon as he saw the waves beginning to swell, he knew they were in serious trouble. He couldn't always tell when a storm was coming, but he always knew when one began to roar. He yelled out orders to the other men on board. John and James and Andrew knew what to do, but he told the others to go get Jesus. They would only be in the way out here, and he knew they might be needing a miracle if they were going to survive this. He'd seen worse, but not much, and with as fast and furious as this one was coming, they all may end up dying out here tonight.
When he saw Jesus come out and stand in the middle of the boat with the rain pelting down all around them, the wind nearly blowing them overboard, and the waves crashing over the side, he felt a calmness settle over his mind and heart. Yes, this was bad, but while they were all cowering in fear, Jesus appeared fearless. He held up His hands toward heaven and shouted something over the sound of the wind and waves.
"Quiet! Be still!"
The clouds rolled away, the rain ceased, the waves became calm so quickly an eerie feeling came over him. What was that? Seriously? He looked around at the others. They were as white as a sheet, and he supposed he was too. But he had to smile. Looking back to Jesus, he gazed at Him in silent wonder. Jesus winked at him and said, "I'm going back to sleep now. Let me know when we get there."
Peter gave the order to raise the sail back up, and they continued on course. The others were walking around in astonishment, saying, "What kind of a man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him?" Peter had that feeling of awesome wonder in his heart, but he wasn't as surprised by Jesus' power as he once would have been. He'd seen enough, and he was starting to get it. And he was certain this wouldn't be the last of all he would see Jesus do.
***
This story of Jesus calming the stormy sea is recorded in three of the four gospels. It was certainly a memorable day for His disciples, and it's one of my favorite stories because of the way it turned out. Jesus didn't just pull them through the storm. He did more than keep the boat from tipping over in the powerful waves. He did more than tell them to "hang on" and believe everything would be all right.
I think sometimes this is all we expect from God. We expect Him to carry us through a difficult circumstance. We expect Him to call us to a deeper level of faith. We expect Him to be with us and work all things together for good. And we should expect those things. God works in all kinds of ways, and I've seen Him do all of that.
But I've also seen something else. I've seen what the disciples saw that day. He could have told them they didn't need to be afraid and left the storm raging. He could have protected them from peril another way. But He wanted to show them the full extent of His power--to completely change their circumstance, not just pull them through.
And I've seen Him do that too.
Peter was watching the sky. He didn't like what he saw. The sea had been calm when they started out, and he thought Jesus' idea to go to the other side would be all right. Jesus hadn't said why He wanted to go, but he was learning when Jesus said, "Let's go," it was better to go along than make up excuses. It had been all right so far, this following Jesus thing. Jesus had a lot of interesting things to say. He didn't understand everything and some of it seemed a little far-fetched, but he'd seen some pretty crazy stuff and everywhere they went people flocked around Jesus. Sometimes Peter felt like telling them to all go away and give the man some peace, but Jesus never seemed to mind healing another person or the whole town if need be. Peter was along for the ride most days, listening to what Jesus said and contemplating these new ideas and teachings. He'd never heard anybody talk about God the way Jesus did.
He'd always thought of Yahweh as distant and mysterious. Someone to be obeyed and repentant toward when he didn't live up to the high standards of the law. Jesus was changing that. He wasn't sure how or why, but His teaching made Him think differently about Yahweh. Jesus said His Kingdom was near. He wasn't sure what He meant by that, but the words intrigued him. Everything Jesus said made him think in new ways. And not just about God, but about himself too. Could he have this new kind of life Jesus talked about? Was he as valuable to God as Jesus claimed? Could he approach God and expect to receive what he asked for? Yahweh had certainly given Jesus the power to heal Sarah's mother when his wife had asked for that today, and then all those people this evening too. He had never seen anybody display Yahweh's power like that.
But now here they were, out in the middle of the sea, and he didn't like the look of those clouds overhead. The wind began to pick up and he got more nervous with each passing minute. As soon as he saw the waves beginning to swell, he knew they were in serious trouble. He couldn't always tell when a storm was coming, but he always knew when one began to roar. He yelled out orders to the other men on board. John and James and Andrew knew what to do, but he told the others to go get Jesus. They would only be in the way out here, and he knew they might be needing a miracle if they were going to survive this. He'd seen worse, but not much, and with as fast and furious as this one was coming, they all may end up dying out here tonight.
When he saw Jesus come out and stand in the middle of the boat with the rain pelting down all around them, the wind nearly blowing them overboard, and the waves crashing over the side, he felt a calmness settle over his mind and heart. Yes, this was bad, but while they were all cowering in fear, Jesus appeared fearless. He held up His hands toward heaven and shouted something over the sound of the wind and waves.
"Quiet! Be still!"
The clouds rolled away, the rain ceased, the waves became calm so quickly an eerie feeling came over him. What was that? Seriously? He looked around at the others. They were as white as a sheet, and he supposed he was too. But he had to smile. Looking back to Jesus, he gazed at Him in silent wonder. Jesus winked at him and said, "I'm going back to sleep now. Let me know when we get there."
Peter gave the order to raise the sail back up, and they continued on course. The others were walking around in astonishment, saying, "What kind of a man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him?" Peter had that feeling of awesome wonder in his heart, but he wasn't as surprised by Jesus' power as he once would have been. He'd seen enough, and he was starting to get it. And he was certain this wouldn't be the last of all he would see Jesus do.
***
This story of Jesus calming the stormy sea is recorded in three of the four gospels. It was certainly a memorable day for His disciples, and it's one of my favorite stories because of the way it turned out. Jesus didn't just pull them through the storm. He did more than keep the boat from tipping over in the powerful waves. He did more than tell them to "hang on" and believe everything would be all right.
I think sometimes this is all we expect from God. We expect Him to carry us through a difficult circumstance. We expect Him to call us to a deeper level of faith. We expect Him to be with us and work all things together for good. And we should expect those things. God works in all kinds of ways, and I've seen Him do all of that.
But I've also seen something else. I've seen what the disciples saw that day. He could have told them they didn't need to be afraid and left the storm raging. He could have protected them from peril another way. But He wanted to show them the full extent of His power--to completely change their circumstance, not just pull them through.
And I've seen Him do that too.
No comments:
Post a Comment