“What Sort Of Man Is This…?”

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 8:23-27

We all have thunderstorms in our heads. It happens when a tragedy occurs – to us, to someone close to us, or to someone we hear about in the news. Our minds become a tempest of “what if” questions. We focus on all the bad outcomes, and our trust in God can fluctuate as we wait, we pray, we grieve, and we wonder what the Lord will do.

It is natural for us to be fearful in a storm. The disciples had Jesus right there in the boat and they were afraid. Jesus used the calming of the storm as a lesson to show them who He was – a powerful God who also cares for them.

We wish that Jesus would always calm the storms of our life as He calmed the storm for the disciples that day. But we can find moments of peace when we are anchored to the truth that He is in the boat with us and He cares.

To realize the worth of the anchor,

we need to feel the stress of the storm.

Our Daily Bread – April 21, 2009