WATCHWORD:
23 Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. 24 Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” 26 Jesus responded, “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm. 27 The disciples were amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked. “Even the winds and waves obey him!”
Meditation:
Once the Storm Is Over
Jesus asks us, “Why are you afraid?” and we have no answer because, in our fragile-faith lives, we think it is obvious why we are afraid. As if to reinforce that thought, we look around us and, sure enough, there it is, cause to be afraid.
But Jesus said something else. Were we listening? Did we hear? He spoke to our storm, to our wind, and waves and fears. Peace, be still and know that I am God. And there was a great calm.
A poem by Haruki Murakami captures the aftermath of the storms that too often grip our lives:
And once the storm is over,
you won’t remember how you made it through.
How did you manage to survive?
You won’t even be sure, in fact, that the storm is over.
But one thing is certain,
when you come out of the storm,
you won’t be the same person who walked in.
That’s what the storm is all about.
There is an app you can put on your phone called “Calm”. A simple site that sets the stage for you to relax and breathe. We could all benefit by a little of that “Calm” to clear our thinking and deepen our faith.
There is a beautiful Christian praise song, Blessings, written by Laura Mixon Story that captures those times when we feel we are in a storm and we call out to the Lord, and it seems…
We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things
‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?
“Just breathe” is the caption on a shirt worn by a friend. It’s good advice, and it implies a peaceful awareness. We have heard a lot about breath and breathing over this past year or so. The tragedy and murder of George Floyd, “I can’t breathe” and the fumbling of justice, followed by protests and violence. Most recently the martyring of Pastor Charlie Kirk, and we feel a storm brewing. Our fear turns to outrage, and there are times when breathing seems labored. A psychologist would call that anxiety, and, yes, we are anxious.
And, yet, our Lord still asks us, “Why are you afraid?” And maybe, just maybe, you’ll say, “Alright, Lord, I’ll try it Your way, I’ll give it all to you,” and we discover God’s presence and graces have come along with our outrage and our protests against such violence, and our cry for peace. “What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?” How can that be?
There are times when trusting the Lord, in the midst of our storms, is our way to calmness, peace and loving our neighbor. Amen.
Prayer:
Ever present Lord and Savior. We come to you with grateful hearts for we know that there is nothing in this path we are traveling that has not already been laid out and blessed by you. Help us to navigate those difficult patches in the full knowledge that you are indeed our Lord and Savior and that there is nothing that we will be facing that hasn’t already passed through your hands and comes with graces and blessings that will allow us to endure this present storm. Amen.
