I AM with you in the storm.
Lately the different narratives of the second watery trial that the disciples experienced in Scripture caught my attention as I read and reread how the disciples were caught in what, to them, seemed like a great tempest.
This story also includes Peter’s intimate experience with Jesus, doing what no other human before or after him have been able to do (walking on water), as well as a supposed ghost sighting which then actually turned out to be their loving Saviour.
We are so fortunate to get to experience this story from not one, but three different perspectives in Scripture, as it is recorded in three of the four gospels.
In Mark we read that IMMEDIATELY after the astounding miracle of the feeding of the 5000, Jesus MAKE His disciples get into their boat to go ahead of Him to Betshaida to get away from the clamouring crowds.
He however, does not join them, but after dismissing the crowds, go up a mountainside to pray.
According to Mark’s account Jesus sees them, from the mountain, straining at the oars in the middle of the night, with the wind against them, YET He does not rush to their aid but rather remains praying. Just before dawn He goes out on the lake BUT still He intends ONLY TO GO PAST them, not TO them.
They however see Him and in fear they yell out, believing He is a apparition or ghost.
Only when He comes near them and speaks the words: “I AM, do not be afraid”, do they understand that it is Him.
Matthew is the only gospel writer to mention Peter’s courage to attempt walking on water whilst John adds that it was only after they understood that it was Jesus that they WILLINGLY allowed Him into the boat.
John further writes that AS SOON AS Jesus got into their boat it instantaneously reached the shore where they were heading.
Many times in our lives we start out on our journey with Jesus consumed with fervour and unwavering trust, believing that with Jesus in our lives we will not experience storms and great afflictions, after all we are His own, just as His disciples were.
As we move closer to the purpose and vision God has for us though we start facing opposition and struggles we did not account for. Although we are moving along steadily towards the goal, the storm still comes, just as with the disciples.
Sometimes the attack comes from the outside and we can clearly see our enemy in the raging storm as we steady ourselves in the Word. We have time to throw out our anchor and wait for the wave that we can see coming like a giant wall. Scared but alert we brace ourselves for the impending impact.
Yet there are times, when the storm bursts forth out of seemingly nowhere from the outside or even worse from the inside, and we don’t really know how to fight against the unrelenting waves of fear, anxiety, sorrow, doubt and depression that threaten to destroy us.
As I spent time in these passages the Lord opened my eyes to a few things I really never thought of before:
1. He knew the storm would come, yet He still MADE them get into the boat and go out on the sea. Could this have possibly been a test of faith?
A space of refinement in their journey that would help them level up from milk-drinking-children-of-faith to 3-meal-a-day-mature-followers.
A trial that would test these vehement believers of Christ to see their surroundings, devoid of any signs of the hand of God working in their favour, but who could still keep their steadfast gaze on the order given by Jesus to cross the lake believing in His WORD that He would meet them there and not flinch because they knew that if He said it, He would do it.
2. He had faith in their abilities to combat the storm based on their previous experiences in storms as well as what He knew they had inside them, therefore He did not rush to assist them even when He could see them struggling.
He knew their strength and sea faring knowledge and this storm was not anything compared to what He knew they have seen before.
This was most likely a place of growth for them in faith, trust and belief in what the Father knew they were capable of.
After all in John 15:2 He states that He prunes the fruit bearing branches in Him REPEATEDLY, so that they will bear even MORE fruit that is RICHER AND FINER…hence BETTER and IMPROVED from the previous season’s fruit.
3. When He reached them He did not scold them for their fear and doubt but rather calmed them and reassured them of His presence. He spoke words of comfort and compassion to them knowing that even though their fear was unwarranted they were still very human and acted out of their humanity.
This to me personally means so much as I sometimes forget that just because I do not see Him in the here and now, and I can’t seem to understand what He is doing He still has His eyes on me, speaking to me in the middle of my trial with more kindness and grace than I would speak to myself with.
He is not angry with me when I fear or buckle in my trust but rather keeps on whispering tender words of affirmation to me as He extends His right hand of power toward me when my knees give way. Ready to guide me, lead me and counsel me (Ps 32:8) through the storm and then receive me into His glorious presence (Ps 73:23) as we reach the banks of the other side.
Max Lucado puts it so beautifully when he says that: “Even when you can’t trace the hand of God, you can always trust His heart.”
He is a God of compassion and comfort (2 Cor 1:3-5)
He is loving and kind (Is 63:7)
He is generous and humble(2 Cor 9:8-15)
He is faithful and omnipresent (Ps 117:2)
He is always the same (Heb 13:8)
He never drives away those who chose Him (John 6:37)
He provides and protects His flock (Ps 91:14-15)
He is a never failing FRIEND and FATHER
4. Lastly I was struck by the disciples' fear of Jesus when they saw Him and how this added element of uncertainty in their ever increasing dire scene caused them to be almost paralyzed by their fear.
I kept on pondering why they would be afraid of Jesus, the One that would be able to make things right for them and calm the storm around and within them as He did before.
I then realised that they were only afraid because they lacked the discernment to know that it was Him. Something we also struggle with so many times in our lives as followers of the One True King.
This inability of His followers to be able to correctly identify Him has a sense of déjà vu in the occurrences that take place after His resurrection when they yet again mistake Him for a ghost and initially fear His presence but are reassured with the words: “Don’t be upset, don’t let all these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands, look at my feet…” (Luke 24:36-41).
A fixed gaze on Him, drowns out the storm as we get to look into His kind and love-filled eyes calling us into PEACE.
Many times we go through life-storms that cause immense strain, fear, despair and spirit-level exhaustion and because we are not expecting God, and are not on the lookout for His presence and goodness in it, we lack the eyes of faith to see that what we are going through has been preordained by Him.
We see every thing around us as added opposition instead of considering His hand and presence in it and make our own assumptions on why this is happening to us.
We attach value to false self-conceived reasons and ideas for our struggles and despair and unknowingly we add to our own confusion.
It is noteworthy to remember however that God’s ways are not our ways and His thoughts and actions far supersedes our own humanity-led way of thinking (Is 55:8-9).
If we can wrestle, argue, scheme, organise, think or build our own way of something then it is possibly not the way that God is going to fix or resolve our situation as He does ABUNDANTLY MORE than we can THINK or IMAGINE (Eph 3:20).
If you can think it, He has a better a way!
The inaccurate reasoning that we come up with for His lack of action (just as the disciples’ answer that Jesus must have been a ghost) is not helpful in the storm and is like putting a cheap band-aid on a big bloody gash…pointless and futile.
Even though it may make sense to us in the moment it does not add to deepened intimacy in our relationship with our loving Father or display our faith in the truth that He has a GOOD, HOPE FILLED plan of PEACE AND WHOLENESS (Jer 29:11) for us because it is based on corrupted thoughts and ideas born out of man’s level of understanding of this world and how it works.
So in the storms of life, when all hope seems to be lost and you feel stuck at sea, keep your eyes steadfastly on the One who calls the waves that rise up but also command them to die down again (Jer 31:35).
Fully cognizant that He always has His eyes on you and that He will never let you go nor let you be overcome (Is 41:10).
When you willingly decide to let Jesus inside of your boat, He will call PEACE (wholeness and well-being) into your situation, spreading His protection over your heart, mind (Phil 4:7), emotions and soul.
In patience and love He will encourage you to BE STILL (Raphah – purposefully and actively letting go and relaxing) in His presence as as you keep rowing through the storm with the expectancy that He will show up in the chaos.
So let faith rise up in you as you are reminded, that through it all, He is FOR you; working IN you; He is WITH you…HE IS EMMANUEL.
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