READING: Ruth 1-4, Luke 8:1-25
“And He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’”
Luke 8:25
Sometimes God puts us in a boat that He well knows will lead us into a storm.
That’s what He did when He sent His own disciples into a tempest that was so strong that even seasoned fishermen were afraid. The boat must have rocked. The waves were powerful. The wind was strong. Today’s reading even describes the situation somewhat ferociously: the disciples and their boat began “to be swamped and to be in danger” (Luke 8:23). Meanwhile, Jesus slept.
Why did He sleep? He was tired, and . . . He wasn’t concerned. In His humanity, He needed rest. In His deity, He wasn’t worried. He who made the wind and the waves could surely control them. Indeed, He would use them to teach the disciples something before He would quiet them. In the storm, the disciples would learn just who they were and just who Jesus is.
The disciples had been with Jesus for some time, but they were not yet men who trusted Him at all times. Sure, they’d left their boats behind to follow Him. They had watched Him do miracle after miracle. They’d listened to Him teach. They had seen demons flee at His command. But, they found it hard to trust Jesus when the storm was their storm, when the waves were overtaking their boat. The storm revealed who they were: followers of Jesus who still had much room to grow.
What the disciples learned is that Jesus was even more amazing than they could imagine: “They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?’” (Luke 8:25). They did not fully understand the power of the One in the boat with them, but the storm would help them learn. Their fear trumped their faith, but Jesus trumped their fear. That’s the kind of Messiah He is — He teaches us through the storm.
ACTION STEPS:
- Remember a storm in which you learned about yourself and about Jesus. Thank Him for the lessons learned.
- If you are in that kind of storm now, ask God to teach you. Then, be sure to be teachable.
PRAYER: “God, thank You for the storms. Forgive me when I don’t trust You in them.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 1 Samuel 1-3, Luke 8:26-56