“Faith is when you praise God in the storm, you trust Him in the valley, and you follow Him in the dark." ~ Corrie ten Boom
Strangely, I’ve always been a gal who liked a good storm. Perhaps it’s my slightly melodramatic side, but I get a little jazzed up with the threat of a decent weather event. I certainly love the feeling of being able to hunker down and get all cozy in front of a fireplace or under the covers. It’s a reason to pour tea and put on my slippers. I suppose I would feel differently if I was in the middle of throwing an outdoor wedding, but most of the time I’m game for a good rain or--when we lived up north--even a blizzard [within reason, of course].
But that’s not really the kind of storm Corrie was writing about, was it? The weather becomes rather insignificant when we are weathering the harder storms of life. When it’s a storm that hits our loved ones or ourselves and causes life to go completely off track it is something altogether different. It’s a hurricane or a heck-of-a-tornado that leaves our hopes and dreams, and, let’s face it, our life in shambles. We are left with wreckage. We are left with what ifs. We are left with … what now?
No one, not even me, likes those kinds of storms.
But like them or not, one thing storms do is they make us ask questions: Have we closed the sun roof? Have we battened down the hatches? Have we enough milk, bread and water? Are the windows rolled up? Basically, are we ready?
Maybe you remember the storm story in the Bible where Jesus and His disciples were out on the water when the winds picked up. This storm also lead to a question. An important one.
“That day when evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”
A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!”
Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
They were terrified and asked each other,
“Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
The storm was sudden.
The boat was bogged down.
The disciples were drowning.
And, strangely enough, the Lord was sleeping.
There is nothing about the beginning of this passage which feels good for any of us. Not for the disciples in the boat taking on water and not for us reading about them. I am certain I’d also be shaking Jesus and screaming for Him to wake up. And the questions would begin: Where'd this storm come from? Why did He tell us to get into the boat? And, my personal favorite: how in the world is He still sleeping in the middle of a storm? Sleeping! Doesn’t He know? Doesn’t He see? Isn’t He getting wet?
So many questions.
And then Jesus gets up, and with three little words, He tames the tempest, “Quiet! Be still!”
And can't you just see the jaw-dropped disciples staring at one another in their disbelief. All of them still quaking in their fear and shaking their heads and, finally, asking the one question which matters, “who is this man?”
Who is this man?
WHO IS THIS MAN?
The only question which really counts. It's the question the storms of life make us stop and ask. We don’t know we are drowning or perishing or about to go overboard until the storm comes upon us and we get all panicked and desperate and wrapped up in our dismay.
I mean when the boat is sailing smoothly across the serene sea we honestly don’t really need a Jesus. Let the man sleep soundly in the stern of the boat on His cushion. Let Him rest. We don’t care much where He is or what He is doing when we don’t think we have need of Him. But when the winds become wild and the waves begin to make their way into our little boats, our fear drives us to find Him. To cry out to Him. To shake Him and even scream, “Lord! LORD!”
The dreaded storm is the very thing which makes us ask the most dire question: Who is this man?
For with it begins the search, not just for our momentary safety and well-being, but for our eternity and true-living.
Water is thrown in our faces to wake us up. To maybe wake us up from our smooth sailing lives. Maybe to jar us to attention from the lull and rock of life’s gentle boat. Maybe to make us ask some important questions before we get to the other side.
No one likes water thrown in their face. No one likes to be out in a boat about to capsize or crash. No one wants to be left alone abandoned, at sea in their distress.
But, I promise, no one is going to want to get to the other side without asking the question — Who is this man?
Even if we already know Jesus, it is still good for us to be reminded of who He is. I think of Psalm 24 when David asks—
“Who is this King of glory?”
And then the answer—
“The Lord strong and mighty;
The Lord mighty in battle.
The Lord Almighty—
He is the King of glory.”
He is strong. He is mighty. He is a battle-fighter and yet, also, He is a storm-stiller. He is exactly what we need when the winds and waves threaten to overtake us.
I think also of the Israelites fleeing Egypt. They may have been in a dry desert, not a water-burdened boat, but they, too, saw the writing in the sand. Pharaoh’s army was fast approaching from behind and in front of them loomed the Red Sea. They stood no chance. They were going to die. Like the disciples in the boat, they panicked, crying out to Moses and asking all the wrong questions first, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us?”
And, Moses answers them, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today … The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” ~ Exodus 14:13-14
“You need only to be still.”
Like Jesus' words in the boat, “Quiet! Be still!”
And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all the night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind … the waters divided …and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.”
Who is this man?
Who is this God who calms the waters and divides the waters and holds back the waters? It is the very same God who created the waters; who spoke them into being.
When we need to get to the other side of whatever it is we are going through, it is to Him we can cry out. Whether drowning in the waves of our disasters or running for our lives in the desert, we can call on His name.
He will answer.
And His answer will never be for us to paddle harder or run faster.
Never. No. He simply says,
“Quiet. Be still.”
“You need only be still.”
Be still.
Be quiet.
Be calm.
I will fight for you. I will deliver you. I will get you to the other side of the sea or even right through the sea. I will make a way.
Maybe you feel as if you're in a boat about to go down or stuck in a storm which seems to have no end. And you're afraid. And you're tired. And the questions keep coming. I understand that. One of the hardest things for me is the continual questions which creep in. Why cancer? Why is my husband gone? How will I get through this? Why? Why? How? How? The questions keep coming. I know I won't ever get perfect answers this side of heaven, but perhaps they can be used to help me remember, though I can't control the storm, I know the one who can. The One who does. And even these questions will cause me to keep seeking Jesus, His calm and His quiet.
Finally, I leave with you the beautiful Psalm 107 as it so perfectly weaves together the storm and our response of praise.
“Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brings them out of their distresses.
He calms the storm, so that the waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to to their desired haven.
Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men. Let us exalt Him … and praise Him …” ~ Psalm 107
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