Small boat, big God: Weathering Life’s Storms
You’ve read the story before, I’m sure…
Jesus instructed His disciples to go to the other side of the lake.
As they traveled, a storm began to rage; waves breaking into the boat.
Jesus was sleeping through it all.
Until they woke Him, asking whether He even cared that they might drown.
His answer? “Why are you afraid?”
Reading this passage a few days ago, I nearly skimmed right over it. It’s familiar.
But I slowed because He nudged me.
What’s here for me, Lord? I know this story already.
Like the disciples, He’s launched my boat for a voyage across the lake. Lake Change, as we’ll call it. Lake Change is famous for its storms: the wind and waves shake everything we’re familiar with and cause us to wonder whether we’ll survive the journey.
A few changes in my life are causing me to feel a bit sea-sick with uncertainty. Those waves crashing into my boat sometimes fill me with fear. You, too?
Like the disciples, I began to wonder… Doesn’t He know? Doesn’t He care?
And then it dawned on me how pertinent this passage was for me right now. How much I needed the truth of it to flood my heart:
He knew the storm was coming before the disciples set out on their voyage.
He knew they’d be frightened.
He went with them.
He knows what lies ahead on my journey, too. And yours.
He knows we’re scared sick.
He’s with us. Right here. In this boat. In this storm.
Whether you’re:
Sending your first (or last) child to kindergarten or college or marriage…
Moving to a new state…
Grieving the loss of a life or a friendship, or the future you unconsciously imagined…
Changing jobs or churches…
…He knows the storm that lies ahead (if there even is one). He knows our fears. And He sits with us in that small, fragile boat that is our limited understanding of His power and goodness. Though we may be “of little faith” (v. 26), the object of our faith—our God—is none other than He who measured out the waters of the earth in the hollow of His hand (Isaiah 40:12).