When the disciples feared for their lives because of the very real danger of the storm, Jesus did not comfort them. He did not say, "Oh you poor things, I know the storm is scary." He made His presence known: "Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid." When Peter took his eyes off the Lord and began to sink into the waves, Jesus responded with a chide, a rebuke: "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
Even in the most serious, most threatening physical condition we find ourselves in, when we are unable to help or to save ourselves, we can take comfort in the presence of our sovereign Lord; He is in control, and He is with us. The greatest waves cannot shake us, the fiercest winds cannot topple us, and the rain cannot soak our frail bodies without permission from the hand and mouth of their Maker.
Yet it is not as though we ought to go through the difficulties of life unaffected. It is not, "Put on a brave face," that Jesus says, but, "Why did you doubt?" Christ does not call us to embrace the storms of life with a foolish grin, as though nothing were wrong, but to face them with a faith that trusts in spite of our own fears and uncertainty.
There are many unknowns in life, and many times we cannot fathom any possible solution for the very real, very difficult trials that bombard and threaten us. We are not called to have the answer, but to trust the One who does, to have full confidence in the One whose hand guided this storm into our lives and is capable of guiding it out.
In such times of fear and uncertainty, let us cast ourselves on the Maker of the storm and trust in Him, for we dare not trust ourselves and what our senses perceive. There is no real danger for those who rest in the loving hand of the Father. The blood of Christ, shed for them, makes them more secure than anything in the universe, and there is no storm that can ever pluck them from His hand.Labels: journal/quiet time