Yesterday the storm was passing out of Winona early in the morning. I enjoyed watching the sun peak through the clouds. A few minutes later the sky cleared and the air started to warm up. It is much like this in life, we wait for the storms to pass, but they sometimes seem to hold on much too long.
Matthew 8:24 says:
And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.
Like the disciples struggling to stay afloat in the midst of the storm, do we sometimes think that our Lord is not caring about our needs? At first glance at this passage we might think that. Jesus is sleeping while death seems to be knocking at their collective doors. The fact is Jesus is the creator of the same world that we struggle in. He does care for us as he did for the disciples in this incident in the boat.
I once read that a person was panicking out in the water while it was seen by others that a lifeguard was nearby in the water, apparently doing nothing. People were aghast at his behavior. "How could he do this, watch this poor man drown?" Later the lifeguard was accosted by these same people after dragging the drowning person to safety. "Why didn't you help this man earlier, he could have drowned?" The man replied that if he had, they both would have drown due the other man's panicked state. "He would have pulled us both down, I had to wait until his energy was depleted in order to help him."
Like Jesus in the boat with the disciples, he waits for us to come to him for help. Though we sometimes try everything on our own strength first.
Wouldn't it have been better for the disciples to have awakened Jesus when the storm was first starting? We would think so, wouldn't we. Jesus wants us to come to him with our cares even if we think it is a small issue or that of a tempest. Matthew 11: 28-29 says: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.
