Month: August 2017

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” He was already in the boat, so they started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). Soon a fierce storm arose. High waves began to break into the boat until it was nearly full of water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. Frantically they woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are going to drown?” When he woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the water, “Quiet down!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. And he asked them, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still not have faith in me?” Mark 4:37-40

I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t know that much about boats. I’m decent with a kayak, but beyond that, I tend to get a bit green even on relatively smooth water. I don’t know knots, sails, booms or hatches. So I’m pretty confident I wouldn’t have been much help in a boat filling with water during a fierce storm.

There were several fishermen among Jesus’ disciples – they knew boats. They knew how to handle themselves on the rough sea of Galilee. And yet even they were frantic. This storm, this situation, was beyond their capacity. That’s something I do know about.

I also get it when the disciples cry out, “Don’t you even care?” I imagine my prayers sometimes sound quite a lot like those frightened shouts from the disciples – I’m scared and you’re not answering – do you even hear? Don’t you even care? When we’re threatened and overwhelmed, it’s natural to focus on the storm. But I think God invites us to look past the storm to see the peaceful, undisturbed countenance of the Savior. The storm didn’t bother Him in the least.

When the disciples stopped trying to handle the situation on their own and asked Jesus for help, He responded. He calmed the wind, the waves, the disciples. And then He asked them, Why are you so afraid? Where’s your faith? Don’t you believe in me?

I’ve thought about Jesus’ response quite a bit. What did the disciples get wrong? They were scared and they went to Jesus with their fear, looked to Him for rescue. That seems like a right response. The problem wasn’t their fear. The problem was they doubted that Jesus even cared what happened to them. They lived with him. They saw his miracles, his compassionate heart. They laughed with him and ate with him. But when the journey got rough, when the storm came up and their boat was tossed around, they forgot all that. They saw the waves, and their faith was sunk.

It’s easy for us to put our trust in the seaworthiness of the vessel or the skill of the captain, in the things we can see that make us feel safe. But it was never the boat that was holding the disciples up. Ultimately it’s something unseen that guarantees you stay above the water, that gets you safely to shore. We know this because sometimes boats fail. Sometimes ships sink.  And sometimes God takes away the boat, the thing or place that feels safe, to reveal where we’ve placed our trust.

What was it that the disciples really needed to believe in? What do we really need to believe in?  Not in the power of God. The disciples believed Jesus had the power to do something about their desperate situation or they wouldn’t have bothered waking Him up. What we need to believe in is the love of God for us. That He cares about us. The disciples, you, me – none of us need to be afraid of the storms and squalls of life because God loves us. That is life transforming. That makes all the difference.  Let the love of God be the pillow under your head, the peace that gives you rest, even while all the world storms around you.

There are historic markers on the side of pretty much every road in my part of the country. Traffic generally flies past without pause, without notice. But I sometimes wonder about the people who lobbied for the sign to be placed or raised money to pay for it. Something significant happened there, something they didn’t want to be forgotten, a loved one’s exploits they didn’t want to fade from memory.

The Old Testament mentions several times when the Israelites set up their own roadside markers. Reminders of times and places where the Lord revealed Himself in a mighty, powerful, miraculous way. After crossing the Jordan River into the Promised Land, the people built a memorial so they wouldn’t forget that “the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across” (Joshua 4:7). After defeating the Philistines, the prophet Samuel set up a large stone on the battlefield and “named it Ebenezer (which means “the stone of help”), for he said, “Up to this point the LORD has helped us!” (1 Samuel 7:12). Those memorials became ways to teach future generations about the goodness of God.

Communion is one of the few things that Jesus instructed the disciples to keep doing, saying, “Do this to remember me as often as you drink it” (1 Corinthians 11:25). Remember. Do this so you will not forget my broken body. My shed blood. Why should we remember the bloodied Christ upon the Cross? So that we do not forget the vast, undefeatable, unstoppable love of God for us.

The Cross is the ultimate expression of the goodness of God. Undeserving as we are, He didn’t sit idly by or abandon us. Each of us has experienced other times when we’ve felt the fullness of God’s goodness towards us, the blessings He has given us. These things we must remember. Set up a memory stone. A marker on the journey. A place to look back to so that we don’t forget.

These stones also serve as part of our wall of protection. They add to our fortifications. So that on the day of trouble, when the enemy comes and levels his suggestions that God is not good, they have no power. They have no impact. Our remembrances of God’s goodness create a strong tower for us. They surround and encircle us.

So if you are weary in your time of trial, if you feel beaten down by the enemy, if you don’t know where to start to build up walls of protection and defense, start with the goodness of God. Declare that God is good. It is His nature. He cannot be anything other than good.

And then remember that you are a witness. You have seen and experienced and can testify to the goodness of God. Cast your mind back to those earlier times when the Lord helped you, when He defeated your enemy. Recall the love He has revealed towards you. His mercy. Those are His steadfast and enduring qualities. They are immutable and unchanging.

Start with God. Stay with God. Do not wander from this basic truth: God is good. The sinful actions of man cannot detract from, pollute, or destroy the goodness of God. It’s His very goodness that destroys the sin that wounds, hurts, and seeks to destroy us. So let His goodness build a strong tower, a mighty fortress, a place of safety around you.