September 9 I Friday

Proverbs 6-7

2 Corinthians 2

“Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.”     

—Matthew 8:24

There are all kinds of winds of adversity and hard seasons that come into our lives. These test the integrity of what we have built our lives on; they can flood into our minds and lead us to greater levels of insecurity and greater levels of fear away from Christ.

       For Jesus’s disciples, they were faced with a crisis on a boat in the Sea of Galilee. Matthew 8:24 tells us, “Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.” Storms can sweep into our lives out of nowhere, just like how this event suddenly took place in the lives of the disciples. The disciples witnessed and experienced Jesus’s power and authority as He healed and delivered people. Yet, as they were in the middle of a storm, they became afraid. They turned to Jesus, who was sleeping, and said, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” Jesus woke up and said to them, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” (Matthew 8:25-26).

       The disciples probably did not expect Jesus’s response. They probably imagine Him going into full crisis mode or Him having sympathy with what they were enduring or Him being startled by what was taking place. Instead, Jesus rebuked His disciples. Jesus saw the situation, but He did not seem to be concerned at all about the storm. Rather, He is concerned about their lack of faith.

       Crisis has a way of revealing what we have built our lives upon and where our security is found. The disciples have seen Jesus’s power and authority firsthand, but instead of resting in faith, they have given way to fear. When fear is the thing that is driving us, it can even creep into how we approach God, into our prayer life and, ultimately, influence our perception and approach to God. In the same story, Mark’s Gospel records the disciples saying, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38). When fear takes root in our lives, we can even slip into frustration or anger with God, blaming God for the circumstances that we find ourselves in.

       There is a lot happening around us. Take a moment and ask ourselves, are our prayers filled with a quiet trust, seeking how God is moving in the midst of the storm? Or are our prayers filled with uncertainty, with fear driving them, rather than confident trust in God? Crisis has a way of revealing what we have built our life upon, but here’s one thing that we can be absolutely sure of: Jesus does not collapse when the world around us does.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, what a joy and comfort to know that even as the world around me crumbles, You remain strong. Help me to face the crisis in my life not with fear but with faith in You. Thank You, Lord.