When Jesus Sends Us Into Storms

Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake (Mark 6:45-48).

Jesus sends us into storms. 

This may sound contrary to what you’ve grown up believing, the subtle yet powerful misconception that if we obey the Lord, everything will go well. Sunny skies, good times.

The safest place is in the center of God’s will.

-A common quote among missionaries working in dangerous places

“Aslan is a lion- the Lion, the great Lion.” “Ooh” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion”… “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver … “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Mr. Beaver’s words to Susan in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe ring with greater veracity.

Safety may be the wrong goal. But trust? Now that is a goal that will anchor you in the fiercest storm. Trust is a goal that will compel you to obey the command to go.

The truth revealed repeatedly in Scripture is that if we obey the Lord, He will send us into storms. We will strain at the oars of our lives, the winds against us. Our strength will fail, our arms will grow weak. Panicky, we will wonder if this is the end.

The disciples had already learned Jesus was the Master of the wind and sea. They knew this because of an earlier storm, one in which He accompanied them (see Mark 4:35-41).

In the first storm, Jesus got into the boat, entered the storm with them, and calmed the storm. But this time, He sent them ahead. Alone, it would seem.

Tonight, they are trying to be brave. Obedient. Tonight as the wind rises and the waves swell, Jesus is not in the boat with them. We can see their determination in the flex of their weakening arms as they push against the wind with their battered wooden oars. We can hear it in the silence as they focus all their energy on plowing through the choppy waters to get to where Jesus commanded they go.

Jesus is watching them. He is nearer than they realize. He is praying for them as they struggle.

They probably don’t realize that. In the storm, even the strongest disciple is tempted to believe he is alone. That it’s up to him. Exhaustion makes it hard to think straight.

Jesus sends us into storms to reveal that we are never alone. That He is always with us. That He never abandons us. That He is the Master of the wind and sea. #trust #suffering #hope Click To Tweet

As the night was ending, he came to them walking on the sea (v.48).

At the right moment, the critical juncture where utter human weakness meets the perfect strength of God, Jesus goes to them, walking on the surface of the raging waters. 

Have you always imagined Him walking on a glassy surface? 

Imagine instead crashing waters with foaming peaks, rising and falling in disorder as the wind whips the surface into chaos. 

This was the surface of the stormy sea He crossed that night.

Are you in a storm today? Are the waters crashing, foaming, rising, and falling in disorder, your situation dire?

Jesus is nearer than you think, dear one. He is watching as you strain at the oars. He is praying for you. He has a purpose for this storm, and it will not be allowed to rage one minute beyond His authority. At precisely the right time, when your weakness meets His perfect strength, He will come to you, and the winds will cease.

Lord, help me trust You in this storm. Amen.

@audreycfrank