By Sheila Barnett
It was a day I’ll never forget. We had about 2 hours of daylight left that evening when Jesus said, “Let’s get into the boat and row over to the other side of the lake.” We were at the Sea of Galilee, and the trip of 8 miles would take us around 2 hours, if the water remained calm. The problem is, sudden and violent storms can develop without warning due to the lake’s low position in the valley and the hills surrounding it. That’s why I was a little nervous about this excursion, but I wanted to stay with Jesus and the other disciples. So we climbed into the boat and pushed off from shore. James, John, Andrew, and Matthew each sat at an oar and started to row. Jesus chose a seat at the stern of the boat and I sat near the bow.
Everything was fine, at first. The water was calm, the sun was sinking lower in the sky, and the boat rocked gently as it slid effortlessly through the water. I heard quiet murmurs of conversation among the other men and marveled at the peacefulness of the evening. I glanced at Jesus. He had reclined in the stern with His head resting on a cushion. His eyes were closed and I assumed He was either sleeping or praying, but thought He was most likely sleeping. He had looked tired most of the afternoon.
I must have dozed off, too, because the next thing I knew, my face was damp with spray from the lake. I opened my eyes and realized that the sky had grown dark, the wind had started to blow, and the once flat, calm water was now choppy with white-capped waves. I looked at the other disciples and saw fear on each face. The four men at the oars were rowing as fast as they could, but the wind was against us and the boat wasn’t making much progress. I looked at Jesus and couldn’t believe my eyes! He was still asleep!
Suddenly the waves grew bigger, the wind started to howl, and rain began to pour out of the sky. My hands gripped the bench I was sitting on and I held on with all my strength as the boat rocked back and forth uncontrollably. I saw that some of the other disciples were shouting, but I couldn’t hear their words over the roar of the storm. Within the next few seconds, the waves started cresting over the bow and the boat was now taking on water. I spied an old cooking pot floating near my feet and briefly considered using it to bail out water, but I knew that wouldn’t help at all. Besides, if I released my death-grip on the bench, I’d certainly be thrown overboard and drown!
We had to wake Jesus! He was our only hope! I screamed as loudly as I could, “Wake the Master!”, hoping someone would hear me. Even as the words left my mouth, I saw Peter, who was sitting closest to Jesus, reach over and touch His shoulder. The Teacher’s eyes opened as He sat up. Amazingly, He looked completely calm in the midst of all this turmoil. Over the roar of the wind and the pounding of the waves against the boat, I clearly heard His voice. Jesus simply said, “Peace, be still”, and instantly the wind died and the rain stopped. The lake immediately became flat and calm once more; not even a ripple could be seen in the water! I could hardly believe what was happening!
Just as my mind was registering the fact that I wasn’t going to die after all, I heard Jesus speak again. This time, He was talking to us. He said, “Where is your faith?” In a split second, I went from feeling elated about being alive to feeling defeated, because I had failed Him. But nothing could take away the amazement I felt about the miracle I had just witnessed. The other disciples felt the same way, and we talked about it amongst ourselves for days. We debated about who this man really was, but we all agreed on one thing: Jesus was like no one we’d ever known before and we never wanted to leave His side.
Looking back, I now realize that Jesus was teaching us to trust in Him. He proved, without a doubt, that He is far more powerful than any storm in our lives.
(References: Luke 8:22-25, Mark 4:35-41, Matthew 8:23-27)