Stories and Storms
Every family has a story.
I was talking recently with a friend whose family is going through dang rough times. It seems that everywhere they turn another obstacle to a clear path rises up. They are bone tired and discouraged. Words like heartbroken and almost hopeless sprinkled their conversation.
My friends are not alone. Every family has a story, even the seemingly perfect Lake Wobegon ones where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.
For any of us in the midst of our story it can be tempting to wonder about God in our life, especially when our story isn’t at all how we envisioned it working out. Along with the psalmists and probably most any person of faith in any era, circumstances drive us to ask Jesus,
“Don’t you care?”
The Jesus-apprentices had that experience. Take a listen.
As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
How many times have I too challenged Jesus, wondering if he even cares, let alone knows how hard, or sorrow-filled, or tense this moment is? How many of my prayers come with a suspicion that he has nodded off just when I need him?
Jesus’ crew were seasoned sailors and knew the dangers of the huge lake and its fickle winds. They had witnessed or experienced being flooded and stranded in deep water while they may have thought since Jesus was just a carpenter, maybe he didn’t understand the danger. It was all hands on deck to save the day while Jesus was curled up on a cushion.
“Don’t you care?”
That anguished cry echoes in sleepless nights, at bedside vigils, over unchanged hearts. And right behind it looms an answer…
God must have forgotten me.
He has not. He will not. Never. Over and over in the scriptures God expresses his care and oversight of every one of his own. The problem of pain and injustice dulls this in our eyes, but it never changes the truth of both his presence and comfort.
Isaiah reflects this in ch.49 of his book.
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have carved your name on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.
Here, God thunders a truth clearly enough for the most discouraged heart in the darkest night of the soul to hang onto in trust. Mothers don’t forget children, as that, proverbially, is the strongest love of all. But even if that love shatters, his will stand firm. God is for you. He sees you and calls you by name to walk your journey with Jesus.
One test of a faith that will go the distance shows itself when our story drifts sideways. Those times reveal whether or not we will keep our wits when the winds and waves of life rage. And when Jesus is dozing while all this happens, it shows that he isn’t white-knuckling in fear, but is the master of everything, even those things that seem out of control.
So the boat is swamping and the men are in panic and the story pinnacles…
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey him?”
In those moments they glimpsed Jesus in a whole new way and it scared the spit out of them. Terrified. That’s quite a descriptor, given what they had witnessed following Jesus around. Terrified. Not of a storm, but of the one over it all. The Greek text literally says that they “feared a huge/great/really big fear” as Jesus pulled back the curtain, for a moment, on his true self for them to witness.
When is the last time Jesus’ true nature terrified me?
In 1952, J.B. Phillips wrote a book to his culture and times that stands ever more true today. Its simple title, Your God Is Too Small, captures what the disciples and many of us struggle with in our stories and storms: We have shrunk Jesus to a manageable size with understandable abilities and have ceased to be terrified by the truth that Jesus is God. All powerful. All loving. All just as well as full to the brim with grace. He knows all things and sees beyond sight. And…and, he is our great High Priest, interceding for us before the Father after doing for us what we could never do ourselves.
So, when it seems like the winds and waves are about to sink your life, take heart. He is not surprised by your storm or your story. He is with you right where you are. And when it comes to troubles, Jesus has overcome it all, and has endured it all himself. He lives in you and you in him, and he says,
“Don’t be afraid. Trust in me to see you through this.”
Like it or not…it’s CHOIR week!
And a couple of cops and speeders bad jokes…
A West Virginia state trooper, stopped a young guy for going 15 miles over the speed limit.
After he handed him a ticket, the man asked him, "Don't you give out warnings?"
"You bet," he replied. "They're all up and down the road. They say, 'Speed Limit 55.'"
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A woman was racing down the interstate doing over 90 in a posted 65 mph area.
A cop passed going the other way, clocked her speed, hung a U-turn and finally caught up to the offender after several miles of lights and siren chasing.
After producing her license, registration, and proof of insurance, the woman batted her eyes and said in a sweet tone, “I thought you didn’t issue tickets to good looking women.”
“We don’t,” replied the officer, “Here’s your ticket.”