Storm is Coming

There’s this page I like on Facebook that shares information on typhoons around/hitting the island of Okinawa. They put funny stories about the typhoons and make tales about them. Whenever I read their updates, my feelings are a mix of amusement (because they are funny and the people commenting can be funny as well); worry (because I used to live in the Philippines and have experienced typhoons every year, and know how ugly and dangerous it can get, so the sense of trouble is there); and hope (because it can mean we won’t have classes when the typhoon passes our little island and we could all have some free time to rest and play inside our houses).

Haha, hey now don’t laugh at the hopes I have for no classes, you are probably excited too at the thought of no classes on Monday even if school just started last Tuesday. :-p

But on a serious note, I can’t help but remember the story of Jesus with his disciples when the storm came.

^{Mark 4:35} As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples,
“Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.”
³⁶ So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). ³⁷ But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

³⁸ 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?”

³⁹ When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves,
“Silence! Be still!”Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ Then he asked them,
“Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹ The disciples were absolutely terrified.
“Who is this man?” they asked each other.
“Even the wind and waves obey him!”

If I were on that boat, I would have probably yelled as well at Jesus!

You see, that storm was real. It is not just some imaginary thing and the disciples could say, “Oh there’s no storm. No there’s no storm. We can pretend like nothing is happening.” The winds can be felt, especially for them on that open boat, not to mention the sickening motion of the boat because of the waves. Oh wait, the waves can actually fill up and drown the boat. There are so many reasons to be afraid!

The struggle is real…

but Jesus is also real.

I bet it is hard to accept the fact that after the disciples awakened Jesus, that He was able to silence the storm, and everything became still.

I mean honestly, who does that?
Even the disciples wondered who Jesus was.

And Jesus had to ask them the question:
“Why are you afraid, do you still have no faith?”

Now let us look at our lives. The storms that we experience are real. Even the “storms in our lives” (problems, hardships, trials, sickness, pain) are real. We cannot deny their existence. But Jesus is also real and He wants us to find peace in Him even if the we are in the midst of the raging storm.

He is also asking us the same question:
“Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?

He has done so many marvelous things in our lives, not to mention what he has already done for our eternity with Him. Why not trust Him when He is trustworthy?

Would you let Him silence your worries and fears?
Would you let Him work his wonders in your life and help you to be still?