What a terrible storm we had last night! The thunder sent our nervous black Labrador Ruby under the bed as if she was super-charged and the lightening was quite magnificent. Then of course came the rain, torrenting down in sheets so I was very pleased to be indoors and in my own home at that.
There are times when our gratitude for a roof over our heads becomes much greater than others, and this was definitely one of them. There are however times when the storm might be rather more metaphorical than actual.
There is no rain, no thunder, no lightening and yet the fear it brings, or the desperate need for shelter and help, is just as powerful. Loss of a loved one or a job, children getting into trouble – emotional, physical or potential – worries and concerns about how we are doing what we do or what our future holds are all very real storms that hedge us about on difficult days.
Both Mark (4:35-41) and Luke (8:22-25) tell the story of Jesus calming the storm. He and the disciples have set out in a boat on the Sea of Galilee and tired out, Jesus falls asleep. He wakes to find them calling him in terror as one of those storms that did occasionally sweep over the sea with no warning has come upon them. He rebukes the wind and waves saying to them “Peace, be still!” And they are suddenly calm. He tells the disciples off for having so little faith that they were so very worried, but they are amazed and say to each other: “Who is this, that even the wind and waves obey him?”
This is Jesus, who was in the beginning. The Word who was with God and was God. And in the beginning we are told: “the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.” From the very beginning, the wind and the water knew who was the master and if this is the case, is it so very surprising that wind and water should obey him on the Sea of Galilee?
As we bring our worries, our fears, our griefs and our losses before God, it is worth reflecting on the way in which they too are the storms of our lives and the way in which Jesus says, “Peace, be still!” to that which whispers or rages around us as well. We pray in the old hymn “O hear us, when we cry to thee for those in peril on the sea” and our prayer is for all those in need on water, but it is also for ourselves, tossed on the seas of fear and doubt. And it is a prayer that God will answer.
God bless, Vicci