Alone in the Storm

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get

into the boat and go ahead of them to

the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.

After he had dismissed them, he went up on

a mountainside by himself to pray. When

evening came, he was there alone, but the

boat was already a considerable distance

from land, buffeted by the waves because

the wind was against it.
 

             Matthew 14:22-24  NIV

 

     Has Jesus ever failed to meet your expectations? His disciples believed He would be crowned king, sit on a throne and rule the land. I feel positive they also believed that as faithful followers, they would rule with Jesus. They expected a war against Herod. They expected victory over Roman rule. They got neither!

 

     I like the way Max Lucado explains this in his book entitled In the Eye of the Storm. “Instead of weapons, they got oars. Rather than being sent to fight, they were sent to float. The crowds were sent away. Jesus walked away. And they were left on the water with a storm brewing in the sky.”

 

     Jesus sent the disciples to the other side of the lake while He went up the mountainside to pray. He knew the storm was coming, yet he sent his disciples away; alone.

 

     Like the disciples, I too have been in the eye of the storm wondering if Jesus would save me. Hoping that He stood close by; watching. Hoping that I would not drown in my sorrow before He reached His hand and pulled me to safety; wondering. During that time, I realized that my crisis was not the storm raging around me but the fear and anxiety raging in my heart.

 

     Then one day, Jesus came walking on the water of my storm, spoke peace be still and calmed my troubled soul. Perfect timing! Just when I knew that I was not going to make it through the storm, the one who stores up the lightening and gathers the storm clouds, who bottles the winds and calms the waters came and spoke peace to my fearful anxious heart. The crisis remained, but the storm was over!

 

     I, like the disciples, thought I was alone in the storm. But just as the disciples experienced, I found that in Christ I am never alone. Jesus used the crisis of my storm to remind me of His love, grace and mercy.

 

     If you are in the eye of the storm today, do not fear. Jesus is close by— walking on the water. You are not alone in your storm.  

 

 © Joyce Powell