Today’s gospel, the calming of the storm, speaks powerfully to the times we live in. Looking back over the past four years it’s easy to feel that we’ve lurched from one storm to another without much chance to catch a breath between them. That makes it very easy to identify with the disciples stuck in a small boat in the middle of a vast lake, tossed by waves and battered by the winds. As we look at the storms breaking out around the world, and and the storms we each face in our own lives, we can understand their fears because we feel them too.
The disciples don’t always understand Jesus, but in this fearful situation they understand enough to know that their only hope is to call out for his help, even though they seem to feel he’s abandoned them by falling asleep:
“Master, do you not care? We are going down.”
To do that they needed to overcome the human instinct to let fear close us down. It took real courage to reach out across their fear and trust Jesus would hear them.
Jesus heard their cry and, waking up, calms the storm saying:
“Quiet now! Be calm!”
As we face the fears of our own stormy times we can learn from the actions of the disciples. We too can reach out to Jesus across our fears, asking him to be with us in these times and to calm the stormy waters we’re facing.
How do you need Jesus support you in the stormy times you face?