Storms Today. So, Sleep.

Remember the story in the Bible when Jesus calmed the storm?

(Reference: Matthew 8:23-27)

Photo credit: deandeguara.com

Jesus got into the boat with His disciples and when suddenly a violent storm came up on the lake. Imagine the big waves swept over the boat. Imagine the splashes of water which got into the boat. Imagine the boat rocked so hard it had a big possibility to capsize. Imagine the anxiety the disciples felt during that frightening condition. Imagine the storm and the boat with YOU in it. How would you feel? Now, imagine that. :-)

And while all disciples in the boat were having panic attack during that catastrophic event, do you know the one thing which made it significant?

Jesus was sleeping.

Oh yeah.

IMAGINE that. :-D

"Now happening: A furious storm ongoing and we're stuck in our boat being shipwrecked. AND guess what? Our captain dozes off and doesn't care at all. Great!"

It's not that Jesus wasn't aware of the storm or not that He hadn't felt the rocking of the ship or big waves coming into the boat. It's not that He did not hear the cries of His disciples. It's not that He wasn't aware of what was coming. In fact, Jesus was fully aware of that storm even before the world was formed that at that appointed day and time a storm would hit their boat with the 'anointed' few in it (anointed in a sense they were specifically chosen to experience that).

It's not that Jesus did not care at all while the calamity was happening. It's not that He was not concerned with His disciples or anything. We have to understand that Jesus needed rest as well for He was also fully human (but I'm beginning to think His sleep was intentional and patulog-tulog lang kuno abi siya (pretending to be asleep) LOL!

And so, when the disciples realized that they could do nothing about it and had to inform Jesus of what was happening with them, they decided to wake Jesus from His quiet slumber and delivered the bad news: "We're going to drown! Lord, save us!"

If it was me, I would've said to Jesus, "Are you out of your mind?! Our boat is drowning and there you are still sleeping like a child? What a perfect time to sleep. Do something! Save us Lord!"  LOL!

So what made Jesus' SLEEP amidst the storm so significant?

(1) Jesus showed us that Rest is important despite the storm.

Rest in a sense that we have peace in Him, from Him, and with Him. Whatever 'storm' in life we now have, Jesus knows what exactly we are going through. Remember, that during the storm Jesus is IN THE BOAT with His disciples. So Jesus knew what difficulty ,burden, trouble or whatever we are facing through right now AND we are not alone. He is with us. He is in the boat and He would not allow anything that would harm us. With that truth alone, it gives us rest. It gives us peace in Jesus.

(2) We run to Jesus for help.

It's our nature to control or handle things on our own. We usually rely on our own strength to fix things. But when things go out of control, we tend to freak out. When overwhelming circumstances happen to us, we break down. And that's the only time we run to Jesus and desperately ask for His reinforcement.  We run to Jesus for help when we realize that we cannot save ourselves from the storm. And yes. We definitely cannot save ourselves and the only One who can do that is Jesus. A better way to do in our lives is to run to Jesus for help all the time whether it may only be a 'rain' or a destructive 'storm.'

(3) Jesus is out of His mind.

Or the other way around: we are out of our minds. LOL! What I am trying to say is our minds are finite and our thinking is limited compared to Jesus'.  God's ways are higher than ours and His thoughts are higher than ours. We only understand what our minds can contain, and we reject what we cannot accept and understand. When circumstances arise, sometimes we cannot understand why we are going through those. And the only thing we can wisely do is, to trust the One who is all-knowing that He knows what He is doing, why He allows 'storms' in our lives, and that His allowance has always a good purpose for those who love Him.

(4) It is going through this storm that we know who we really are.

And when we thought that we know ourselves better than anyone else, we don't. The truth is, we do not know who we really are until and unless we are squeezed out of our skin. Remember what Jesus replied to the disciples? "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?"

See that phrase? "Of little faith!"

Bulls eye!

He got that right.

A slap on the face. LOL!

We would not know the gauge of our faith in Him if it weren't for the storm. In life, when we see a storm coming, we start to fret. We start to worry. We start to be anxious. We start to magnify the coming storm in our lives. Why? Because of our little faith in Jesus and we keep thinking that our 'storm' is so big, so powerful, so frightening that it could destroy our 'boat' and that Jesus becomes so little, so powerless that He could not fix things. We are paralyzed with the thought that the storm is more powerful than Jesus that in fact it should be the opposite. When we are tried and tested, our hearts are revealed. And when that happens, we are one step ahead of knowing who we really are.

(5) It is going through this storm that we know who Jesus really is.

And when we thought that we know Jesus better, we don't.  After Jesus pointed out the little faith the disciples had, He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

See that word, 'rebuked' in the sentence? Rebuke is a verb which means to express sharp, stern disapproval of (someone or something). How do we usually give a rebuke? By something we either give to someone verbally.

Jesus spoke a rebuke to the winds and the waves and voilah! A sudden calmness in the sea. Can you do that? No. Only Jesus can. Why? Because He is all-powerful. Got that?

I liked this truth I heard from the sermon of last Sunday:

"God put order in the universe and in everything. Would He not put order in your life?"

Amazing truth indeed. Would He not put order in your life to think that you are far more important than the universe? Jesus calmed the storm by only rebuking it. He is that powerful. Even the disciples were stunned with what they saw and said, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him?" If it weren't for the 'storm' in our lives, we would not have the opportunity to know who Jesus is, how powerful He is, and how much He cares for us.

So friends, be encouraged that whenever you feel tired, anxious, frightened, worried, and weary of the unending 'storms' you are going through right now, remember that JESUS calmed the storm. If He did that 2,000 years ago, He can do it much more now in your lives. Jesus is the answer to every storm. He is always ready to help those who come to Him. His peace is available to those who ask from Him. His power activates when we put our faith in Him.

Jesus calms the storm. From crisis to Christ.

Good morning and God bless you all! :-)

-Sheslley-