The Calming of the Sea

Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.  Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.  But Jesus was sleeping.  The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We're going to drown!"  He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?"  Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.       Matthew 8:23-26

It often is without warning that the furious storms come upon us.  Waves sweeping over us, our hands bone-white in clutching at the wet rails, wiping the salt streams from our faces and gulping for deep breath in between the sea's surges. 

 These men, these followers, these fishers of men ~ they had walked the dust with him.  He had storied them, taught them to pray, and just before, witnessed the faith of a Centurion reply to Jesus, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof.  But just say the word, and my servant will be healed."  Matthew 8:8  
The disciples went and woke him.  Is it because he tells them they are of little faith?  When the storm rages, is this why we forget or refuse to cry out to Him?  Do we hear him rebuke them instead of the waves?  He says their faith is small.  He asks why they fear.  And yet to read beyond those words, to sit in the boat with them is to know the deep waters ~ that their faith was one that when the storm threatened to overwhelm they did not hesitate to cry out ~ "wake up Lord!  We are dead without you!"  It is the storm he rebukes.  The tempest, within or without, which buffets against the small.

"Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves..."

 "...and it was completely calm."

From his mouth, the Word spoke, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you."  Matthew 17:20-21
Oh, to have faith, even a small faith, that runs to wake the Master.

#76 -  81 of the One Thousand Gifts, http://onethousandgifts.com/
Isaiah 54
#76 Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame (vs 4)
#77 Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated
#78 With everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you (vs 8)
#79 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed (vs 10)
#80 Standing on the sun-setting shore of Galilee, seeing Him.  Teaching, riding the sea, standing in the shallows splashing water on his friends, Mastering all storms in this life.
#81 Renewing my baptism in these Galilee waters, going beneath the waves and rising again because of Him.


Peace He leaves, Favored One.