DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- WHAT FAITH

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – WHAT FAITH

"Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, 'Lord, save us! We are perishing!'  But He said to them, 'Why are you so fearful, O you of little faith?'  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm."  (Matthew 8:23-26)

Try to put yourself in the shoes of the disciples.  Here they were in the middle of the sea when a great storm arose.  Jesus was with them, but He was asleep.  

The disciples undoubtedly tried to handle the water coming into the boat as the waves crashed over the sides of the boat.  But it seems that they could not handle the situation, and they became afraid.  They woke Jesus up yelling above the noise of the storm, "Jesus, save us."  He arose and rebuked the storm.   But why did He say that they had little faith?  Was it because they went to Jesus last?  Or was it because they didn't believe that His presence would keep them from perishing?

I think I have shared a dream I had two years ago during the presidential election.  I'll admit that I was fearful that the election would result in disaster.  One night, I dreamed that I was in a house along the coast of the Pacific ocean.  There were large windows facing the ocean and I could see the waves crashing.  But there was complete calm in the house.  I could not even hear the noise of the storm.  I could only see the foaming of the ocean billows as the waves rolled by.  God gave me great peace through that dream – that as long as I was in Him, I was safe.  I could trust Him to keep me from whatever was going on outside.

We may go through great storms in our lives.  Often our faith is in our own abilibty to bail ourselves out by our own strength, but the storm is too great.  As long as Jesus is in the boat with us, we are safe.  Even if it seems that He is asleep, our ship will not sink.  We will not go down to destruction because He is there.  We can trust Him with our lives.     

Love, Dad