Deep waters can be terrifying.
Vast.
Seemingly bottomless.
Add the ingredients of
Darkness
Stormy skies
The inability to swim
The shore nowhere in sight
And you’ve got a recipe for terror.
Jesus’ disciples got a taste of that terror.
22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”
These were men familiar with the sea. But this storm made even these familiar deep waters a place of fear.
Deep waters come in all forms in our lives. Difficult circumstances. Broken relationships. Overwhelming obstacles. Unresolved issues. Haunting pasts. Those places where we can’t find our footing. Those areas that seem so vast that we can’t see any sign of shore.
Storms come along and suddenly those deep waters become even more threatening. More frightening. More insurmountable.
And like the disciples on that boat with Jesus, we panic. “We’re going to drown!”
It’s easy for us to look at this story and say, “Jesus is right there, guys! Why are you afraid???”
But we could look at ourselves and say the very same thing.
But Jesus knew they weren’t going to drown. It wasn’t an option because He was there with them. Jesus saw this as a great teaching moment. To show who HE is. Even in the deep waters and storms.
It was Jesus’ idea to go across the lake. It was Jesus who fell asleep on the way. He knew what was going to happen ahead of time and knew that this experience would increase their faith and love for Him.
He knew that it would take DEEP WATERS to understand THE DEPTHS OF GOD’S LOVE. That the STORMS would only serve to show the POWER OF HIS NAME.
Deep would call to deep – deep waters to deep faith.
In deep waters and fierce storms, Jesus is still with us. Working on miracles within and without. So that by the time we reach the shore, we are no longer the same. Terror has drowned and we have been saved and have lived to tell the tale with a new appreciation for the Hero of the story…
