A submarine is designed to operate in the depths of the ocean, not on the surface. This was proven to me a number of years ago on-board a nuclear fast attack submarine in the Atlantic Ocean near the East Coast and Hurricane Andrew was raging above. Modern submarines are round. They do not have the familiar "V" shaped hulls that surface ships have and older submarines had. They are meant to operate under the waves not in them. When you are 400 feet deep in the ocean and you can still feel the waves, you know there's quite a storm overhead. Only later when we received news reports did we know the devastation caused by that hurricane.
Have you noticed how Jesus faced storms? There are a couple of times in the book of Matthew where we read about Jesus and his response to storms and the disciples' response to the same storms. Now before you say, "I've heard this before" and click the close button, hear me out. I'm not focusing on the disciples' reaction. I'm focusing on Jesus' reaction.
In Matthew 8 we read about the disciples freaking out because they are in the middle of a massive storm and their boat is taking on water. They're worried that they're all going to die. They look over and there's Jesus, asleep. I can only imagine the look on their faces. They went to Him and woke Him and cried out, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"
First of all, notice the boat is taking on water and Jesus keeps sleeping. It's just another day. What's the big deal? My wife often says I could sleep through a truck driving through the house, yet the slightest little warning noise from our dog will wake me out of a sound sleep. Jesus knows when He needs to get up, and this storm is nothing to get excited about. He even asks them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" He wasn't worried, why were they? Where was their faith? He had it all under control, but to calm them down He performs yet another miracle. He calms the wind and the waves and they marvel at it. Really? Did it really surprise them? Should it have?
Okay, how about in Matthew 14 when Jesus sends the disciples on in a boat while He goes up to pray on the mountain. During the night He walks on the water out to the boat. Again, it says a storm came up and was tossing the boat about. At least this time the disciples weren't scared of the storm. But again, Jesus is just walking along the water, like it's an every day thing, in the midst of the wind and waves. When Peter calls out to Him and asks if it's really You, call me out to You. Jesus didn't hesitate. He said, "Come." Again, the storm is no big deal. As soon as Peter took his focus off of Jesus, down he started to go. At least he had the good sense to call out to Jesus to save him.
You see friends, storms are a part of life in this fallen world. Whether they are literal storms that toss a submarine around at 400 feet under a hurricane or one of our famous Pacific Northwest wind storms. The wind comes and the wind goes. The snow and ice come, the snow and ice melt. The waves pound the shore, the tide goes back out to sea. Jesus knew storms were a part of life in this world. It wasn't by design originally, but, because of man's original sin, it is the reality. Jesus didn't allow Himself to be ruled by the storms, or the situations that arose around Him.
I said I wanted to focus on Jesus' response, not the disciples'. We need to ask for the necessary faith to withstand the storms that come our way. Storms that we have no control over, and they are really no big deal. We face all sorts of storms. Financial storms. Emotional storms. Social storms. The thing is we need to realize we are not of this world, just like Jesus. We are in it but not of it. We need to have the faith to look at a storm and say, "Whatever. This isn't stopping me. I'm continuing on."
Let me encourage you today. There is nothing that can separate you from the love of Christ (Romans 8:35-39). Part of that nothing is life's storms. Be of good cheer, rejoice, and have faith for He is risen. Jesus cares about every single little piece of our being. Let's face this world like Jesus does, like we own it!
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