Dear Friends,

I would like to take you with me this month to the account of Jesus calming the storm which is recorded for us in St. Luke's Gospel, chapter 8 and verses 22 to 25. The story is as follows. The narrative commences, 'One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake."' We are told that while they were sailing over Galilee Jesus went to sleep. While he was sleeping the boat was hit by a squall and was in great danger of being sunk. The disciples rudely wake Jesus saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" Jesus awakes, and commands the storm to cease, and there is a great calm. Jesus then asks the disciples, "Where is your faith". We are then told at the end of the story the fear and amazement of the disciples at the power of Jesus, and questioned who he was.

The relevance of this story for us today, and this is the thought I would like to leave with you this month, is that we experience storms in our lives, whether they are as individuals or whether they are upon the church community. What was true for the disciples during this storm is also true for us in the storms of life we suffer. Our storms may not be in a boat on the sea, but rather in the experiences in our lives which threaten to overwhelm us in some way, yet what was true for the disciples in their boat on Galilee is true for the Christian today in whatsoever storms life may bring.

The great thing to take hold of is the presence of Jesus with us. Jesus was with the disciples in their boat in the storm. Jesus is also with us in the experiences we have in life. It is the essence of the Gospel that not only does Jesus save us from our sins, but he is our daily Saviour throughout our lives. He told his disciples before he ascended back into heaven that he would be with them always even to the end of time. When he was speaking about the gift of the Holy Spirit in John's Gospel, he plainly says that the Holy Spirit would be the believers constant companion, and that this was the same as Jesus being with the believer all the time.

Because Jesus was with the disciples in the boat, he was bound up with them in the safety of the boat. If the boat had sunk, he would have been drowned with the disciples. Because of this he was intimately involved in the experience. Because he was in the boat, therefore, it could not be overwhelmed by the storm. It did not matter that he was asleep. His being there meant that the boat could not be allowed to sink and threaten his life, so the disciples were, in fact, safe because Jesus was with them.

This is essentially true in the Christian’s life. Jesus is with us, and he is intimately involved in the experience of his people and his church. He cannot let his people be overwhelmed and broken or lost. If that happened his saving purposes and blessing would be impaired and failing, and that is impossible. Because Jesus is with us we are safe in his everlasting arms. Jesus may seem asleep, but this makes no difference. If we fail, he has failed, because he has bound us to himself in his salvation.

This is what Jesus was seeking to impress upon his disciples when he said to them after the calm had come, "Where is your faith?" By this question he was seeking to make them understand that his presence with them as their Lord and Master, meant that they were safe in his care, and whatever storms assailed them, and however severe or long they may be, he was not only watching over them, but was keeping them safe, and would bring them through the storm to the calm at the end.

As Jesus never leaves his people, and dwells within them by his Spirit, this glorious truth is for life. He will, and can never, fail us so that the storms of life overwhelm us. He can't fail us because if he did it would mean that he had failed as Saviour.

The storm may be very long and severe and apparently with no end, like the terrible experience of Joseph in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament, but just as Joseph was brought through and blessed, so Jesus will bring all his people through.

We have this story recorded for us to help us to be able to peacefully believe when the storms of life hit us, but it is also there to comfort us when we find our faith faltering. The disciples were still safe even though they were afraid they were not. When they expressed their doubt and fear, Jesus did not cease to save them, or diminish in his keeping power. Jesus certainly sought to help them to increase in faith, but he did not reject them in anyway when they failed in faith. This story records for us the way of Jesus with his people. As he was with these disciples, so he is with his disciples today.

The story also shows us how we can deal with our fear. Fear drove the disciples in the boat to cry to Jesus for help. This was prayer. We can pray also, and it is the answer to fear and doubt. In the account of this story in the other Gospels we see that the disciples prayer was not all that it should be. They spoke to Jesus with anger and criticism - don't you care if we perish. This did not turn Jesus away from them, or in anyway diminish his care and protection of them.

Our prayers often come with much imperfection and wrong attitudes. We must not feel that Jesus will turn against us because we are sinful in our praying, or that his protecting grace will be withheld or diminished. It was not so here in this story, and this is a true example of the way Jesus treats us. This does not mean we ought not to be sorry for wrong attitudes in prayer, or that we should not seek to have better attitudes in prayer, but Jesus does not refuse our cry because it is made in a sinful manner.

Lastly this story is meant to assure us that Jesus is truly our God and that he is completely able to save to the uttermost those who call upon him and put their trust in him. The miracle here is astounding. Not only did the rain and wind cease at Jesus command, but there was immediately a great calm. The rolling of the waves, whipped up by the storm, did not subside gradually, but stilled immediately.

Let us take comfort, therefore, not only that Jesus is with us and protecting us at all times, but that his power and wisdom is totally adequate for all the demands our problems make upon him.

Your servant for Christ's sake,