What can a storm reveal about my faith?
I remember August 3, 2014 like it was yesterday. It was the day my Nana passed away. I knew her earthly time was coming to an end, but it didn’t make things easier. In the weeks leading up to her passing, I would sit in her room with her and she would tell me how she was in “God’s waiting room.” I’d go home at night after visiting, a lot of time in tears, and in prayer ask God, “Don’t you care about this suffering?”
In the Gospel of Mark this week, we hear about a great storm. The waves were crashing into the boat and the apostles were full of fear. Where was Jesus? He was asleep in the stern of the boat. They woke Jesus and asked him “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus stood, calmed the storm and then asked a question; “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?”
Mark’s recount of the storm is a beautiful lesson for all of us. What does the storm reveal about the apostles’ faith? What can a storm reveal about our faith? There are some storms we think we can handle ourselves. However, the questioning starts when the waves get turbulent! What is our reaction? Jesus, don’t you care? Do something! Those are the types of questions that rise up when our faith is shaken; we assume Jesus does not care.
The storm story is actually saying something else. It is telling us to look at Jesus and ask why he is so calm? What does he know that I do not? If we stopped and listened, we would see Jesus rise up and say “Peace be still.” How can you find peace in the storm and what can you learn about your faith? Gaze on the peace of Jesus. Do not waste time worrying about the waves or asking why Jesus is not helping. Close your eyes and pray. Jesus is there to comfort us all and to calm any storm we may face as children of God.
