August 31 -

Who’s in Your Boat?

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. — Luke 8:22-25

The disciples never stopped to think what it meant to have Jesus in the boat with them. To them, He wasn’t doing anything, just sleeping! But, of course, He was sleeping—not worrying or getting frantic about the storm. The disciples spent so much energy trying to save themselves from the storm on their own power that they forgot to be still and recognize that Jesus is God, who had their lives in His hands. Jesus was in their boat. All they needed to do was trust in him.

The disciples were experienced fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. They had often weathered sudden squalls and treacherous waves. Though the sea was calm when they set sail, they knew that storms could come out of nowhere. So when Jesus suggested rowing to the other side of the lake, they knew they had to be ready for anything.

Storms have a habit of sneaking up on us. For ages life has jogged along, everything running smoothly. Work has been good. Homelife ? no problems. The future looked rosy. Then wham! Out of the blue the storm snook up Overlooked bills appeared on the doorstep. A parent suddenly becomes ill and needs your care. The children fail to gain the grades they needed to get into university....then there are rumours circulating that your employer is planning to make redundacies to their work team. Such storms cause our anxiety to rise to dangerous levels. We look for help from someone to calm us down, fix the problem, and restore life to the way it was. 

Like the disciples we get to thinking that we're facing the storms alone, and forget that whatever our situation, God is in the middle of the storm with us

Instead of worrying and getting frantic about the storm, the effect on our future, and expending so much energy trying to save ourselves from the storm by our own power, that we forget to be still and recognize that Jesus is God, He has our lives in His hands. Jesus is in our boat. All we need to do is trust in Him.

Click on the picture to listen to today's music - Tenessee Ernie Ford singing "Stand by me."