Lighthouse Keeper

He (Jesus) replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. Matthew 8:26

We had a doozy of a storm here last night. Gale force winds with trees and power lines down. 

There are many storms in the Bible. The most well known ones are the storm of Jonah at sea (Jonah 1:4-13), the plague storm of Egypt (Exodus 9:23-26), and of course Noah and the great flood (Genesis 6:9).  In the New Testament, Paul experiences a stormy shipwreck (Acts 27) and Peter walks on water in a storm (Matthew 14:22-33). 

Perhaps the most striking imagery is when Jesus calms the storm in the Gospels  (Matthew 8:26 and others):

“Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and it was completely calm” (Matthew 8:26)

Storms demonstrate God’s sovereignty over his creation and encourage us to have faith in the midst of frightening or uncertain events. 

My first reaction when I saw all the alerts coming out online was to charge my two Kindles, two cellphones, and backup battery packs-in case of a power outage. As the weather intensified it only then occurred to me to pray that Jesus would calm the storm and keep everyone safe. Oops. 

I could hear our small town’s emergency siren going off as I sat in my room praying for Jesus to calm the storm when suddenly I thought “where is my cat?!”. 

Grace is a nervy wee thing and at the first signs of danger, she disappears out the cat flap. I called and called into the squall and she eventually resurfaced so I could shoo her inside and give her some Temptations to keep her inside. 

I wanted her with me. 

I wanted to give her shelter and comfort and protection. 

I didn’t want her out in the storm trying to figure things out on her own. 

You’ll hear Christians saying that the safest place in the world is at the foot of the Cross and I believe it. Jesus wants you with Him. Jesus wants you to run to Him and sit with Him and pray (have a conversation with) Him. He doesn’t want you running off instinct and disappearing into self-reliance and thrashing around in a panic in the storms of your life. 

When I got up this morning, the storm had passed. We had a bit of upturned outdoor furniture and jumpy cat to show for it but Jesus had calmed the storm and kept us safe. 

Jesus wants you with Him in your storms. 

Jesus wants to give you shelter and comfort and protection.

Jesus doesn’t want you out in the storm trying to figure things out on your own. 

Turn to Him in your storms.