School has been
closed for the last two days due to ice and snow. My office follows the school
schedule so I have been making myself useful working around home, clearing the
street in front of my house, writing, and making plans for when the ice finally
leaves.
That it will
leave some day I am assured. What it will leave behind is another matter.
Though the plants stored in my garage in anticipation of the spring have been
protected from the snow, they have not been protected from the worst of the
cold air. If the snow and ice melt too quickly, some flooding will occur.
Single digit temperatures are mild compare to what some people are facing this
winter, but all such cold is hard on people and machinery.
When the
disciples of Jesus faced bad weather, they may have been experienced fishermen,
but they had their fears nonetheless. We have no idea how many of their friends
and fellow fishermen may have been lost in a sudden storm on the Sea of
Galilee. They had seen these men go out in the evening and seen the storm
clouds form. In the morning hours they had waited with anxious family members
for boats that never returned. They may have had real reason to be afraid.
In the
Gospel of Mark Jesus assured those with him in the boat they had nothing to
fear. Was it because he was a better sailor than they? Was it because he
understood boats better than they? No, it was because he knew his heavenly
Father better than they.
Mar
4:38 Jesus was in the back of the boat,
sleeping with his head on a pillow. The disciples woke him up and said,
"Teacher, don't you care that we are about to die?"
Mar
4:39 Jesus stood up and commanded the
wind, "Be quiet!" and he said to the waves, "Be still!" The
wind died down, and there was a great calm.
Mar 4:40 Then Jesus said to his
disciples, "Why are you frightened? Do you still have no faith?"
Jesus heard the doubts and fears of his disciples. The world said they
had reason to be afraid. He called them to see their situation through
different eyes. He called them to see their situation through the eyes of
faith. Where there is faith focused on the right Person, there is no place for
fear.
When the Apostle Paul found himself a prisoner on a ship bound for
Rome, he went knowing God planned for him to give his testimony in the capital
of the empire. He saw himself in the hands of God. Neither the power of nature
nor the Roman Empire could prevent him from carrying out his divine commands.
When a great storm appears to be ready to sink his ship, Paul tells
the crew that once again God has confirmed his plans for the prisoner apostle.
He will go to Rome. He will arrive safely, and he will give his testimony of
faith in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. His assurances to the crew are
recorded in the Book of Acts.
Act
27:23 For last night an angel of the God
to whom I belong and whom I worship came to me
Act
27:24 and said, 'Don't be afraid, Paul!
You must stand before the Emperor. And God in his goodness to you has spared
the lives of all those who are sailing with you.'
Act 27:25 So take courage, men!
For I trust in God that it will be just as I was told.
Bad weather can cause us to have doubts, even fears. Troubled relationships
and a society desperately seeking to crush our witness to Jesus Christ can also
cause doubts and fears. Jesus was in the boat with his disciples. God was
present with Paul all the way to Rome. Storms will come. We live in a world
filled with storms. We have God’s promise we need have no fear. He is with us
to the end of the age.
