Jesus Christ Amid Life's Constant Storms

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The Sea of Galilee or Lake of Gennesaret is nestled among the hills in the northern Israel. It is nearly 700 feet below sea level. It measures 21 kilometers north-south. In some places of the lake it goes down to only 43 meters deep. It is relatively small and shallow.

The sea's geography subjects the lake to sudden and even violent storms. That happens when cool air from the mountains on the eastside blows downward towards the lake and pushes the warm air covering the lake upwards. The sudden change can produce surprisingly furious storms in a short time. Also, because the lake is small and shallow the confluence of cold and warm air produces strong waves.

In Capernaum, a fishing village by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus healed many people like the centurion's servant and Peter's mother-in-law. In the evening, he healed many sick people and exorcised people possessed with demons. When a large crowd was gathering, he ordered the disciples to cross the other side of the lake. When they were halfway through the lake, a sudden storm developed.

In Matthew 8: 23 - 27, the account goes like this: "Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him saying, "Lord save us!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the wave, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him."

Jesus probably knew that violent storms occur frequently in the Sea of Galilee yet he was relaxed and he even fell asleep. Probably, because he needed to rest from all of the healing he had done. Halfway through the lake, a sudden storm broke out. His disciples woke him up. Though they were expert fishermen and boats men, Jesus noticed that they were totally scared. 

Also, Jesus was probably not happy when the disciples woke him up. Aren't we all when someone cuts our sleep short? When he was up, I suspect that he meant to say to them, "Look I'm here and I got you all so don't be scared!" 

On that day, Jesus taught his disciples to have faith in him especially in tight situations. He showed them the way to handle fear - through faith. Although, the disciples were clueless as to his true nature.

Amid the Covid-19 pandemic which started last year and is still raging, everyone is fearful. We fear that we and our family might catch the virus. We fear that our personal plans might be derailed by virus. We fear of its harmful effect on the population and the economy. 

We are besieged with bad news after bad news because of Covid-19. Especially, about the news that the virus mutates in different variants and becomes more and more transmissible. We ask ourselves, "When is it going to end?" 

Our once normal lives have been disrupted just like the sudden and violent storms in the Sea of Galilee. We share the same feeling of fear with the disciples on that stormy night at the lake.

In the story of Jesus calming the storm, he reminds us not to fear from life's constant storms because he's always there to calm them down. He also reminds us to calm down our inner fears through faith. Jesus has spoken so many times in the gospels never to shrink in fear. 

His message in handling fear resonated even when he was not around. The apostle Paul wrote a letter to his disciple Timothy, something to that effect. In 2 Timothy 1:7 he wrote, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power; and of love; and of a sound mind." I used the King James version because it is more succinct.

Fear can sometimes be debilitating and tormenting. But when we have a sound mind tamed from fear, we do the right things and not crazy things. When we do the right things we produce the right results. 

An overloaded ship in a rough storm will surely sink. A wise captain would order the throwing of excess stuff overboard to remain afloat. Our sins and idols that are storms in our soul often weigh us down. It would be wise to throw them all away and travel light with Jesus and with peace in our soul. 

As captains of our soul, that is another right thing to do on top of facing our fears. That will surely help us to weather life's constant storms including this pandemic.


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