It was an apparent clear day, with calm waters. The disciples gather on the boat with the Lord and he announced that they are going to the other side. The other side of the Sea of Galilee. They have no problem with that. It is not a big sea and the journey would only take a few hours by boat.

 

The Lord Jesus had fallen asleep on this calm trip and the disciples didn’t think much of it, after all, the Master was a very busy man and could use the rest.

 

But then a storm came and the wind turned to a dangerous gale. The waves began to lift the boat and the water came in. The disciples did all they could to stabilize the ship and bail out the water but now they are at their wits end. They have no answers, they have no more strength. They are at the mercy of the storm and fearful for their lives. It is at this point they say, Master, master, we perish!

 

I love this part, Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased and there was a calm.

 

The Lord would ask them a question that should cause us to think about our own faith. He said to them, “Where is your faith?”

 

That is a good question because it wasn’t a lack of faith that was the problem it was the object of faith that was the problem. Everybody has faith in something, whether they call themselves an atheist or agnostic, they still have faith. In some case’s the atheist has more faith than the average Christian because they have less proof than the Christian.

 

It is possible that the disciples had faith in their surroundings. They were familiar with the sea of Galilee and had no fears of going to the other side. It was familiar territory for them, yet the familiarity may have been the object of their faith and not the Lord. We too can get comfortable with our surroundings and tend to be less motivated to pray and trust the Lord, so the Lord has to stir things up a bit to help put faith where it belongs.

 

It is possible they put faith in their abilities. After all, they were fishermen. They knew how to handle a boat. This too is easy for the Christian to do. If we are naturally good at something we can easily put confidence in self rather than God.

 

It is possible they put their faith in the boat. It was a sturdy boat and a proven boat. They had no problem getting into the boat; it was seaworthy.

 

As a matter of fact, with all of these things going for them, the Master could take it easy and rest a while. No need for him to help. “We got this” was the mind set of the experienced sailors. So, our Lord goes to sleep until the storm. Yes, the Storm! It would be the storm that revealed who the real captain was!

 

We don’t know if Jesus is sleeping in our lives until the storm comes and we have to wake him up. I wonder if they ignored him a little because they were busy with the boat and so he went to sleep. One thing is for sure, I am glad, he was willing to wake up when they called for him. Is it possible that storms come to your life because you have let the Captain go to sleep? Don’t feel bad about keeping him awake. Psalms 121:4