If you have never been on a small boat in the midst of rough weather, it may be difficult to completely grasp the terror that can come with such a situation. A storm on the water is a truly awesome display of nature, and one that illustrates very clearly how small we are in comparison with the world that God has created around us. He created the world, and nature, and as our first reading from Job tells us, He also set the limits of those creations. So, if we are in fact awed by what he has created, should we not be that much more in awe of the one who created, controlled, and limited their existence?
Our Lord indeed created all things, yet those creations pale in comparison with what He personally did for each one of us with Himself. He suffered and died for each of us, and willingly did so because He loves us. This is the truly awesome work of God. This is what we should look to for inspiration, comfort, and to know how deeply each of us is loved. What is more, there is the foundation of what should be a deep trust that has been laid by our Lords sacrifice for us. Yet, that trust is sometimes difficult to come by. This is the nature of our condition due to the fall, and it is something we all deal with to this day.
The disciples were no different, they too struggled with this, and their faith was sometimes difficult to come by even with Jesus being right there with them. In our Gospel, they are in the same boat with Jesus, and have already seen him perform miracles and healings, yet when confronted with the terror of witnessing the storm in that small boat, they forget all that and are filled with fear. Finally, they call out to our Lord, and He stills the waters and brings calm and peace, they have seen yet again the power of God firsthand, and yet it will not be the last time they look to Jesus for a sign to show that He is God. I think this still happens to all of us all too frequently, we live in fear because we do not trust, we do not accept that our Lord has a plan for each of us, and that while there will be troubles in this life, He has the bigger picture already figured out, so there is no need for worry. Still, we persist, because we cling to our own designs, our own abilities, and our own need for control, all of which is vanity on our part and stems from our lack of trust in Him who gave all for us out of love, and who ultimately is in control of all things.
Think about this for a second, if we didn’t feel the need to have control of much of what is going on around you, most of which is not really in our control anyway, how peaceful would our lives be? How much more could we then focus on what is actually important – loving God and one another. We would know a tranquility that would allow each of us to focus with a clarity that we have never really known and bring to hear all the gifts that God has endowed each of us with and be able to put them to use for the benefit of all, and most importantly for the glory of God. This is something that is not completely beyond our reach, we need to each pray for the grace of trust and reliance, and then let God’s spirit into ourselves. We do this by specifically asking our Lord for this grace, and explicitly telling Him that we welcome Him into our very selves and would like Him to be in charge. Now is the time to start, now is the time to trust, and now is the time to receive this grace and le the one who really can still the waters work in our lives.
The Deacons Bench 