By: Christine LaPorte

The safest sailor is certainly not the one who has never weathered a storm.  Wouldn’t you want one at the helm who has fought through a gale and who knows the strength of the ship’s hull and rigging, and how the anchor may be used to graph the rocks of the ocean bottom?”

Selected, pg. 186 “Streams in the Desert”

Reading this statement, I immediately thought of Jesus and His disciples out on the water before, during and after the storm on the Sea of Galilee.  In Matthew 8:24-25 we read,

“The storm came up suddenly on the lake; waves even swept over the boat”.  Of course, when His disciples realized Jesus was sleeping, they probably panicked and we read they “woke Him saying, “Lord, save us we’re going to drown”.  Jesus responds by saying, You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”

Was the Lord rebuking His followers; was he angry? He knew that they had not encountered a storm like this before (at least not with Him onboard the boat).  Maybe this was a test, and the Lord wanted to show them the miracle of Him calming the sea. Jesus simply “rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.”  (Mark 4:39.) In this verse the word rebuke means “chide, rebuke, reprove”. I suspect this show of power and authority scared, yet also amazed the men onboard.

I believe this was, yet another seed planted in the minds and souls of Jesus’ followers.  They will never forget what happened on the Sea of Galilee. Was there another person in history who could stop a storm by simply speaking to it? In the same way, is there another God who can perform some of the past miracles in our lives? Not for me.

Many of us can attest to how the Lord has helped us through our trials, challenges and “storms”.  And when we encounter another test of our faith, we can recall how God showed up on our behalf, and for our loved ones, to remedy some kind of heartache, financial misfortune, relational struggle or feelings of uselessness and hopelessness. He has all these bases covered and more; He wants to help us too!

The lyrics of this new song by CeCe Winans, called “That’s My King” describes His greatness and availability to us.
I wish I could tell you; Wish I could describe it.
But I can’t contain it, I can’t keep it to myself.
There aren’t enough colors To paint the whole picture
Not enough words to ever say what I found.
Wonderful and beautiful And glorious and holy
He is merciful and powerful
Who we talkin’ about? That’s my King.
We declare the glory Give him all the honor, Altogether worthy
Who we talkin” about? That’s my King. There’s no one before you.
Yes, we will adore you; All of this is for you. That’s my King.

We can rest in knowing that we have gone through tough situations before, and Jesus brought us safely through the fear and anguish onto the stability of the shore.