Parents, The waters aren’t always smooth. A couple of years in High School, I was privileged to work with some marvelous people at the day camp my school hosted each Summer. Lots of great kids learned all kinds of fun things: how to swim, crafts, riflery, archery. I can’t remember all the kids or activities, but I was thrilled to be teaching water skiing. Why they thought it was a good idea to put a bunch of kids in a van driven by a teenager, to be dropped off at a public park and be taught to ski by a teenager in the water, and pulled by a boat driven by a teenager… I don't know. Fortunately we had no major incidents. By the way, the camp director was a wonderful coach at the school who believed in and trusted his staff and had high expectations of all us teenagers and let us know when we weren’t performing up to his high camp standards. One of the best parts of teaching water skiing at this camp was that two people had to go pick up the boat from where it was docked and take it up the lake to where the park where kids were waiting to learn. The instructors usually took turns water skiing to and from the dock to the park. Whoever got the early morning ski, usually had beautifully smooth water that looked like glass. It was good water for slalom and barefoot, especially for the underpowered old boat that struggled to hold a speed. My co-workers were more than gracious with each other, sometimes giving up their turn so someone else could enjoy the smooth water. One day after teaching the kids, it was my turn to ski back to the dock, a storm came up with no warning about 3/4 mile back to the dock… rather than stop, we just decided to hightail it all the way back, the rain felt like rocks hurled from a slingshot and the wind was blowing large waves. I locked my elbows around the rope, closed my eyes and hung on tight. I was never so glad to get back to the dock and get back to shelter. We skied almost every day in those Summers, smooth or rough water and we were thankful for the joyful memories on the water in the sunshine, the opportunity to teach kids a fun sport, and God’s gracious protection.
Some of Jesus' disciples were lake dwellers, fishermen by trade. They had lived on the water everyday and were probably used to some storms, but even so, a tremendous storm came up that caught them by surprise and even scared these seasoned fishermen… but what they had forgotten was that Jesus, the Calm One who Cared for them was in their boat… Here’s the story from Matthew 8:23-27 (NIV): “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! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, 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 was so calm, he was asleep in the boat in the “furious storm.” His calmness was misinterpreted as not caring. In Mark’s account the disciples said, “don’t you care that we are about to die?” But His care was tremendous, He cared so much He and His calmness and care were with them in the boat. Had the disciples realized that Jesus' top priority was relationship and connection and being there when things were tough, they would also have realized that His calmness was with them too. In another storm, just to show it wasn’t about the storm or the boat or the water, He hightailed them to shore instantly(see John 6:21) so they would understand it’s about connection with Jesus. The miraculous sign was wonderful, but it wouldn’t save them, connection to Him would save them. As we become like Christ, we too will begin to display His character of care, connection, and calmness in the furious storms of life… like during a global pandemic or racial unrest or global dust storm or even murder hornets! We gotta keep calm, we gotta keep connected, gotta keep caring for each other even when the waters aren't smooth.
Hang in there people! God is with us! I’m praying for you all!
