Keep Jesus in the Boat

New Job. Kids doing great. Spouse is well. The sun is shining and you are constantly smiling. All of a sudden sunshine turns into dark clouds. Your marriage is on the rocks. Your heart has been broken with disappointment. You lost that good paying job.  You are struggling to make ends meet. Now you have tears in your eyes because life has come at you in a way that you are not able to manage. Sometimes you just want to scream out because you can't take one more positive step forward. These are situations that we call life storms.

The disciples were in a storm and for some of them, working out at sea was a part of their profession. As they had just watched Jesus perform miracle after miracle, their faith was increased. These were the ones that Jesus called to follow Him. Things were looking great and Jesus was explaining to them the meaning of parables. Their confidence was soaring when Jesus told them to to travel to the east side of the land. Not only did Jesus tell them where to go, He was in the boat with them. However, as they set forth on the sea a storm began to form. While the storm began to rage, Jesus was sleeping on the back of the boat. The disciples were panicking and cried out to Jesus, "Teacher, don't you care that we are about to drown?" It was at that moment that Jesus said, "Peace, be still." Suddenly the winds and the waves stopped and Jesus looked at the disciples and said to them, "Why were you afraid? Do you have no faith?" 

So many times God has plans set for us. He has our lives planned out and He wants what is best for us. God never said it would be easy, but He will be with us every step of the way. God is preparing us for when the storms come, we will be able to endure the storm. We are not alone though. Just like Jesus stays in the boat with the disciples, He is willing to stay in the boat with you when the storms come. We as believers have to hold on to our faith and know that Jesus being in the boat with us is much better than being without. When is the last time you had a storm in your life and you were able to be calm knowing that Jesus is riding the storm with you? The Good News is that Jesus wants you to be like Him and be calm. What is even better is that if you feel like you can't make it through your storm being calm, you can call His Name and He will answer you.