Jesus Calms the Storm
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awake and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (4:35-41)
I always wanted to help my disciples to learn. What I wanted to teach them is to come to the Father at all times, to speak to Him and to listen to him. Yet, as the people of Israel did when Moses led them to Mount Sinai, my disciples tended to want to listen to me when I was on earth, instead of coming to the Father. I had taught them the basics of prayer with “Our Father”, yet they just repeated the words like pagans do, without listening to what the Father was responding to this prayer. When you ask a question to someone, the least thing to do is to listen to the answer from this person. When you make a request to the Father, wait for His answer, not only for the thing itself but more importantly for His voice.
As Paul taught rightly: Faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes from the word of God. (see Romans 10:18). The problem is that people tend to think I am dumb, unable to speak each day, so they limit the ‘word of God’ or ‘word of Christ’ to the written verses in the Bible, what a lack of faith! They don’t learn to come to me and use the Bible as an idol. This lack of faith has dire consequences. The Bible is a wonderful tool under the direction of the Holy Spirit, but a painful weapon in the hands of the devil. I wanted to train my disciples to pray, to speak and to listen to God, yet I realized that they often came to me instead of coming to the Father. It is true, I was and am God, yet they needed to learn to come to the Father during my time on earth. Now, since I have returned to the Father and am no more in the flesh, this is no more a problem, and coming to me or to the Father will build your faith in the same way. Allow me now to show you how, in this story, I trained my disciples.
People often think that if they follow me they will not face problems. They forget the clear and numerous examples in the Bible. Our purpose is not to offer a spiritual cushion to train lazy disciples, we want to lead my disciples to walk by faith in every situation, whether painful or not, whether easy or difficult. David rightly wrote, “Even if I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil, your rod and your staff comfort me.” (Ps 23:4). We don’t want people to fall, but we want them to learn to walk by faith and to follow our lead.
As the disciples followed my direction, they ended up in a challenging situation, with a storm and our boat filling. As strange as it might seem, I was not concerned at all, peacefully resting at the back of the boat. When the disciples faced the challenge, instead of coming to the Father, as I taught them to, and listening to His direction, they came to me and shouted at me. I listened to the Father, saw what He wanted me to do in this situation, and simply did it: I stood up, and rebuked the wind and everything became calm.
Then, I continued to train my disciples by asking why they were so afraid, asking if they still had no faith. They did not understand, they were not looking for the things of heaven but were still trapped in focusing on this visible world. They were appeased and not concerned at all by my question. They were so dependent on me, instead of imitating me. I knew clearly that I would soon need to be away so that they would learn to speak to the Father and to me by faith. They were just amazed at the visible, afraid and wondering how I had such power even over the sea and the wind.
I knew that my teaching needed to be an example for them. I could clearly see that they were focused on me and did not realize yet how my relationship with the Father was the key to all I did. I always came to the Father to listen to him and to do as He showed me. People tend to think that prayer is only a moment, but through prayer what we want to do is to develop with each human an continual dialogue, we want each person to become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Then, you will do even greater things than what I did.
The key is to have faith in God, and to learn to listen to us at all times. Of course, you first have to learn in the quiet of a room or in a peaceful place. Yet, if you stop there your faith will remain very small. With the Father, we want you to learn to remain filled with the Holy Spirit and to learn to hear our voice even in the middle of your storms. We will then guide you and show you how to calm these very storms.
It is not a matter of power, as the disciples thought, it is a matter of faith and obedience to our voice in your heart. People want power, we want humility; people seek to control, I want you to have faith in me and in the Father. This story of the storm is not about power, but about faith. It is not about control, it is about humbly coming to us in challenges, listening to us and doing what we show you. You have to first learn to hear our voice in your heart in the calm of the day, and to follow us then. As you practice listening and dialoguing with us, as you practice following our voice, you will be able to recognize how we lead you even in the most challenging situations. This is the heart of this story. Trust in me, I am the good shepherd. We want you to learn to walk by faith, not by physical sight only. We want you to rely on us and to follow us as you learn to love. It has nothing to do with impressing others by calming storms, it has all to do with having faith in us and coming to us for direction at all times. I am the Lord of Lord, no situation is too big for me, yet don’t confuse your will and my will.
Learn to follow my direction, and I will protect you and guide you. Let the Holy Spirit rule in you, and he will help you and guide you, he will tell you my words and the words of the Father. Let the power of our love grow in you and spread through you. Miracles will then happen, as they happened in my life, but focus on us - not on the miracles. Calming a storm is much less important than listening to us.
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