7 Day Devotional Responding to a Global Pandemicنموونە

Jesus calms the storm (again)

In this story, we read of Jesus stilling the seas. Contrary to the previous story when Jesus walks on water, Jesus was actually on the boat with his disciples when they were confronted with a storm.

This powerful story is still relevant and applicable today. The disciples encountered a dangerous situation (a storm), which terrified them. However, they failed to recognise that they were in the safest place on the planet, with Jesus. Jesus was fully human yet fully divine. While he was on earth, all power and authority had been given onto him, therefore the disciples had no reason to be afraid. 

I often find it amusing that while the disciples were trying not to be swallowed into the abyss by the storm, Jesus was perched in a corner sleeping! Naturally, the disciples were livid. They turned their frustration on Jesus and said, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” So Jesus, (possibly annoyed that they so rudely interrupted his blissful nap), rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!”. And the winds quickly quietened down.

Why are you so afraid

In waking Jesus up, the disciples demonstrated their lack of knowledge of who Jesus was and their lack of trust in him. If they truly understood who Jesus was, they would not have been afraid. Jesus puts some questions to his dumbfounded and disoriented disciples: Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?

Jesus illustrated his divine nature by stilling the seas, reminding the disciples once again that he was God. Therefore they were always safe with him, irrespective of the dangers ahead.

Do you still have no faith

Jesus’s profound words ring true today. Why are we so afraid? Do we still have no faith? As humans, we have the tendency to fear situations that are beyond our control like earthquakes, floods, global pandemics and the future. Back in school, we would often participate in trust exercises: one blindfolded person was required to fall backwards into the extending arms of another person. Most times the blind-folded person would fall awkwardly, as they did not trust their partner to keep them from hitting the ground. 

Similarly, as Christians we belittle the divine power and sovereignty of God when we respond to adversity and uncertainty with fear. Why are we so afraid of the storms of life, when Jesus is in the boat with us? If we cling to him by faith, then we have no reason to fear. Even when we face sickness and death, we will never be separated from God. Jesus reaffirms this hope in John 10:28 saying, “I will give them eternal life and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Where is our safe place?

Most people have a space where they feel safe. This could be a location or a person. For me, I feel safest when I am in my home. But what if my home was destroyed, or taken away from me? Where will my safe place be? My safe place must always remain in Jesus. The One who is eternal, the One who stills the roaring seas and the One who is mightier than the thunders of many waters. The important question we must constantly ask ourselves throughout this pandemic is, why are we so afraid?