One April, I was lost in a snowstorm on the ocean—alone, in a tiny wooden boat in Alaska. The blizzard erased all vision of the land and sea. I tried not to panic, but I had no idea where I was for mile after mile of cliffed shoreline. Just when I was certain nothing could be worse, the engine broke down, leaving my skiff drifting toward the waves surging against the cliffs. My skiff could smash and I would end up in the frigid winter waters. I realized I could die. 

The twelve men in the boat with Jesus were not only in a furious storm, but Jesus was sleeping in the midst of it! They were sure they were going to drown. We know from the scriptures and our own lives that choosing to follow Jesus doesn’t automatically end all storms in our lives. 

But Jesus has already calmed the one storm we cannot survive: the storm of sin and death. 

Our sin separates us from God—that ends in death. Jesus ended that storm for us. Remember when Jonah was thrown into the stormy sea to calm it? Jesus is the better Jonah, who jumped overboard into the real storm—sin and death—and he conquered sin. He conquered death. He’s taken the sting and the blow of death from us. 

So we’re safe. We’re already rescued. Jesus did rescue me miraculously that day in the boat, but I knew that no matter what happened, even in the worst winds, the highest seas, Jesus was with me. 

Even if the boat sinks, we’re safe. Even if we die, in Jesus, we’re safe. 

Prayer

The storms come, and they rage around me. When I’m drowning, Jesus, you are with me, even when the waves crash over the top of my little boat. Thank you for conquering the storms of life and the hopelessness of death. Amen.