The Hardest Lessons

Ruth

Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

—Mark 4:38

We’d done the research. Figured out which boat was best for us. We even sat in it, paddles in hand, pretending we were in open water! And then we pulled the trigger and bought our first kayak. The only problem was that we had never been in the water with one, which is really the only way to truly learn how to kayak.

We can learn some lessons at the water’s edge, but some we have to learn in the water. This just happens to be the way Jesus taught His disciples too. In fact, when we begin to read Mark 4, we discover that “Jesus began to teach by the lake” (v. 1). The crowds gathered, and as they did, Jesus told them several parables about the kingdom of God.

But then something interesting happened in verse 35. Jesus went from teaching by the water to teaching His disciples in the water. He sent them out into the lake in a boat, where they quickly found themselves threatened by a furious storm. As I would have done, the disciples panicked and rushed to wake up Jesus, who was peacefully asleep.

It’s not that the storm wasn’t real or dangerous or serious. It was. But the real danger to the disciples was not the wind and waves; the real danger was their lack of faith (v. 40) and confidence that Jesus was with them—faithful in the storm, able to get them through, and powerful enough to calm the chaos.

Jesus had to take His disciples from the lakeside to the lake to show His power, goodness, and faithfulness. The chaos of the storm and not the classroom of the lakeside would be their greatest learning moment.

Do you find yourself on a boat in the water in the middle of a storm? Do you need to be reminded that Jesus is God with you and for you, even in the middle of a storm?

Father, You are my help and my shield. My heart rejoices in You. I know that right now, with all my circumstances swirling around me, You are present. You are my God and my Savior, and I will trust in You. Increase my faith, and continue to show me Your faithfulness. In Jesus’ name, amen.

When has Jesus used the chaos of a storm instead of a classroom to increase your faith?

How do storms reveal not only what you do believe but also what you don’t believe?