Small faith in a great storm

When Jesus and His disciples were crossing over the Sea of Galilee, a fierce gale came down on the sea. The waves were breaking over the boat, threatening to sink it. But Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat. His disciples came to Him, and woke Him, saying, "Save us, Lord, we are perishing."

Jesus said to the men, "Why are you timid, you men of little faith?"

Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the seas, and it became perfectly calm.

His disciples were amazed that even a storm and the sea obeyed Him. They had seen Jesus heal and perform miracles, but they were surprised when nature, in its grandeur, obeyed Him. Their faith was limited to smaller things.

Jesus asked them why they were afraid. He was not just asking a rhetorical question; His disciples were afraid for a reason.

They were at sea in a small boat in a fierce gale, with waves breaking over the sides. The boat would soon sink because of the water. Matthew describes the sea as covering the boat; Mark and Luke describe the sea as filling up the boat. Some of the men in the boat were experienced fishermen, who had worked on this sea for years. Their expectation of perishing at sea was reasonable.

Jesus was with them, but He was asleep. They were afraid of what was around them, and they knew Jesus was not paying attention. They assumed they could perish in the sea while He was asleep. They were afraid because He was not awake. Their faith was in what Jesus did; while He was asleep, He was not doing anything.

But the disciples saw Jesus sleeping in this storm, resting in the stern of the boat on a cushion. He was in the same boat in the same storm, yet He found rest.

When He awoke, He rebuked the wind and the waves; and then addressed the faith of the men with Him. They were afraid because their faith was small. Their faith was in this Man asleep in the boat; their faith was in what they had seen in Him. While He was asleep, their faith had nothing to hold on to. Yet Jesus had faith in this same storm, for His faith was not in what He could do, but in His Father. The small wooden boat, in the midst of a violent storm at sea was in the hands of His Father. He could rest in the hands of His Father. His disciples saw Him do that.

A day would come when the disciples of Jesus Christ would not see Him with them; they would face the violent storms of life without seeing Him with their eyes. Their faith needed to rest in the hands of the Father; they needed to rest in the trials of life, knowing that underneath were the everlasting arms. Jesus showed them this faith as He slept in the boat in a violent storm.

Disciples need to see a faith that can rest in storms of life, and can quiet those same storms.