Today's Devotional Thought
May 28, 2010 by Rachel Piferi
Why Are You So Afraid?
How much rain has to fall in your life for you to be rattled? Most of us are rattled by large storms in life, but are you rattled by a light sprinkle of rain?
In this familiar passage of Matthew, we see Jesus calming a storm that has suddenly arisen in the water. In the verses before today’s verse, we are told that the storm was furious and that it came up without warning. And through it, Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went to Jesus, woke Him up, and said, “Lord save us! We’re going to drown!???
Isn’t that just the perfect analogy for the storms of our life? So often they come up suddenly. Without warning, we’ll get hit with a situation that we were not expecting. We lose our job. Someone we love gets sick. We lose a child. We get devastating news of some kind. And it feels furious and we cry out to the Lord that we feel like we are going to drown!
And how often, are you in the middle of this storm and you feel like Jesus is sleeping? Like you have to wake Him up and say, “Jesus, do you know what’s going on here? Save me!???
But when the disciples cried out with this phrase, don’t you just love Jesus’ response? “You of little faith, why are you so afraid???? And He asks this question and then shows why you shouldn’t be afraid: because He can completely calm the storm with one stroke of His hand.
This story is a vivid reminder of the power of Jesus to calm any storm. Are you rattled by furious storms in your life? Most of us are. Are you rattled by very light storms? Many of us are rattled by those too. But, the lesson in today’s passage is that you need not be afraid by furious or small storms in life because Jesus can calm them all. And, He may appear to be sleeping during your storm, but trust me friends, He is not unaware of them.
Trust Him with your large and small storms. And the next time you encounter a storm in life, ask yourself, “Why are you so afraid???? You don’t need to be afraid my friends. The God of the Universe is in control today.
December