Hurricane

Matthew 8:25-26 (ESV)

“25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.”

The disciples had already seen Jesus perform many miracles and yet, in a panic, they display deficient faith. “Little faith”, the Greek word oligopistos does not mean “no faith”, but rather “ineffective,” “defective,” or “deficient” faith. So we may think of Jesus saying, “O you of deficient faith”.

It is interesting to me that it took only one episode of rough seas for the disciples to allow their faith to slip into a defective state. It reminds me of myself sometimes. Does it remind you of you? Even though we have extreme faith in Christ and our belief is solid as a rock, we can have a tendency to show little of that faith during a storm. Money, work, marriage, children; these are just some of the things that can challenge us to the point of feeling as though we are perishing. But this is when we will need our faith the most; during the hurricane.

“…Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” Friends, Jesus is able to stop the hurricane, to command even the forces of nature. Just as God in the Old Testament “rebukes” the sea, He has complete control over the natural world. And surely the One who is in command over the natural world also has the power to calm our storm, the hurricane in our life, to settle the wind and the sea for us.

What will your faith look like during the next storm? Will your faith be faulty, flawed, and futile? Or will you have ample, adequate, able and awesome faith during the hurricane? Read Matthew 8 in its entirety this week for encouragement!

Blessings,

Shawn