Losing Confidence in Earthly Things

“Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 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?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” (Mark 4:36-39).

Before you go to sea, you enjoy life on land. You are in control, and the ground beneath your feet is sure. But then a Destiny calls you into a boat. Hope summons you, and bids you leave the Known behind. That which is Sure and Dependable disappears from view.

The final Shoreline is heaven, and the hope of Glory does put us to Sea (after all, it caused Abraham to dwell in tents and Moses to forsake the treasures of Egypt).  But there is a closer Goal that causes you and I to leave the Known behind – we call it “the Call of God”. As with Jesus’ disciples then, so now we are looking forward to “the other side”. The weather is fair; the boat is seaworthy; the ocean is behaving itself.

We are enjoying the Ride. We feel a holy uniqueness. A great sense of Significance settles upon us, as we set out on the Unknown. We caress an inner Pride, that we are the true Pioneers, unlike those who have settled for land.

The Reality though is that we are just enjoying God’s grace in a changed Form. It was on land, and now it is on water. Then He gave us a facebrick house, with peace and pleasant neighbors. Now He has given us a trimmed boat, with gentle waves lapping against its sturdy hull.

Then...the wind and the waves come up. At first, we trust in the Boat. What is the Boat, if not our natural skills and reflexes, and our fellow human friends? To some, it is family. To others, their job. To many in the church, it is the Church herself.

We take a glance over the stern to see if we can head back. No land in view! So, we trim the sails, tighten the rigging and peer over the prow in the hope that New Land might just be a short swim away.

But no such luck. Because luck has nothing to do with it. God has not taken us on a Grand Journey as much as He has taken us aside to deal with Unbelief. As with Christ and Philip, God could transport us to the Next Stop in the blink of an eye. This time-space universe holds no bounds for the God Who created It.

No, as with Moses in Midian, David in Gath, Elijah in the cave and Jonah under the vine, God has You in a storm-tossed boat.

Now, the next decision is vital. God has initiated it already, by hiding His immanence in the incarnational body of Jesus. As then, so now - Jesus is Here in the boat. He seems unconcerned, uncaring, uncommunicative. But these are mere appearances.

He is waiting for you to make the next move. The same Lord bluffed the Syrophonicean woman, ignored the cries of the deaf man, pretended to walk further on the Road to Emmaus. That same Jesus sleeps - or seems to - while you weep, cry, panic.

The Question is, will you at last turn to Jesus, and cast your Final Hope upon Him? Your trust in dry land is gone. The glories of the Other Side are forgotten. The Friendly Sea has betrayed you. Your Sailing Skills are all but exhausted.

And still the storm does not abate. You sense nothing of the favor of Christ. There seem to be no Divine Transactions. The Skies rage, but Heaven is silent.

And then, from deep within our gut, the cry comes forth. “Master, careth Thou not that we perish?!”.

Your Master careth much! He shall not fail His Word, to bring you to the Other Side! All He is doing with us in our battered boats is stripping away our confidence in the earth, the sea, the sky and mankind’s clever inventions. The Father wants you and I to know and look to the Son. And become more like Him.

And as for you, maybe you would say today, “I failed the moment, and I have leapt overboard. I have forsaken my calling”. But I say to you, is not Christ also the great Whale that swallowed and kept Jonah safe beneath the Sea? No-one remembers you right now, but the God Who saved you will never forget nor forsake you – you are in His Son!

In the midst of the tempest, the disciples knew nothing of the Other Side. In the belly of the Whale, Jonah knew nothing of where they were going. But both knew the faithfulness, power and deliverance of God and His Christ.

So, may you find His grace in the storm, which is sufficient for you and I.

Nick