Take Courage

Immediately [Jesus] spoke to them and said, “Take courage!  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.” –Mark 6:50b

As the disciples struggled to row their boat in the midst of the storm, the last thing they expected was to see Jesus walk up to them.  They thought they had to fight the storm on their own.  They weren’t even looking for Jesus.  It surely would have saved them a lot of anxiety if they had reflected on the miracle of the loaves and fishes they had just witnessed and understood that Jesus would come through for them one way or another.

One way or another...that’s the catch for us, isn’t it?  When we are in the midst of a storm, we want to know what to expect.  Our faith is strong enough to know Jesus is with us...but what is he going to do about it?  Even the question scares us.  Maybe it will take work on our part.  Maybe it will hurt emotionally.  Maybe we will have to...oh, no... CHANGE!  What we really want is someone to take the waves out of our lives.  We want smooth sailing all the way through.  No storms, no bumpy ride...just lay back and enjoy the cruise on auto pilot.

When I go to Florida to visit my family, our time together almost always includes some boating.  I can’t tell you much of anything about any of those boating trips except for one.  It was the one in which a scary storm was involved.  I would never have chosen to go out into the ocean in a storm, but it certainly made the trip memorable and I learned some lessons about what to do in a storm at sea.  And there is nothing like a storm at sea to make you see the awesome power of God.

There aren't many of us who would willingly walk into a storm. But without life’s storms, we would not learn much.  Our lives would just be one long chain of days... nothing memorable... nothing worth sharing with others.  Jesus knows we would rather avoid the storms so he’s not likely to warn us when one is coming.  But we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus doesn’t let us struggle alone.  Even when we don’t recognize him, he is right there with us encouraging us and telling us, “Take courage!  It is I.  Don’t be afraid.”

Lord Jesus,
We fear having to face the storms in our lives even though they are necessary to our spiritual growth.  Help us to recognize your presence as we journey through them.  Let us always see you in the faces of our brothers and sisters that you have placed in our lives for just such times.  Amen.

Joys:  Carroll's sermon, a relaxing Mother's Day, remembering my mom