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Lord, Where Are You?

Taken from Matthew 8:23-27
I remember the day that the Master came to me and said, “Follow Me.” I left my family and friends and followed Him. I’ve followed Him from town to town and have seen Him say and do some amazing things. Even so, when the Master stepped onto the little boat, I found it very difficult to follow Him there.

I’ve lived and worked for all my life on the solid land. I had no business pretending to be a sailor. A few hours into the journey, my stomach chastised me for not taking the longer route around the sea, by foot.

At first the darkness didn’t bother me. As my friends each fell asleep, I found myself being spooked by the unfamiliar environment of the sea. Some things were real, like fish jumping out of the waves. However, much of what scared me was created in my imagination. I longed for the return of daylight.

Peter sat at the rudder, but he too had drifted off to sleep. I looked to the sky to see if we were headed toward the same stars as we had been before. I hadn’t noticed when it happened, but clouds now covered up the stars. I glanced back at Peter, but my eyes were drawn to a green billowing cloud. I stepped over my sleeping friends and shook Peter awake.

 â€œWhat is that?” I asked, my finger pointing to the sky.

“Could be a storm,” Peter groggily answered.

Andrew stirred. “Last time I saw clouds like that…” his voice trailed off as he swallowed hard.

I had the scary feeling that the worst part of this trip was yet to come.

“What are we going to do?” I asked thinking that there was a procedure to follow in times like this. I had yet to realize that we were essentially defenseless before the great power of a storm.

“Help us take down the sails,” Peter ordered. He seemed interested in keeping me from spreading panic.

I noticed James muttering to John, but I could only make out one word of their conversation. That word was “capsize”.

Fresh fear flowed into my heart. “Capsize!” I shouted, having never considered that possibility. “I can’t swim!” I screamed, hoping that somehow that would spare me from being plunged into the cold water.

The heavy canvas sail fell to the boat’s floor as its ropes were loosened. I scanned the deck looking for something I could use to keep me afloat.

Then, in the span of two heartbeats, three terrifying things happened. First, a flash of lightning lit up the night. Then a crash of thunder shook my bones. Following that the scariest thing of all occurred. A single raindrop landed on my arm. The only thing that kept me from melting with panic was the hope that this storm would have mercy on us, and go in a different direction. That raindrop, and the quick arrival of its friends, stole that hope away from me.

Without warning the wind attacked our boat. Waves lifted us high and then quickly dropped us down. After a time, from behind me came the sounds of fearful shouting. I did not want to turn my head, because then I’d have to deal with yet another problem. My head turned anyway. I added screams of my own as my eyes beheld a towering wall of water looming above me.

I was quickly buried in water as the wave crashed on our delicate boat. The water dragged me across the deck and slammed me into the mast. I clung to it and wondered if I would ever get another breath of air.

In a while the water level fell. I filled my lungs with air, and coughed out water at the same time. My vision began to clear. As it did, I saw something that turned my fear into anger. I spied the master curled up in the front hold of the boat, SLEEPING! “How dare he!” I spewed.

Here I was, probably living the last minutes of my life, and the Master slept. Doesn’t He care about me?! How can He sleep instead of comforting me?! I staggered to the front of the boat so that I could confront the Master. As I drew closer the Master pulled up His blanket to cover His face. This drove me insane with anger.

My hand took hold of a piece of the blanket. As I yanked it away I yelled just slightly louder than the wind at the master. “Don’t you care?! Don’t you care that we are all going to DIE?!” My eyes bulged in terror as I screamed, “How can you sleep?!”

The Master opened His eyes and calmly took His blanket back. His eyes were filled with love, patience and at the same time, disappointment. He softly spoke, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?”

Then He rose to his feet. He pointed His finger into the wind. Then in a firm voice He said, “Be still!”

I briefly wondered if the Master had lost His mind. Why was He talking to the storm? Before I could say anything something happened that I shall never forget.

The tall waves instantly melted. The whipping winds became gentle. The pelting rain ceased. Our boat that just a moment ago was being tossed around like a toy now floated calmly in the sea.

The master went to continue his sleep while the rest of us stood motionless in the now calm night air. After a while someone broke the silence and exclaimed, “What manner of man is this…” We all stared at the sleeping Jesus while he continued, “…that even the winds and the sea obey Him!”


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