.Overwhelmed
Something to think about: Jesus Calms a Storm
Read the news, and the world seems to be swirling, caught up in winds going all kinds of different directions, powerful people making decisions that bring chaos into the lives of others. Most days, if we are working for changes in justice and peace or taking care of people, we wake up not knowing where to start. Even if we do, by the end of the day the priorities and needs have changed, and something else has risen as immediate and pressing, and our worries start rising because we haven’t been able to make progress because of the whirling, changing, demanding world we’re in.
Regardless of how good we are at organization and method, we are humans with emotions and anxiety and needs and when we don’t know what to do first, or what will make the best change, we get overwhelmed by the storm.
Sometimes it seems that, like what happens in the gospel story, God is asleep in the boat.
It’s that sleeping that gets to me. Jesus would have known that the storm was around, that people were scared, that they didn’t know what to do next. But he’s so tired that he’s sleeping through it all. Why is God sleeping???
It makes me question and want to explore some things. I know these aren’t all the answers, but just some reflections to share. Feel free to email me with your thoughts.
What priority did the storm have for God? Sometimes, we are doing what we should be doing, and we go through a tough patch–and what is making it tough is a distraction from what we need to keep doing. If it is a distraction, God is not going to necessarily stop it. When it becomes a need that keeps us from doing what we’re doing–when the storm becomes greater in our priorities than the fact that God is there in the boat, God steps in with a reminder that God never left. This isn’t to glibly say that our going through tough times or circumstances gets any easier, but perhaps sometimes we give more weight to the storm than it deserves.
When does God do something about it? Where is God in the storm? Jesus calms the storm when the disciples’ anxiety gets to be greater than they can handle and keep going; when they are beyond a point where they can say, “I can control my reaction and choose to keep going through this storm”. Even if we do lose it, even if we do lose perspective, God doesn’t ignore us. God reminds us not to be afraid. “Rebuke” here is a word that would be used when you are teaching students a correct answer. It’s not an angry “why didn’t you think of this yourselves?” Jesus doesn’t lecture. Jesus calms the storm.
Then the disciples, and we, can go on. God doesn’t lift all the storms. Just gets us through this one. And sometimes, that’s all that’s needed for today.
May you know that God is in your boat, all the time.
May you know the storms, and the power of the One who goes with you through them.
May you know that nothing can separate you from the Jesus who calms those storms in you and me…
and that together, we’ll make it through.
Peace and blessings this week,
Rev. Susan
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