SAME STORM, DIFFERENT BOAT

Have you ever heard the saying, “We are all in the same storm, but we are not all in the same boat”? To me, this means that while we might be experiencing the same economic, political, personal, or health difficulties, our ability to navigate those choppy waters is significantly impacted by the resources available to us. Do I have a supportive family? Insurance? A job? A savings account? Other factors making it difficult at this time to deal with one more trial?

Interestingly, I came across two incidences where storms hit and the disciples seemed to be in an entirely different boat than Jesus. Let me explain.

The first incident is found in Matthew 8:23-25 [NLT] – 23 Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. 24 Suddenly, a fierce storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. 25 The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"

The disciples were physically in the same storm and the same boat as Jesus, but their experience of this storm was entirely different. Jesus experienced this storm from a position of faith in and complete trust of the Father’s protection.

In spite of the Messiah being in the boat with them, the disciples experienced this storm from the perspective of the temporal only – that is what they could literally see and feel. And Jesus chastised them for that, but also calmed the storm.

Matthew 8:26 [NLT] – Jesus responded, "Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!" Then he got up and rebuked the wind and waves, and suddenly there was a great calm.

The second incident is recorded in Matthew 14:22-33. In this case the disciples were in the boat during this storm, and Jesus was out in the storm, literally walking in it, on the water. From an earthly standpoint, Jesus was in the more vulnerable position. The disciples had the boat around them, offering some protection from the choppy waters.

In this case, Peter decides to try to stretch his own faith by walking with Jesus on the water. You have to give him props for trying. But he fails.

The reason Peter fails is because he changed his perspective. When asking to walk to Jesus on the water, Peter had turned his perspective from the storm to the Master of the elements. However, he was not able to sustain his focus on Jesus. So, when his focus turned again to the storm tossed sea, Peter began to sink.

Jesus again chided him for this. Matthew14:31 [NLT] – Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. "You have so little faith," Jesus said. "Why did you doubt me?" Then, He again calmed the storm.

There are a couple of things that I learned from this. First, our perspective must be on the love and provision of God and Jesus through any storm life throws at us. Just as Jesus was literally in the boat with His disciples in that first example, He is with us in our storms. Second, we must trust that He will calm the storm, even though our faith might waver. There is no indication that the lack of faith shown by the disciples cause Jesus to pause in calming the storm. He wanted them to have more faith, but did not let the storm rage on as a punishment for them lacking it. Instead, with compassion for their lack of faith, He calmed the storm immediately. He lifted Peter up immediately.

If we think God will let us flounder because we lack faith, I think we’ve got it wrong. The Father and Jesus want us to grow but they have compassion on our physical and spiritual frailty. It both of these examples, Jesus responded immediately to the disciples crying out to Him.

While we might wait a little longer for our rescue from the storms of life, we should never think that it is meant to be punitive or even a result of our lack of faith. We need to be sure we are crying out to Jesus for help. But, also, our perspective should be that He is there helping. He is with us, protecting us, even when we think He is asleep. He is on His way across the storm to rescue us, even when we don’t yet see Him.

Matthew14:31 [NLT] – Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. "You have so little faith," Jesus said. "Why did you doubt me?" Then, He again calmed the storm.

Whatever storm we face and whatever boat we are rowing – or even if we are out on the water in the middle of it – our Savior wants us to focus on and trust in Him.

I welcome your comments and questions. You can write me in the chat, or any time at Nancy@DynamicChristianMinistries.org.