He’s In Our Boat!

The banner photo above looks lovely, inviting, serene, peaceful. I would love to be in that boat pictured here. But what about the boats that are in the middle of a storm, waves crashing over the sides? I would volunteer to jump in to the boat for that ride!

I recently started the Angie Smith Bible study, Matchless: The Life and Love of Jesus.

One of the miracles of Jesus that I studied was one I’m very familiar with. But reading it during the 2020 season we are experiencing, just days after this crazy election, it was a reminder of what I really do know…but needed to consider once more.

The story of this miracle is found in Luke 8:22-25:

One day he and his disciples got into a boat, and he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, and as they were sailing he fell asleep. Then a fierce windstorm came down on the lake; they were being swamped and were in danger. They came and woke him up, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to die!” Then he got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves. So they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, asking one another, “Who then is this? He commands even the winds and the waves, and they obey him! ”

You may be familiar with this story as well. But think about it, in light of our world today, as I did the day I studied it again. In light of your current life situation. Perhaps, like me, you wonder where God is right now, does He even care about the year we are having? And maybe, like me, you needed the reminder that He is right here…in the boat with us on this stormy sea.

I am curious how He could sleep when the boat was “swamped” with water. Was He even aware there was a storm?

Then I realize: He knows, He cares, He loves us, and He is fully sovereign, in control over ALL that happens. And He is NOT in a panic any more than He was that day long ago. Because we KNOW this (and need to be reminded, over and over, that we KNOW it), we must believe He has a plan to bring about His purpose. It doesn’t matter what things “appear” to be, it matters Who He is in the midst of it.

Today, after hearing just a little news on TV, I began to say over and over, “He is in the boat, He is in the boat, He is in the boat, He is in MY boat!” Maybe you need to say that as well. I have a feeling I will come back to this Truth again and again in the days to come. And I can rest in that boat on those stormy seas, just as Jesus slept peacefully alongside the disciples that day.

As another encouragement today listen to this song: Yes I Will

And read Psalm 28:

“LORD, I call to you;
my rock, do not be deaf to me.
If you remain silent to me,
I will be like those going down to the Pit.
Listen to the sound of my pleading
when I cry to you for help,
when I lift up my hands
toward your holy sanctuary.
Do not drag me away with the wicked,
with the evildoers,
who speak in friendly ways with their neighbors
while malice is in their hearts.
Repay them according to what they have done —
according to the evil of their deeds.
Repay them according to the work of their hands;
give them back what they deserve.
Because they do not consider
what the LORD has done
or the work of his hands,
he will tear them down and not rebuild them.
Blessed be the LORD,
for he has heard the sound of my pleading.
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.
Therefore my heart celebrates,
and I give thanks to him with my song.
The LORD is the strength of his people;
he is a stronghold of salvation for his anointed. (emphasis mine)
Save your people, bless your possession,
shepherd them, and carry them forever.”

There is wickedness in our world today (but it’s God’s job to vindicate, not ours), there is pain, there is sickness, there is confusion, and YET he is the our “stronghold” and the “strength of His people”! And we can celebrate and give thanks because of it.

Do we need a miracle today? Yes! We need multiple miracles…but I think the greatest miracle is in the peace we can have in the middle of a storm. That’s because He is in our boat! And He wants to take us to deeper seas (depth in Him) to make us stronger in the midst of the storms!

No matter what you’ve faced in 2020, He’s never left your boat! And He never will.

Banner photo by Osman Rana on Unsplash