The Right Storm to Calm

Many if not most Christians are probably familiar with the iconic scriptural account of the calming of the storm (Mt 8:23-27; Mk 4:35-41; Lk 8:23-27). Getting caught in a storm, in a small boat, on a lake, can be a harrowing experience.

According to the gospels, the disciples went out on a relatively calm sea with Jesus. Suddenly they found themselves engulfed in a storm with their Lord seemingly ‘asleep at the wheel.’ What happened next provides us with a poignant lesson regarding human nature and supernatural faith.

In Over My Head

I know from personal experience what it feels like to calmly drift out beyond my comfort zone only to suddenly find myself in dire straits.  Four decades ago, while I was still in college, a summer in Los Angeles almost turned into my last summer on earth.

I was not a good swimmer back then, but I did know how to float on my back.  Unfortunately that day I managed to float into the deep end of a pool, with no lifeguard on duty.  Everything I had ever learned about remaining calm and focusing on rational procedures to stay alive went out the window.  I panicked, flailed, and sank like a rock.

Looking back, I literally gave a graduate class on how to drown in 20 seconds.  I broke  every rule in the book of how to survive in deep water with minimal (in my case pathetic) swimming skills.

What was a calm float on a sunny day suddenly became a terrifying ordeal with doom written all over it.  I had stumbled into a situation where I was literally in over my head.  Once panic set in, I did everything you are not supposed to do in such a situation.  Rational, calm, deliberate, and logical thought went out the window.

I imagine my situation was not unlike what might happen to a novice pilot without instrument training who suddenly finds himself in pitch dark conditions without any visual references.  In such cases, panic may set in and a false human default setting of personal salvation may take over.  Forget trusting emergency floating or instrument flying instructions or procedures; the human reaction is “I have got to do this on my own.” And this, of course, in both cases, is precisely the prescription for doom.

Back to The Storm

The events on that lake can be analyzed one by one demonstrating precisely how really fleeting is human faith, because it is wrapped in human nature.

First everything was fine in the calm.  There was no plea or call to Christ during the calm. We can assume that Our Lord seemingly fell asleep in apparent peace.  And there is no indication that the disciples had any problem or concern with that.

Second, it was only when the storm swelled and grew around them that the disciples began to panic.  Either they forgot the Master of the Universe was asleep in their midst, or the disciples interpreted Christ’s sleep as indifference or abandonment to their plight.

Finally they called out to Him, likely in retort, resentment, or even sarcasm as if to say, “We are going to drown; don’t you care?”

Are we not the same in our reaction when things go south on us?  Everything is great as long as things are going as planned.  We even come to believe that we are in complete control and are responsible for that positive state and calm. We take Our Lord for granted and forget that He is always with us as he promised.

But we often panic as soon as things get dicey, uncomfortable, or seemingly unpredictable.  It is then and only then that we turn to Jesus asking for his help. However, we often swiftly turn from self-confident, self-absorbed, perhaps even obnoxious “followers” to bossy, demanding, entitled, spiritual customers demanding that Jesus come to our rescue.

In such instances the only answer we want is whatever answer we decide fits.  We interpret anything else as Jesus being silent or asleep to our demands and pleas.  This interpretation is soon dressed as resentful feelings of abandonment.

The True Storm

I once heard a man ridiculing the disciples in this story.  How clueless do you have to be to freak out about the weather with the Master of all nature right next to you, he mocked.

But perhaps the disciples’ panic was more about something beyond the storm that raged around them.  Maybe the story is more about the storm that raged within them.  Possibly, that storm within was the storm of doubt, insecurity, self, weak faith, and self-righteousness. Confronted with the reality of temporal danger, the disciples’ facades or masks of faith fell away.  The spiritual and eternal succumbed to the earthly and temporal.

Certainly the disciples were worried about the storm that surrounded them. But it was the much more dangerous and insidious storm within each of them that they should have been concerned about. That storm, within each of us, is the storm that places us and not Christ at the center. It is the storm that sees everything on our terms and according to our agenda, comfort, and preference.

This internal storm is so wrapped up in self that the love, mercy, and promise of Christ has no way into our hearts, souls, and minds.   It is a storm that prevents us from truly surrendering to the Will and purpose of God in our lives.

Conclusion

Christ tells us that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (Jn 14:6). He also promises to always be with us (Mt 28:20).  We must believe that He is with us in the calm and in the storms of life.  In fact, if we embrace and immerse ourselves in His promise, we should believe that He is the calm in our lives and that He will help us overcome any storms we face to grow closer to God.

If we foolishly see through the lenses of this world and especially this distorted society, we will blindly convince ourselves that our lives, purpose, and destiny are entirely in our hands.  Consequently, we will also convince ourselves that our falls and setbacks are indicators of our total failure, worthlessness, or hopelessness.  That is the insidious price of self-help. It pins everything on self, including the stumbles, with no room for compassion or mercy.  The more we surrender to God’s Will and purpose for us, the less we will panic in whatever storms assail us.

Above all, when we focus on the calming peace and silence of God, we will replace “We are drowning, don’t you care?” with “I rest in your silence, knowing that your loving care and peace will show itself.”   Embracing and immersed in that silence and peace, we will never drown.  We will always know that Jesus is never asleep at the wheel. It is then that we will realize that Our Lord’s apparent silence is never indifference but rather a call to peace and trust.