Today's gospel is one that most Bible readers can easily recall. Each of us, no doubt, have had those moments when we have felt like the apostles trying to make their way across a stormy sea. Fear. Hesitation. Questions.
We live in a world that daily puts before us troubled waters. Most of us, I suppose, have those moments when we wonder what life would be like without the pains and fears that various situations in our lives seem to rob us of the calm we would like, the peace we would cherish.
Are not these the moments when Jesus just might be speaking to us: "Why are you so frightened? Is your faith so weak?" In those moments where is that faith that we have professed so many Sundays? What does our trust in the Lord actually mean to us?
"Have you taken the time to seriously consider what it means "to place my trust in Jesus"? It is in the powerful prayer, "Jesus, I place my trust in you" that we find ourselves invited to let Jesus take the tiller of our own little boat which seems buffeted and overwhelmed by storms.
This photo may well express how we feel at times in our contemporary tossed seas. Seeing such a sight, I wonder how I could ever control such a situation. It happens so often, however, that in the hours and days after my "storms" that I realize I did not need to doubt that God was not with me. It was God, without any doubt, that helped me survive the storms. Perhaps, if I take the time to reflect peacefully during and after such "storms," I will realize that all the while I allow circumstances to bounce my little boat, Jesus was there with me.
So, isn't it truly a matter of surrendering? Isn't it the need for me and you to surrender our lives to trust in Jesus, especially when the waves tower over me/us? And, as we look back on storms weathered, isn't it then that we do recognize who was seeking to support us with his love, his strength?
Being a true believer is never easy!
