Faith

I was reading in my Bible today in the eighth chapter of Luke. I came across the story where Jesus falls asleep on the boat, and a storm comes along. The boat begins to fill with water and the followers are afraid. They wake Jesus, yelling, "Master, we will drown!" Jesus wakes up, calms the wind and waves, and says, "Where is your faith?"

It really got me thinking. You know, if I had lived back then, seen what Jesus- God in flesh- could do every day, watched miracles, healings, resurrections... faith may not have been so hard. If I could touch His hand, then watch that hand heal the sick, if I could be there to see the waves subside and feel the wind die away, if I could hear His voice with my ears, speaking His truth and peace every day, then perhaps believing would be simple. For then I'd be believing in something tangible, something I could perceive with my senses. Yet, even those with Him, his closest followers, lacked faith to some degree. He asked even them, "Where is your faith?"

So I started thinking, even though they could see the miracles He did every day, why didn't they have the faith He expected of them? Perhaps because they lacked the same abilities to control the wind and waves, because their own power wasn't sufficient to heal every disease or return life to the dead at any time. Perhaps because even as they watched, they didn't understand the truth in what they were seeing, or grasp the magnitude of what they were experiencing. Perhaps they were looking for some power or authority of their OWN to believe in, rather than resting in the assurances and the authority of their God.

So what did Jesus mean when He asked, "Where is your faith?" Was he implying that they could have calmed the storm themselves? Was he saying that they were equal to Him in ability to perform miracles? Should I believe that I, in my own power, want to will a storm to end that I will have that ability? Now, don't get me wrong. I believe in the power of prayer. I believe that God can intervene in amazing ways. But in my own power, in my own authority, I can control nothing. Nothing at all. I have to believe that God is in control. Because the thing I DO know for certain is that my God will show up. Really, He's always been there anyway. I know that He wrote the story, and He controls the outcome. So if a storm comes, should I have faith that I can stop the storm? Personally, I don't think so. But I can rest in the faith that God will greet me on the other side of the waves. That He will hold my hand until the wind dies down. That something bigger and greater is lying on the other side of the rain clouds, and He will show it to me in His time. I don't have to pretend that I can stop the rain or calm the winds. I just have to believe that God will complete the work He started in me, and that because He has a plan for my life, and my future, I don't have to fear the storms that overtake me.