Ollie and the bible

Each night before bed we read out of the bible with our girls.  The other night we read this story and I've been thinking about it ever since.  Mark 4 in the New Testament.  Jesus and the disciples were on a boat in the sea of Galilee.  There was a giant storm, the boat was flooded and in danger of sinking.  All of the disciples were running around with buckets, trying to scoop out the water while they frantically tried to buckle their bright orange life vests. 

While all of this chaos was going on, Jesus was not on deck, but in the back of the boat...asleep on a pillow.  The disciples were terrified, just sure they had about three minutes left to live when they ran over to Jesus and shook him awake.  Master, don't you care that we're about to die?!?  they asked Him.  Valid question considering the circumstances.  All the poor disciples could see was water over them, water below them and water filling up the boat.  The only person that could save them was snoozing in the back on a pillow.

So Jesus woke up, looked at the boat, looked at the sky and the storm and with authority over all of these things commanded the sea, "Peace, be still."  Immediately the waves fell back into the sea, the winds blew out, there was calm and the sea was still.  Then Jesus turned to the disciples and asked them why they had been so afraid.  He told them while he was resting on his pillow, He had perfect faith that his safety wasn't threatened, so why didn't the disciples have that same faith?

The disciples turned to each other and asked, Who is this guy?
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I've been pondering on the questions the disciples and Jesus asked each other.

First, the disciples to Jesus, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?"  How many times have we asked God, Do you even care about me?  How can you just sit up there and watch what's going on down here, but do nothing about it?  I'm drowning in sorrow, debt, addiction, fear...carest thou not that I perish?

To answer their question, Jesus demonstrated His awesome power.  From a scene of chaos, fear and doubt, the Savior said, "Peace, be still."  Now I ask, how many times in our lives have we been in a situation that was chaotic, full of fear, doubt or sorrow?  When we turn to the Lord, he also answers us, "Peace, be still."  The waves my not immediately disappear.  Some things in this life we have to learn simply by going through them.  The winds may continue to blow but if we can stop for just a minute to feel that peace and realize that God has ALL power.  If it is His will, He CAN take away all of our sorrows, pain, grief, disappointment and shortcomings.  Thankfully though, He doesn't.  While these challenges are the very things that torment us, the are also the very things that cause us to cry out to our Savior for help.  In the immortal words of The Indigo Girls, "A curse and a blessing is one in the same, it's all such a treacherous game."

Jesus then asked the disciples why they didn't have perfect faith like He did.  I think the answer to that is simple.  We are human.  We are not perfect, therefore we can not have perfect faith. 

Finally, the disciples ask one last question.  "What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"  Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  He helped create you.  He gave His life for you.  He is aware of every wave that soaks you, of every gale force wind that knocks you off your feet.  He is the one that answers when you call.  He has the power to save you from your situation or provide you peace and the strength to endure.  I know this.

Of course I thought of Oliver and the Palmer family.  Oliver was rescued from the sinking boat.  The rest of the family remains to bail out the water, patch up the holes and rebuild from the trauma of the storm.  With all due respect to Ollie, I think he's the one that got the easy way out.  The brutal reality is that even though you are paralyzed with loss, somehow you have to keep sailing with a huge hole ripped through you while it seems the rest of the world is sailing by on a cruise ship smelling like carelessness and coconut tanning lotion.

I won't even pretend that I could give good advise on how to rebuild and keep on keeping on, but I do know this.  Jesus Christ has the power to provide peace, and He will.