Everyone who grew up attending the church’s Sunday school is probably familiar with the song, “With Christ in my vessel.” The lyrics say:
With Christ in my vessel I can smile at the storm
Smile at the storm, smile at the storm
With Christ in my vessel I can smile at the storm
Until he guides me home
Sailing, I’m sailing home!
Sailing, I’m sailing home!
With Christ in my vessel I can smile at the storm
Until he guides me home
We have probably sung this chorus when we were young kids, securely under the loving care of our parents and church family.
And our understanding of the “storm” was probably limited to the sudden squall that would hit a seafaring vessel just like the narrative of Mark. (Mark 4:35-41).
Jesus Calms the Storm (Mark 4:35-41)
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Our progressive understanding of the “storm”
As we grew up, our understanding of the “storm” has widened. We know that the “storm” of life is not merely experiencing it on the seas as Mark narrated but it is the trials that we face in our lives.
We have come to the mature understanding that the storms of life are:
- Varied and they come in many forms;
- They come in stages;
- They come in waves;
- They sometimes linger;
Thus, singing the chorus now as adults, we might have varying degrees of confidence on what the lyrics say and mean to us.
The storms of life that we have experienced and how much we have given in faith and total surrender to the presence and power of Jesus Christ would determine whether or not we could really and confidently “smile at the storm.”
Perhaps we have sung and taught “With Christ in my vessel” to our children to assure them.
Then with their child-like faith, the simple faith we have had before when we were as young as them, they would smile and sleep well because they simply believe that “Jesus Christ will guide us home.”
How the Lord Jesus tests our faith
In the Scripture passage above, we focused on a small boat in a big sea, tossed by a furious squall.
We read in Mark 1:16 that Jesus, while walking beside the Sea of Galilee invited Simon and Andrew who were fishermen, to come with him and fish for men.
Now, if we go back to the preceding verses and chapters, the disciples have been going around with Jesus, witnessing miracles, listening to His sermons, reflecting and learning about the Kingdom of God through parables.
1. Trial comes when we don’t expect it at all
So, when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side” (Mark 4:35).
The disciples thought that it was just another routine trip with Jesus. Nobody thought that the invitation was a moment for testing.
Yes, the trial comes when we least or don’t expect them at all. Trials come when all is calm and working out smoothly according to what we’ve planned.
The testing of our faith comes when we thought we have known a lot about God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit and we feel confident and invincible.
Like the disciples, their test of faith came when they thought they knew everything about Jesus. They were so comfortable and felt like it was “just another day at the office” with Jesus. It wasn’t.
2. Trial comes in our most familiar place and situation
The disciples, four of them were fishermen, were familiar with the Sea of Galilee. Despite this familiarity, the sea commanded a great amount of respect. They know that the sea can be a chaotic place and could render their navigational skills useless.
Yes, the testing of our faith comes in our most familiar place, a place we thought we are the master and could easily achieve success.
However, like the disciples, we will be tested to the point where we have exhausted all our expertise and nothing happens.
The only option is to humbly confess to God our incapability to overcome the trial at hand and plead for the intervention of our Saviour.
How do we face our faith challenge
We read that while the disciples are fearful for their very lives as the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped, Jesus rests in the stern, sleeping comfortably upon the cushion (Mark 4:37-38).
Wow, Jesus was sleeping confidently amid the on-going chaos. How cool can that be. 🙂
For a person who has done miracles and wonders, driven demons, talked confidently about the Kingdom of God, would you expect him to join the panic party that the disciples are going through? Of course not.
Fearing for their lives, the disciples woke up Jesus and asked, ““Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
The disciples thought that Jesus doesn’t care about them. Really?
The man whom they saw caring for the sick, the outcast, and sinners would not care for the people he invited to be his disciples? Surely, they are on the Master’s VIP list.
Contrary to our humanistic and materialistic point-of-view, resting in faith and trusting in God’s power to deliver us from our trials isn’t an “I don’t care” or “none of my business attitude” or fatalistic attitude.
Jesus has trust in his own parables or in other words, he practices what he preaches. He has faith that nothing bad will befall them on that trip. His confidence is anchored on the redemption plan that God the Father has laid out.
We need to be peaceful and be focused on what Jesus can do
In times of trial, the Lord Jesus Christ wanted us to be calm and instead of focusing on what we can do, we need to focus on what Jesus can and would do on the situation that we are in.
Time and again, from one trial to another, our can-do and human attitude of being in charge of our lives make us lose our focus on what he is trying to do. Too, often we even neglect to give Him our utmost attention.
In my previous reflection, “2 Steps to Conquering Our Fears in this Covid-19 Lockdown Moment” one of the causes of fear in us is when we find out that we are not in control of our moment of trial.
Actually, focusing and waiting patiently on what Jesus can do is a very exciting faith activity. “Hope” is the term for it.
Romans 8:24-25 says:
24 We were saved, and we have this hope. If we see what we are waiting for, that is not really hope. People do not hope for something they already have.
25 But we are hoping for something we do not have yet, and we are waiting for it patiently.
We must ask God to calm the storm instead of asking him to steer the boat
Clearly, as their familiarity or expertise demanded, the disciples struggled to steer the boat through the storm. Realising that things aren’t working right despite exhausting all their seamanship they turned to the calm and sleeping, Jesus.
However, instead of helping them steer the vessel, Jesus Christ stood up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm (Mark 4:39)
Jesus Christ offered the ultimate supernatural and holistic solution to the problem. He addressed the root problem. Calming the storm is something that only Jesus can do.
Let us ask Jesus to calm the storm before us
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our lives and causing fear in us. To prevent the spread of the disease, our government has imposed a lockdown.
We were told to stay home. We can only go out to buy our essential needs. We are also able to take a walk around our immediate locale and must observe social distancing.
Over and above the possibility of getting the disease, loss of job and opportunities, it is the uncertainty of the future that is causing us to be more afraid.
Maybe shifting down to Alert Level 3 on 28th April gives us a sense of optimism that things are getting better.
However, deep inside our hearts, we know that things will never be the same again. And this uncertainty generates fear in many of us.
Like what Jesus did to the storm in the Sea of Galilee, we plead for Jesus to rebuke COVID-19.
Let us ask him to command our fears to be: “Quiet! Be still!
Then let us keep on smiling boldly at the storm until He guides us home!
BACKGROUND IMAGE CREDIT: By Ludolf Bakhuizen – [1], Public Domain, Link
[…] For faith to form a solid foundation, it must pass through many tests. In our previous posts, we have talked about the COVID-19 pandemic as our faith-defining moment. We have learned that with Jesus, we can smile boldly at the storm. […]