Facing Uncertainty
The Weekly Walk by Dr. James McDonald
And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold,
there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped
by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, "Save
us, Lord; we are perishing." And he said to them, "Why are you
afraid, O you of little faith?" Matthew 8:23-26
Why didn’t somebody tell me earlier in my life that I can’t
fix everything? I thought that with due diligence, everything can get
resolved. If there were things up ahead that concerned me, I could just
make a plan to solve them. In time, I could have it all figured out and
then set the automatic “good life” pilot and let it take over.
It’s only more recently that I have grasped that life will never
be “together” this side of eternity. It’s hard to accept
sometimes that perfect is only for heaven.
There will always be people problems. There will always be financial
challenges.
There will always be a home burden, or a crisis of some kind. Every day
I live in this world, there will always be some uncertainty ringing my
doorbell.
So much for my assumption that if you worked hard enough, eventually
everything would be sorted out, categorized, and put neatly on the shelf.
I have never gotten to that day and what’s more, I now know it’s
never coming.
In Matthew 8:23–24, we land in Jesus’ life on a day that
perfectly illustrates the imperfections of human existence. “When
he got into the boat, His disciplines followed him. And behold, there
arose a great storm.” In the original language, the two words great
storm can be translated to mega and seismic. As in, And behold, there
arose a mega seismic on the sea, so that the boat was consumed by the
waves. It’s worth remembering that this description comes from Matthew,
one of the disciples who wasn’t a fisherman. He had the terrified
layman’s perspective on this storm!
I have a few questions about that whole scene:
1. Did Jesus not check the Weather Channel? He totally knew that storm
was coming yet He led them right into it. Get in the boat, boys. He knowingly
took them into harm’s way.
2. Could Jesus have stopped the storm before it started? Sure He could
have but He let the storm come.
3. So is it true to say that He wanted the storm? I think we could surmise
that He was actually looking forward to how He was going to use the storm
in the disciples’ lives.
Let’s get our theology straight. Sometimes Jesus disguises exciting
opportunities for personal growth as difficult circumstances. We would
choose to avoid trials at all costs, but Jesus sees the bigger picture. |
