My friend Kyler once tweeted something that really made me stop and think. He tweeted, “You already know He walks on waves, so why are you fighting Him through the storms?” So often we lose sight of the fact that the waves and wind still know His name, or that He walks on water. Our savior is THAT powerful. But when storms start, it’s difficult to see through it all. The rain is hitting you so hard that you can’t feel anything anymore, the water keeps rising and you can’t stay afloat, and the roar of the thunder is deafening. What is your faith like in the midst of the storm?

I often find myself going to Matthew 14:22-33, the story of Jesus walking on water. Jesus started towards the boat at three in the morning, the darkest hour of the night. In your darkest hour, wouldn’t you feel so relieved to see Jesus walking towards you? You’d think so, but His disciples didn’t even recognize Him- they thought it was a ghost. They were terrified. When you think about it, it’s not uncommon for us to be scared when we see that God is about to do something. We panic when the unexpected happens. For instance, the disciples weren’t expecting to see a man walking on water, much less have it be Jesus. They freaked out. But in verse 27, Jesus tells them not to be afraid. Peter then says “Lord, if it’s You, command me to come to You on the water.” So Jesus commands him to start walking. (“Oceans,” anyone?) Peter climbs out of the boat and starts walking on the water toward Jesus. His complete focus is on Jesus and nothing is distracting him from the Lord. But as soon as he breaks that focus and notices his surroundings, Peter starts sinking. How often does this happen to us? And how often do we find ourselves crying out to Him, just like Peter, saying, “Lord, save me!” It’s often. Because the moment we take our eyes off the Lord is the moment we start sinking. Jesus immediately reached out his hand and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” We’re asked this question as well. Our Lord walks on water and we doubt. I doubt. And then we worship, just like the disciples in the boat did when Jesus and Peter returned. They worshipped Him saying, “Truly You are the Son of God!” Of course He’s the Son of God. Who else could do that?

In the midst of the storm, we sometimes also forget that He commands the waves and wind. Water and wind are two of the most destructive forces of nature on the planet, but they still know His name. In Mark 4:35-41, we see Jesus’ authority over the waves and wind. Jesus and His disciples are on a boat crossing to other side of the sea when all of a sudden, a ferocious storm starts brewing. The wind is knocking them all around and the waves are swamping their boat. And Jesus is sleeping through all of this. His disciples start freaking out (again) and wake up Jesus. Jesus rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” And it did. It’s so amazing how He does that for us in our lives- He has this amazing ability to calm the storms inside of us and put our worries to rest. Jesus then turned to His disciples and asked a question we’ve heard before: “Why are you fearful? Do you still have no faith?” Do we really think that the man who walks on water and calms raging seas can’t get us through this tough season of our life? or provide? Why is our faith so small when our God is so big?

In the midst of the storm, the Lord is right beside you. He can walk on the waves and calm the wind and raging seas. Sometimes the thunder can seem too loud and the flood waters too high, but there is nothing He can’t or won’t get you through. We just need to have faith and keep our focus on HIM. He walks on waves, so we don’t have to fight Him through the storms.