+JMJ
The Miracles of the Calming of the Storm and Jesus Walking on Water
I moved this past week — and I hate moving.
Every time, I feel prepared… only to discover I am nowhere near as prepared as I thought. This move was especially stressful. We had only four days to be out of our apartment, a looming deadline, and an impending blizzard headed our way.
I was overwhelmed.
What if we didn’t finish in time?
What if we couldn’t get through the snowstorm?
What if we got stranded?
What if someone got hurt?
I am fairly certain I had a headache the entire time.
To be honest, I didn’t spend as much quiet time with Jesus as I normally do. Instead, I was running around inside the whirling storm of my own anxiety.
It was during this chaos that two Gospel miracles began speaking deeply to my heart.
On that day, as evening drew on, He said to them, “Let us cross to the other side.” Leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat just as He was. And other boats were with Him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind ceased and there was a great calm. Then He asked them, “Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” They were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”
Mark 4:35-41
You might think this is where I say Jesus calmed the “storm” of my move.
But that wasn’t the lesson this time.
The Lord was gently revealing my lack of faith, trust, and surrender.
One phrase in particular captured my attention:
“Just as He was.”
The disciples took Jesus into the boat just as He was.
I sat with those words all week.
Why would Scripture include that detail? Why did it matter? What was Jesus trying to show me?
“Just as He was” sounds so… ordinary.
And Jesus is anything but ordinary. He is magnificent. Sovereign. Almighty.
Yet the phrase lingered.
Jesus Walking On Water
Later in the week
It wasn’t until later in the week, while contemplating another Miracle, from Matthew, that things began to fall into place:
During the fourth watch of the night, He came toward them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once [Jesus] spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I: do not be afraid.” Peter said to Him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus But when he saw how [strong] the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught Him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did Him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”
Matthew 14:23-33
As I reflected on Jesus walking on the water, something clicked.
He was unhindered. Unencumbered. Unobstructed. He was completely free. “Just as He was.” Free.
Meanwhile, I was anything but free. I was weighed down by worry. Encumbered by anxiety. Obstructed by doubt. I was complicating everything.
Come
When Jesus said to Peter, “Come,” I heard those words personally:
“Come to Me.”
But I hadn’t.
Instead of coming to Him in trust, I stayed focused on the wind. I failed to recognize Him in the dark. Like Peter, I began to sink under the weight of my own fear.
Two questions from these Gospel passages pierced my heart:
“Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?” — Mark 4:40
“O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” — Matthew 14:31
The move, in reality, went smoothly. Everything worked out.
Which only made the lesson clearer:
Why did I doubt?
How often do I assume my circumstances won’t work out — when Jesus has proven His faithfulness again and again?
Faith In The Storm
Jesus stretches out His hand every time.
He saves me not only from external storms, but from the storm of my own complicated self — my overthinking, my anxiety, my lack of surrender.
“Just as He was” — Jesus shows up perfectly, powerfully, freely.
And I come “just as I am” — imperfect, anxious, distracted.
Yet He comes anyway.
He is never hindered by my weakness.
The real miracle was not that the storm ceased. It was that Jesus was present the entire time — whether I recognized Him or not.
May we learn to trust Him in our moving seasons, our deadlines, our blizzards, and our internal storms.
May we come to Him when He says, “Come.”
Thrive in Jesus, my friends!