Matthew 8:24

Matthew 8:24 - Without warning, a furious storm came upon the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.

This is an amazing story. Jesus is tired. He has been ministering all day, healing the sick and teaching all who will listen. He’s exhausted. As He gets in the boat with His disciples to cross over the lake He immediately goes below deck and lays down. It doesn't take long before Jesus is fast asleep.

Normally it wouldn't be a problem for Jesus to be sleeping on the boat. In fact, it probably happened quite often. Jesus disciples were fully capable of getting their boat from one side of the lake to the other. A few of them grew up on the water as they were fishermen before Jesus called them.

Knowing that these men were skilled boaters is what makes this next part so intense. “Without warning a furious storm came upon the lake.” Now you know this couldn’t have been a normal storm because all these fishermen thought they were going to die. They had worked to try to keep the boat afloat and were now ready to throw in the towel.

Fear clouded their vision and they couldn't understand why or how Jesus was still sleeping. So they woke Him. Instead of joining in their fear and worry about the storm Jesus actually seemed annoyed, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” He said. It’s like He was saying, “Haven’t you figured it out yet? When you are with me you don’t have to worry.”

We then watch as Jesus gets up and rebukes the storm and it calms down. His disciples are then humbled and amazed. They are not sure what to think.

So many times when we are going through something we do as the disciples did and panic. We run around in fear and ask Jesus why He could be so calm when we are all going to ‘die’. What we need to do is go and sit with Jesus, or even lay down with Him. When we are with Jesus we will be able to be at rest through the storm.