What Manner of Man is This?

Picture by Ted Henninger

What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

Long ago, when my children were afraid of the dark, I wrote a song about the story of Jesus sleeping on the ship while the giant waves, blown by a rough wind, filled the boat with water and threatened to sink it.  

The disciples. Jesus’ friends.  Were afraid.

  Did they not have reason to fear?

Even if they could swim – could they swim in such waves and survive?

Boats don’t float once they are full of water. And the rain, wind and waves were filling the boat faster than they could throw the water back into the sea!

Are our lives not the same sometimes?  

Don’t we have reason to fear?

This “thing” we have to deal with, no matter what it is, is surely our storm.

We may feel like we don’t really know how to swim, and that the boat already sank, and how in the world are we going to make it through the storm?

Doesn’t it seem a little like Jesus is asleep, forgetting that we only know the doggie paddle and we are getting ever so tired?

How can we find Jesus in the storm anyway?  And is it even worth trying?  

Maybe doggie paddling until we finally give up and sink is as good as it gets?

And if He loves us, won’t He come to us?

Where is His light in our darkness?

Back on the boat the disciples went to Jesus.  They woke Him up and said, 

“Lord, save us; we perish.”  

And what did He say?  Did He say, “I’m so sorry I was asleep and you were afraid?  

Or, “why didn’t you just tell the storm to go away?” 

 Nope.  

He said, “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?”

Doesn’t that seem harsh?  Wasn’t it obvious why they were afraid?  

Wouldn’t everyone be?  

Strangely, the answer must be no.  Not everyone would be afraid, but why?  

Is it because they swim better?  They have confidence they can swim until the end of the storm?  But have they thought about how far away the land might be?

It turns out, that even though we haven’t seen Jesus.

We are still His friends.  We have a chance to know the answer to the question.

“What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!”

We can know that He is with us in the ship, or on the journey, and during the whole of every storm.

What manner of man is this?

He is the one who saves.

He is the one who redeems.

He is the one who loves.

He is God

With us.

He can calm the the winds, and the waves,

Or He can calm us while they rage.

He can heal all of the wounds and hurts we have received,

And give us the confidence we lack.

He knows how to create a world,

And He knows how to shine a light in the darkest corners of our minds

To chase away the fear.

He is never the one condemning us for not getting things right,

Or for having what seems to us a harder time than anyone else.

He is never pointing His finger and laughing at us,

Or whispering things that make us feel small and alone.

He is not trying to keep truth away from us.

He is not hiding the things that will help us.

He is our Brother.

Our very Good Brother.

He is the one that says to us,

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name,

You are mine.”

(Isaiah 43:1)

Sometimes we cannot see Him in our darkness.

Sometimes we close our eyes, because we are afraid.

Afraid He won’t be there.

Afraid He won’t come.

Afraid He won’t help us when things are hard.

Afraid we are hopeless.

My dear Family and Friends

Please remember that our feelings of hopelessness, and worthlessness.

Our feeling that we are too stupid, or too foolish

Are not from Jesus.

Never ever from Jesus.

He is always reaching out with loving hands to help you find peace.

To help you see humor.

To help you know that, as His child, and the child of our Father,

You will never, ever be worthless.

Always, always,

Because of Jesus.

There is hope.