Today's Reflections
The Calming of the Storm at Sea
Mt 8:23-27
23[Jesus] got into a boat and his disciples followed him. 24Suddenly a violent storm came up on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by waves; but he was asleep. 25They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26He
said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” Then he
got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm. 27The men were amazed and said, “What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”
HE WAS ASLEEP. Gary Valenciano croons, “Natutulog ba ang Diyos?”
(“Is God asleep?”). We ask the same question when swamped with life’s
problems and difficulties, at times leading us almost to despair. Taken
to a detention center in Laur, Nueva Ecija, without his family’s
knowledge, the late Senator Ninoy Aquino feared that God might be fast
asleep, and his enemies might just dispose of him.
A
sudden violent storm comes upon the disciples in the Sea of Galilee,
frightening these sturdy men, some of whom are experienced fishermen.
They have no one to turn to but Jesus—and he is fast asleep! They wake
him to save them. Jesus reproves them for their little faith, and then
rebukes the winds and the sea. A great calm then ensues.
Jesus’
majestic command echoes the order of the Creator God whom the winds and
the sea obey. When we have faith in God and learn to entrust everything
to his will, especially when our “boat” is being tossed, we realize
that the tempest before us is nothing to be afraid of. We turn to the
Lord who banishes our fear and anxiety. Jesus is “Immanuel,” God who is
with us. Trusting in his presence, we have the confidence of the
Psalmist who prays, “Whenever I lay down and slept,/ the Lord preserved
me to rise again” (Ps 3:6).
God never sleeps!
Maybe we are the ones who have so little faith.
No comments:
Post a Comment