Don’t Panic

Mar 9, 2023

There are times when life brings circumstances that totally disrupt everything we know as normal.

Take for example, the day we received the diagnosis that Ken had cancer. Or the phone call that came while we were on a cruise in the Greek isles: My mother had just suffered a stroke, was paralyzed on one side, and could no longer live on her own.

These kinds of experiences can knock the wind out of us and at first, cause lots of angst. Maybe you can relate right now. Let’s look at what Jesus says in those situations. We read the account in Luke 8:22-25:

One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.

The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”

He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples.

In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”

- Luke 8:22-25

Every time I read that passage, a few things stick out to me. First of all, Jesus was with the disciples when the storm came on the lake. They were on the Sea of Galilee which is about 13 miles long at its longest, and 8 miles wide at its widest. One scholar speculates that the disciples may have been about 5 miles from shore. I’ve been on a boat on those waters, and you can see, off in the distance, the shore. In other words, it’s not like being in the middle of the ocean.

The second thing that I observe is that Jesus was sleeping. He wasn’t only with them, but as the storm came, Jesus slept undisturbed.

He was with them and rested at peace even in the midst of the storm.

The disciples were afraid of drowning and panicked telling Him He couldn’t do anything about their peril. His question to them was: “Where is your faith?”

Now I have to take a pause. In both of the situations I mentioned as I started today, my first response was to panic, take control, and try to navigate the news I’d received my way. But, like Jesus with the disciples out on the lake, I imagine Jesus has at times asked me the same question: “Pam, where is your faith?”

As we think about this passage, I’m reminded that Jesus is always with us.

We can know that He is holding us, so we can rest peacefully. If (and when) we start to panic and take control, we aren’t allowing Him to work. Oftentimes, it causes a lot more anxiety and wasted energy than if we would’ve trusted Him in the first place.

Friends, we are a mirror of Jesus. When trouble comes, our response shows people around us the depth of our faith. I don’t know what you’re facing today, maybe job loss, a health scare, or uncertainty of your future living arrangement.

Pay attention: You can trust and cry out to Jesus!

He’ll either rebuke the storm or give you comfort in it by His presence around you. I can attest that is true from the journey Ken and I continue to walk through. If you’ve been losing sleep lately, you don’t have to!