Hey friend.

A couple weeks ago, our Sunday texts were about Jesus in the boat with the disciples, in the storm. And about Paul telling the church in Corinth about the ways he’d persevered:  “in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness.”

The disciples in that story had said, “Don’t you care if we drown.”

But Paul knew, like the disciples learned, that the Jesus in the boat is, well, Jesus, a person who knows and loves us, in the boat with us.

The way Jesus responded to the storm was to speak to it.  To remind the disciples that the one who told stories could use those words to stop storms. That makes the stories more powerful, that gives the stories weight.

So when a voice that can stop waves says, “Love one another”, it’s not a suggestion. It’s a doable command.

When a voice that can stop winds says, “I am with you always,” it’s not a possibility, it’s a promise.

But the promise isn’t to stop every storm, to heal every illness, to reverse every death. The promise is to be with us.

And one last thing.

When the disciples accused Jesus of not paying attention, Jesus didn’t toss them out of the boat. He could have.

He didn’t let the boat sink and start over with new disciples. He could have.

Jesus stopped the wind and the waves and kept working with the same disciples. Still sitting in a boat full of water. To remind them that there had been a real storm before the real miracle.

Whatever our storm today, Jesus is aware. With us.

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See 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 and Mark 4:35-41