He Carries Us

When he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” (Matthew 8:23–27 ESV)

During the past several months, my husband and I have walked through a long list of difficult situations—personal theft, car problems, the passing of two of our beloved dogs, and more. For a time it felt as if we were in the middle of a massive storm, in a small, rickety boat. Dark clouds raged above while gale-force winds blew. The winds didn’t relent; instead they became stronger. The boat swayed from side to side and water started seeping in. As fast as humanly possible, we tried to get the water out of the boat, but we couldn’t keep up with the intake. The water just seemed to come faster, and our efforts to keep it out seemed fruitless.

Does this sound like the season you’ve been enduring? Every new problem and circumstance weighs the boat down more, causing it to take on more water. It feels as though we are about to sink. We are trying to keep our heads above water.

Just like the disciples in Matthew 8, we cry out to the Lord, asking him to save us. We shout at him, scream and yell, thinking we must wake him up. We think, He must not be aware we’re sinking, because if he did, surely he would save us.

When we’re going through a storm, we may think Jesus is asleep or unaware of our situation. We may catch ourselves saying, “Doesn’t he realize what we’re going through down here?” We find ourselves trying to rouse him, asking him to save us. We probably think we need to tell him everything he’s been missing. “Jesus, do you know the hell I’ve been going through? Did you see that person hurt me? Did you see I got fired from my job? Did you see I have been struggling with addiction? Do you understand my pain?”

Jesus is never unaware of our circumstances. He is in the boat with us. He sees, hears, and feels everything we are going through.

We don’t need to awaken Jesus. We need to awaken our faith.

Here’s the thing: Jesus is never asleep. It may feel that way as we go through the storms in our lives, but he is aware of our circumstances and our needs. There’s no need to believe we need to awaken him in the storm. Instead, we need to awaken our faith in him, in his ability to carry us safely to shore, even if the journey across the water is fraught with tragedy.

Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:19 (NLT), “Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear. For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.” The answer is right there—“Cling to your faith.” Jesus is your lifesaver. Hold on tight and don’t let go. Your faith in Jesus will carry you through the storms.

Lauren Clark lives in Dallas, Texas, where she moved 5 years ago to be closer to family and help plant a church (Shoreline Dallas). She has been married to Sean Clark for over seven years and they have six dogs and one horse. Lauren’s passion is sharing God’s love for us through personal stories while relating them to practical biblical truths that bring life, love, freedom, and encouragement to every area of our lives. Read more from Lauren at LaurenJoyClark.com.

Photograph © Anna Goncharova, used with permission