Safe in the storm

Introduction

There are different storms, with strong winds always coming from one direction or with changing winds. There are dry storms, rainy storms, snowstorms and I think we have all experienced various storms.

I even experienced a very small tornado as a child.

We don't usually like storms, at most we find it cosy when we're somewhere indoors and the storm is outside.

I also remembered a story from Struwelpeter that I read a lot as a child, the story of Flying Robert, which begins like this:

But this Robert goes out anyway in this story and is then caught by the wind, carried through the air and blown away.

Today you probably wouldn't read something like that to children because they are outside too little rather than too much, but I can still remember as a little boy looking up at the sky a few times in strong winds to see if Robert wasn't flying past somewhere.

In some storms, in large tropical cyclones - so-called hurricanes - there is a relatively windless area in the centre, the so-called eye.
This eye is very treacherous because the hurricane moves as a whole and the strongest wind speed is at the edge of the eye.

In the past, people in the eye often thought that the storm was over and they left their safe shelter and then the storm returned with a vengeance.

Let's just come to the

Meaning of the storm

Matthew 14, 24; New Testament

This storm in our Bible text naturally has a symbolic meaning for us today.

It stands for circumstances that we cannot control and that threaten us or that we find threatening.

What circumstances threaten us, what can we not control, where do we lose control, what do we not have under control, what frightens us?

There is perhaps the illness that has become chronic, or simply old age, where you realise that you are increasingly restricted in your movement.

Or we have become unemployed or are threatened with unemployment and we are no longer the youngest and older people are not so readily employed.
Or you work in a job that is no longer in demand and you realise that.

Perhaps we have simply become bitter about our lives and mourn missed opportunities that will never come again.

Or we are disappointed by friends and relatives. You have been involved with people for so long, you have looked after them, been there for them and nothing seems to come back and then you are perhaps even lonely.

There are many such storms that scare us, that almost capsize our boat of life.

As a Christian, we would prefer to live in the eye of the storm and that the storm always moves in such a way that we are always in the centre of the calm eye.

We then see around us how the non-believers are whirled around and call out to them: Come to Jesus, then you will also be here in the eye of the storm and you will have peace and quiet and everything will be all right.

But unfortunately, it is not the case that we always live in the eye of the storms of our lives.

It is of course right to point others to Jesus Christ, but the same thing can happen to us as to the disciples, namely that our boat of life is already shaking and threatening to sink.

You can't always avoid these storms.

We can't always sit in the cosy, Christian parlour during every storm, just like Flying Robert from Struwelpeter was told to do.

We have no influence on the occurrence of most storms and sometimes - before we know it - we feel a strong headwind and have to deal with it.

However, the title of this impulse is not "Downfall in the storm" but "Safe in the storm" and we can

Safety in Jesus

have.

We have already realised that this security does not mean that there are no more storms.

And we also realise that the community of disciples is not enough here.

It is good that the disciples are together in this storm and can help each other. If one were alone in such a storm, that would certainly be terrible.

In the same way, we have a community where we can support and help each other, because we are not alone.

But the community of people is not enough to weather the various storms of life. We have certainly all experienced situations where no one else can help us.

Therefore, a church thatonly sees itself as a community of people is not enough.

We need Jesus Christ and he comes here across the water to the disciples.

And that is the first consolation:

No storms, no circumstances can prevent Jesus Christ from coming to us when we need him.
He can even walk on water.

Sometimes that can also be frightening:

"We need not be afraid", neither of him nor of the storm; I believe this is a lesson we must learn throughout our lives.

Jesus makes sure that our boat of life does not sink.

This does not mean that we are sailing through the storms of our lives in a glass bell jar, but the disciples' boat will certainly be in need of repair in some places the next day.

Some parts were simply too broken to withstand the storm and have now broken completely. Another part was perhaps already too old and rotten and then broke in the storm.

What about our lifeboat?

Does our faith consist of broken elements, of self-made images of God and ethics that we have knitted ourselves?

Or do we regularly scrutinise ourselves using the Bible and sermons and devotions so that broken parts of our lives can be put right again?

Is our faith alive and fresh, or do we live faith only from the memory of times perhaps long past?

A storm like this can quickly reveal how lively and genuine our faith is, which is probably why God allows so many storms in our lives, so that we realise for ourselves what is going on with our faith.

I don't know why some people have to endure very severe storms and other people less severe ones, I only know that God does not make mistakes. And it is certainly not the right way to ask why me and why someone else doesn't, that can only lead to bitterness, but it is right to call out in the storm:

Lord Jesus, help me.

And Jesus Christ is there:

"Don't be scared!" he shouted. "It's me. You need not be afraid."