But He Was Asleep

(736 words, 4 minutes read time.)

? An Early Meditation ?
Written several years ago and shared for the first time.

They came and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?” ….
The men were amazed and said,
“What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and the sea obey?”

(Matthew 8:23-27 NIV)

The Sea of Galilee was known for its tumultuous storms that left as quickly as they came.  This day, the disciples were on board a boat with Jesus, and a storm violently threatened to overtake them. No wonder they were frightened out of their minds, for they had not yet fully grasped that He was the Messiah and the Son of God. They said, “What sort of man is this?” They were terrified for their lives, not yet believing that anyone could command the forces of nature. This was beyond human power to change!

Yet they did call upon this little sleeping Man in the boat. In their terror, they cried out to Him. In their trembling fear, they turned to Him as their only hope. They were shocked when He calmed the forces of nature. This exceeded what they were yet able to believe.

Was Jesus really asleep?  Many believe He was well aware of all that was occurring and wanted to use these trials, as He uses all trials to teach us truths about Himself.

These disciples had not yet fully grasped Jesus’ Divinity. Yet even though we profess faith in Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, how often do we feel we’re capsizing under the weight of violent life trials?  Our hearts scream, “Lord, save me!” He is no farther away than our very hearts. He holds the whole world and our very being in existence. He causes the stars to shine at night and the sun to illumine the day. Yet we sink in fear that what we face is too much for God, forgetting for a moment His power and His love. Our faith can be tested so severely!

Ponder all the holy work the Lord works through our trials — the holy virtue muscles He is building in faith and trust.  Faith and trust become our ladder to Heaven. We must be strong in the Lord, and He will use every life experience to show us how weak or strong we are, moving us to reach out to Him, depend on Him more, and be stretched through deep waters. 

If we were never tested, we could go on with limp muscles and find ourselves falling from lack of strength.  “The Lord uses trials to strengthen virtues that might otherwise remain weak.” We need wake-up calls, and we ought to be grateful to the Lord for always building us up. The Lord knows precisely all our weak points and how to draw us back to Himself. He wants nothing but to bring us close to Himself and hold us where He can lavish His love and grace on us and share His Divinity and the graces of Heaven. 

The Lord is closest to us in darkness and suffering, in the storms of life. His love for us is most powerfully revealed from the Cross, where He embraces us on the opposite side of His Cross, with our place rightly on the empty side, sharing in united suffering.  His pierced Heart unceasingly pours out love and grace to wash our souls in purification and sanctification. We would remain lost and helpless if not for the Merciful Savior and Redeemer of our souls. We would be lost in the dark abyss if He had not opened the gates of Mercy and Heaven to us.  So great is His love; after humanity shut the doors in Eden and by our countless falls, He opens the Heavenly gates again.  He longs to live in our hearts and embrace us in eternity.  He created us to be one with Him, to have and to hold Him all our days.

Remember who holds your life and the world together the next time storms come crashing around you.  Remember whose love beats for you.  Amen.

“The Lord himself

goes before you and will be with you;

he will never leave you nor forsake you.

Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

(Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV)