Jesus had been speaking to a vast crowd all day. He was exhausted. The crowds wanted more, but all Jesus wanted to do was sleep.

Jesus was speaking from a boat some way out in the water. Going back to land, would mean he would have to engage with the crowd and press his way through. The crowd would follow wherever he went. Getting away would be difficult. To rest Jesus would have to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, Gentile land, where they were strangers; a place of mountains, tombs and pig herders, where Jesus’ disciples would be afraid.

We need sleep, fun, food and fellowship, time out from our jobs and opportunities to relax. If we don’t having proper rest and holidays, we become physically and mentally ill. When ill, afraid, exhausted and in pain it is difficult to live faith filled lives and Jesus seems distant. We need to be like Jesus who took time out to rest and pray, and not like the demanding crowd.

It was evening. Soon a violent windstorm arose. Fishing boats used by Galilean fishermen had low sides so men could cast and draw in their fishing nets. They would have been easily battered by the wind and 20 ft waves. The boat would soon be swamped.

Windstorms are noisy. Waves beating on the side of the boat would cause it to rock dangerously easily throwing the men out or turning it over. We saw and heard the destructive ferocity of Storm Eunice this week, uprooting trees, ripping roofs off buildings and blowing Lorries over.

The sea can be a wonderful place to relax but we can never control it. In windy weather it can be brutal, not just to those sailing, but also to the land it batters causing erosion of cliff tops with houses and people being swept away.

Fishermen and lifeboat rescuers have dangerous jobs. Many lose their lives as they attempt to bring us fish and rescue those who have been careless. Holiday makers are drowned because they do not understand our tides, or get out of depth.

Most of those lost in our seas over the last few years have been refugees who have set out in overloaded, inflatable dinghies. What fear they must suffer! Fear they will never see loved ones again, fear their journey will be wasted, fear they and their families will drown; fear they will have nowhere to go if they reach the shore or are sent back, fear of racism and prejudice.

The disciples, including the four who were fishermen were terrified. Jesus, incredibly, remained asleep in the stern of the boat, where possibly, they expected him to be steering.

Fear is a powerful emotion. We all experience fear of loss, the unknown, pain, death, hostility; some fear Moslems and refugees. We were afraid of the horrors that might await us if we caught COVID 19 and as Russian troops amass on the Ukrainian border, many fear another World War. Many fear poverty and not being able to pay their bills as inflation rises. Fear can either motivate us to act or paralyze us.

Fear of two kinds is present in our text. The disciples suffered sheer terror at being confronted with power far stronger than themselves, indifferent to their lives.

Sometimes the sea of life is rough and we are sinking. Each of us could tell a storm story. Some begin with a phone call, a doctor’s visit, or news we did not want to hear. Some start with choices we have made, our mistakes, and sins. Other stories tell of difficult relationships, hopes and plans that fell apart, or the struggle to find our way. Some storms arise out of nowhere and take us by surprise. Other storms build and brew as we watch.

Storms happen; storms of loss, sorrow, suffering, and confusion, storms of failure, loneliness, disappointment and regret, storms of depression and uncertainty.

Storms bring unwelcome changes. Life becomes overwhelming and out of control. Circumstances seem too much for us to handle. Order gives way to chaos. We are sinking. The water is deep and the new shore a distant horizon.

Jesus was unafraid of the chaos raging around him. In the face of certain death, Jesus slept soundly. So the disciples roused Jesus and shouted at him, so their voices were louder than the noise of the wind and the waves. “Master, master, we are perishing!”

We often don’t tell Jesus how afraid or angry we are. We should. “Does it matter to you Jesus that I am in pain, frightened and can’t feel your presence when I pray?” Honest, passionate cries of the heart show a longing for God’s presence and for him to act.

If God is so great, powerful, and caring why do awful things happen? The ready response is either God has no power, or God doesn’t care.

Sometimes our love and care cannot bring the healing our world needs. Rather than assuring his disciples that everything would be alright, Jesus turned toward the wind, waves, darkness and chaos that threatened to engulf them and rebuked the wind. He used the same rebuke when casting out demons because in the minds of ancient Jews the sea was thought to be where demons and other evil forces dwelt.

Jesus silenced dark powers, and forces of nature. Holy men drove out demons but only God could silence the wind and sea.

A great calm came over the sea. The terror of the storm was driven away. The wonderful order of creation was restored.

Jesus turned to his disciples and spoke for the first time since he’d fallen asleep. He asked, “Where is your faith?” The terror of the storm had gone but a different kind of fear had taken its place. Jesus wasn’t the person they thought he was. Their friend and teacher now seemed someone more distant; not like them at all. Awesome fear similar to the fear of the shepherds when they saw the angels led the disciples to ask, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” After all they had seen Jesus do they still did not know who he was.

When full of fatigue, fearful we are perishing, Jesus asks, “Where is your faith?”

If Jesus has power over the wind and waves he has power to bring change in our chaos. Sin, sickness and death will not have the final word. Jesus will.

He asks, “Why don’t you trust me in the darkness, when you feel overwhelmed and think you are sinking? Why do you try to rescue yourselves? Don’t you recognise that I the Lord of wind and sky are with you in your boat? Have faith in me.”

We can continue to live in the world of fear and chaos, seeing ourselves as alone without the power of God, living in a world controlled by the power of Satan and demonic forces or we can hear the message of King Jesus who offers a new future for our world and lives.

When the winds and waves threaten to overwhelm us Jesus speaks to the wind and the waves within. In the midst of the storm Jesus seemed absent, passive, uncaring. How could he sleep? Sleeping Jesus was in the same boat and storm as the disciples. He was surrounded by the same water, blown by the same wind, beaten by the same waves. His response, however, was different. While disciples fretted and worried he slept. The disciples wanted busyness and activity. Jesus slept in peace and stillness. His sleep reveals that the greater storm and threat is not the circumstances in which we find ourselves. The interior storm of fear, vulnerability, and powerlessness blows us off course, beats against our faith, and threatens to drown us. Too often anger, isolation, cynicism, or denial becomes our shelter from the storm.

Faith does not eliminate storms in our lives. It changes our focus, enabling us to know Jesus is with us, giving us peace.

The power of God is stronger than any wave that beats against us. The love of God is deeper than any water that threatens to drown us.