Devotions
Rev Gav
Trust
Luke 8.24-25
The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?”
Reflect
Jesus and his disciples were stranded in the middle of a huge lake when a storm descended and threatened to sink the boat. In a panic, the disciples woke Jesus who took control and commanded the storm to stop, which it did. Luke’s story ends with two questions that do not get answered, and the first, the one in today’s Bible Reading, was asked by Jesus, “Where is your faith?”
The disciples may have made a mistake in crying out that they were going to die, but they did the right thing by turning to Jesus, however, why does Jesus ask the disciples, “Where is your faith?” Is Jesus telling them off for not trusting in him all along? Is it a proof-text for the fact that if the disciples had faith then they would have been able to calm the storm themselves? No!
Here is a thing. Jesus does not ask his disciples where their faith is before he calms the storm. No, he asks them where their faith is after calming the storm. He does not ask the disciples, “Where was your faith?”, but asks, “Where is your faith?” In other words, where is your faith now I have just performed an incredible miracle?
I always imagined a grumpy Jesus, woken from his sleep, getting up, rebuking the wind and waves, and then snapping at his disciples, “Where’s your faith you bunch of bilge-sucking scallywags?” but this is not the case. Imagine Jesus calming the storm, then turning to his disciples, trying to supress a smile, and asking with a single, Spock-esque raised eyebrow, “Now where is your faith?”
Jesus rarely seemed to be interested in where people used to be, but where they are now. Jesus called the disciples to a deeper, trusting faith because he had revealed who he was, and the same question can be asked of us today. Where is your faith?
Even though you have seen and heard what Jesus has done, why does it still feel risky to put your faith in him?
Pray
Holy God
I trust you with everything;
my possessions,
my relationships,
and my life.
You are the Lord of all creation
and my trust is in you alone.
Give me the gift of faith
that I may never doubt
your love for me.
This day and forever.
and then