"All afloat or going under?" 2nd Sunday Before Lent -

I don't travel well at times. I look back and realise how bad my fear of flying was at one stage and now I smile a little at the methods used to get back on a plane. Even now having travelled to Australia and Kenya in my post fear of flyings state, I never fully relax on a plane and it is a means to an end.

Smooth boat crossings or a plane take off without bumps is just about acceptable, but the slightest bit of a wave or turbulance and i clutch the arm rests and pray and in my mind i realise how unnatural this travel lark is.

In the calmer moments I am happy to acknowledge that God is with me, but, I can identify with the disciples who are all out at Sea when the storm strikes and they panic. On one truely horrific flight I was rather loud in calling to our Lord for help but thankfully I didnt have a collar on at that time and the screams of the other passingers covered my rather loud cry. From that flight, I realised yet again that it is amazing how like the disciples we quickly  forget that the one who created the wind and the waves is in the boat, and when we try our own means fear takes over.

The disciples are ever so slightly cross that Jesus is happily asleep and not concerned with their circumstances. They are big burley fishermen who don't scare at too much and they have probably seen mighty waves, but something about this storm is different. It seems as if all hell is battering the little boat and they are doomed. Maybe as one looks to another, the eyes of the disciples  show the fear around that they individually have been trying to contain. Maybe they hope he will awake and they will be fine, but still he slumbers. Maybe they mutter, 'how can he sleep through all this'. Then  almost involuntarily someone calls out'We are going under Jesus and don't you care?'

I wonder how often we ask is God really concerned in the plight we find ourselves in? Does it seem like the creator is asleep in the back of the boat whilst we are being buffetted about in the midst of the storms of life. Maybe, one moment we are on the top of the wave only to be plunged with speed into the trough  and it seems that the waters will engulf us and we will go under.  

Like those in the little boat, fear is felt in the midst of the stomagh and we want to cry out Lord save us. But is there any point? 'He is asleep...... or maybe not there at all'. Lets face it, believing in a God who never lets us fall from the hollow of his hands is easy when everything is fine, but what about when the storms are there and it feels as if all that we are and know will be pulled from his hands.  For the disciples there was a lesson for them about faith. They couldn't face the storms of life when Christ was present but asleep, so how could they cope when he would return to his Father's side. 

It is easy to believe in a God when things are going well, but when things are difficult, should we stop believing? The disciples forgot that the creator of the wind and waves was with them in the boat and whether he was awake or asleep it was his voice that brought creation into being, therefore was he threatened by a little storm? Could he who could walk upon the waters also be engulfed by them?

Life can throw many things at us and whether good or bad. It is easy to believe in God when things are fine - but faith is also about the bad days and faith is holding on to God when there is nothing to hold on to.  It is easy to believe in God when everything is nice and easy, but what when thingss are not as good?We can call out Lord save us or where are you God - but He has promised never to leave us and assures us that nothing can separate us from the Love of Christ. 

When my faith gets weak, and at times i doubt or question where God is, the Psalms help me but also the Poem 'Footprints in the Sand'  reminds me that sometimes in the midst of the darkness I need to look back and see how God has been in the past, how he has been with me and to remember that it is God who carries me especially in those dark days when I am unable to carry myself. I am also reminded of those wonderful words "my precious child, i love you and would never leave you, during those times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that i carried you."

The Storms of life happen, so be prepared to get tossed about and recognise that it isn't always plain sailing, but know that Christ is with us and it is he who will keep us afloat and afterwards lead us to glory.