Read: Luke 8:22-56

By: Pastor Travis Stamper

“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.” – Billy Graham

In Luke 8 we encounter one of my favorite stories in the gospels: the story of Jesus calming the storm. Take a minute and re-read Luke 8:22-25 before you finish this devotional.

As you read through this short story, you’ll notice Jesus only says two things to the disciples that are recorded here. First, He says, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” There is no argument or pushback from the disciples, they all just simply got into the boat and set out to the other side, but as they are traveling, Jesus fell asleep and a big storm arose and the boat appeared to be sinking!

The disciples went to Jesus and woke him up. You can feel how worried they were! They said, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” Jesus wakes up and simply rebukes the wind and the waters. The storm subsides and all was calm.

Jesus then turns to the disciples and says His only other recorded words in this passage. A simple question: “Where is your faith?”

Jesus had given the disciples the simple instruction on where they were going, and they believed, but all it took for their them to lose faith was for a storm to come up!

As I think about this story, I’m always challenged, and here’s why: There is nothing wrong with the disciples waking Jesus up to calm the storm. There is nothing wrong with me taking things to God in prayer. There is nothing wrong with praying to God when it feels like He’s sleeping in the midst of our problems. In fact, we NEED to do those things. But there is something wrong when I begin to lose faith and worry, every time something “rocks the boat” in my life.

So, here’s the question: How much is your faith dependent on your circumstances? When things are hard is faith hard for you? When it feels like you are sinking, when you get that diagnosis, when that relationship ends, when the bills stack up, when a child walks away from God, when the storm hits, does your faith wither?

Let’s understand, many of these disciples were fishermen by trade. They understood storms. But this was a real storm and they were in real trouble! What about you? What happens when real trouble hits your life or your family? Does peace leave? Does joy leave? Does rest leave?

Does faith leave?

Jesus wants you and me to face our storms and to still have peace. We have reason to because we are children of God! That doesn’t mean we won’t ever have difficult seasons and storms that seem outrageously hard, but we have to remember who’s in the boat with us! We have to remember who is above all!

We have a Father who loves us, who wants what is best for us! Let’s remember from Romans 8:31 that “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

I’d encourage you today to invite God into your storm. Don’t go in fear like the disciples did, but go, rather, in trust, knowing that the God on your side is greater than the storms that come against you.