Faith Doesn’t Mean There Will Be No Storms

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In today’s Gospel, let us think about the background of some of the disciples for a moment. Who were some of them? Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen who had spent most of their lives on the Sea of Galilee. They knew the water. They knew storms. They knew what to do when the wind picked up. So when these men panic, we should pay attention. This wasn’t a little rain drizzling. This wasn’t a few waves splashing the side of the boat. The Gospel says the boat was being swamped by the waves. Imagine the water pouring into the boat. Everyone soaked. The boat rocking violently. The wind so loudly that they could barely hear each other. These were professionals, and even they thought they were going to die.

Then there is Jesus. Asleep. Honestly, that almost sounds impossible. How could anyone realistically sleep through that? Maybe that is exactly the point. The storm was real. The danger was real. But Jesus was not worried. Now, I sometimes wonder – and this is only my imagination, whether Jesus wanted to see what the disciples would do before they woke Him. The Gospel doesn’t say that, so we can’t be sure. But it does make me ask a question: When life gets rough, where do I turn first? Do I immediately turn to fear? To anger? To complaining? Or do I turn to Jesus?

The disciples finally wake Him with these words: “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” I actually love that prayer. It is short. It is honest. It is desperate. Sometimes we think our prayers have to be long and beautiful. But one sincere cry from the heart is enough. “Lord, save me.” Jesus gets up. He does not panic. He does not rush. He simply speaks. He rebukes the wind and the sea, and suddenly there is great calm. Notice something beautiful. Jesus does not stop the storm before the disciples are afraid. He calms the storm after they bring their fear to Him.

Sometimes we ask God, “If You love me, why don’t You remove every storm from my life?” But Jesus never promised a storm-free life. He promised that we would never face the storm alone. The greatest miracle in this Gospel is not only that the sea became calm. It is that the Creator of the wind and the waves was already in the boat.

And the same is true for us. Maybe your storm is your family, your health, anxiety, loneliness, uncertainty about the future. The storm is real. Jesus never pretends it’s not. But His question still reaches us today: “Why are you afraid? Have you forgotten who is in the boat with you?” Faith does not mean we never feel afraid. Faith means that fear does not get the final word. Because Christ is with us, even when the waves are high, even when the boat is filling with water, and even when He seems silent. He has never left the boat.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Sometimes the storms around me become storms within me. When fear fills my heart, remind me that You are with me. Help me to trust Your presence even when I cannot understand Your silence. Teach me to turn to You before I surrender to fear. May I never forget that no storm is greater than the One who is in my boat. Amen.

– Homily by Rev Fr Patrick Agbeko