United Church of God

Who's In Your Boat?

You are here

Who's In Your Boat?

Login or Create an Account

With a UCG.org account you will be able to save items to read and study later!

Sign In | Sign Up

×

A crowd lined the shore of the Sea of Galilee while Jesus Christ taught from a small fishing boat anchored just off shore. It had been another long but fruitful day for the Savior. As evening was approaching He concluded His teaching and instructed His disciples to cross the lake to another location. As their boat pulled away they left the crowd behind while some other boats followed. It was now dark and a good time for Jesus to get some sleep, so He dozed off using a cushion in the back of the boat (Luke 8:22-23, Mark 4:35-36).

The Sea of Galilee is well known for its violent wind storms. Sometime during their evening passage and without warning, a strong wind storm swept over the lake. The winds blew fiercely, whipping the water white into large waves. The small boat and its passengers, comprised of Jesus and His disciples, were now in serious danger of being swamped. Wave after wave crashed over the sides, and the boat began to fill with water. The seasoned sailors on board—brothers Peter and Andrew and brothers James and John—well understood the imminent danger. Within minutes their small boat could sink, and they could drown.

Yet in the midst of this foreboding scene, Christ was fast asleep in the stern of the boat! The disciples may have wondered: “How could their friend, Jesus, fall asleep at a time like this? After all, didn’t He care for their safety?”

Three of the gospels clearly describe how frantic the disciples were about their predicament. Here are the telling accounts describing when the disciples came to Christ:

• Matthew 8:25 records a cry for help: “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

• Mark 4:38 records the rebuke of one or more of the disciples for Jesus’ seeming indifference: “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

• Luke 8:24 records a statement of doom: “Master, Master, we are perishing!”

So Jesus is quickly awakened. No doubt He observes the waves crashing over the boat and the sloshing water inside. Then calmly and with authority in his voice Jesus said to the sea: “‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:39).

Who’s in Your Boat?

Normally some amount of time is required for the waves to stop after the winds have diminished. Yet the lake water quickly became smooth as glass. With the danger now past, Luke 8:25 adds: “But He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, ‘Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him.’”

Jesus gently rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith, which resulted in their fear and near panic. It was a “teachable moment” for all the disciples. It was a lesson learned, or at least a point made, in this dramatic and nerve-wracking experience.

The disciples’ lack of faith in Christ that evening was revealing of their spiritual condition; they were not yet in possession of God’s Holy Spirit. As apostles in training, they were “a work in progress.”

The disciples suffered a disconnect between Jesus being in the boat with them and having faith in Him to intervene in their lives when events got stormy. “Where is your faith?” He asked them. Their answer was essentially, “We aren’t sure how this might end up, so let’s panic.” That’s a normal human response, but it’s also not having complete faith in God either.

Do you believe Jesus Christ is in the same boat with you? Put another way: Are you in His boat? Even more, do you have faith that He is at the helm of His Church? Do you have faith to allow Him to be at the helm of your life?

The disciples “missed the boat” in this lesson of faith, but as converted members of the Body of Jesus Christ, we should not. Whose Church is this? We all know the answer: Jesus Christ is in charge, and this is His Church. Christ gave His life so those who His Father called to salvation (eventually all of humanity) would have a home: His Church (Colossians 1:18-20).

How could the disciples not believe that the Creator of all things (Colossians 1:16-17) was fully aware of the conditions in their small boat that evening and had their well-being in mind? Because their faith was weak. Faith is more than theory. Faith is truly believing and then living by our faith in God. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us: “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Fundamental faith includes believing that Jesus Christ is the ruling Head of the Church of God and that He is in charge of His Church.

When faith is weak, fear enters. Where you find fear, faith is usually absent. Faith casts out fear: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Yet it is easy to forget these truths when the storms of life come crashing into us or when something occurs in the Church that hits us hard. As the slogan says, “life happens.” But it is at those times that we especially need to ask ourselves “Who’s in my boat?” When we do this—when we turn to God in prayer, Bible study and fasting—then the winds of life begin to subside, and the angry water ahead of us calms down. By drawing nearer to God we see through the darkness of the storm to realize that Jesus Christ is in the stern of the boat steering us to safe harbor (Romans 8:28).

Storms of Life

During the storms of life it is natural to look for human solutions. It’s difficult to fully trust God in the thick of a scary storm, because we don’t always know where He’s leading us or what His plan for us is in that moment. So we develop our own escape plan. But this never brings us to safe harbor. When the disciples focused on the storm their situation looked hopeless. Their solution was to cry out (shout), to show confusion, and some may have actually been upset with Christ. They may have reasoned: “Didn’t He care about what was happening to them? Where was He during this trial?”

Looking back over the years in the Church, I really did not know how much my faith would be tried over the years. I know many brethren in the Church would say the same thing. We were little babes in Christ when we were baptized. But over the years, as we faced various storms that tested our faith,  we began to submit lives to God’s Holy Spirit more and more. As “storm veterans,” hopefully we have learned the value of always remembering who’s in the boat with us. This is an enormously important lesson of being a true disciple of Jesus Christ. It can actually determine if we reach safe harbor at all.

Sadly some people have not weathered the storms. Rumors, like the winds in a storm, can blow our boat off course. Proverbs 18:13 cautions: “Spouting off before listening to the facts is both shameful and foolish” (New Living Translation). How many dedicated people of God over the centuries have had the winds of rumors blow them to and fro?

We are warned by the apostle Paul not to allow the winds of doctrinal disputing to blow us off course or to cause confusion among us: “...till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting” (Ephesians 4:13-14).

Faith Is Fundamental

Faith in His younger brothers and sisters is anticipated by Jesus Christ. It’s a joy to Him when present and a displeasure to Him when absent. Failing to trust in our Savior dishonors not only God the Father and Jesus, but it is detrimental to unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Without question, faith is fundamental to those who seek to be followers of God.

We know that faith can only come from God; none of us can “borrow” faith from another person. Thankfully God is a generous God. He is eager to give His sons and daughters more and more faith as they grow in maturity and seek His will in their lives. The storms of life are often the times we grow in faith the most.

Two thousand years ago Jesus Christ asked a question of His disciples, and it is the same one He is asking of His disciples today: “When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

Worry can be the result of a lack of faith. Worry is based upon the hypothetical possibility of trouble such as “What if the boat sinks with me in it?” Playing the “what if” game, as the disciples did, is thankfully not what God desires of us. Instead we need to remind ourselves that the Captain of our Salvation is at the helm: “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews 2:10-11).

Safe Harbor

When we look to our Captain, Jesus Christ, the fog lifts, the winds subside and the sea calms. This is faith in action in our lives, specifically faith in who’s at the helm. In spite of the disciples’ fear and unbelief, the ship did not sink, the storm ceased and all landed safely on shore. Of these men, 11 of them did grow tremendously in faith and trusted in their Captain to lead His Church.

The story of the calming of the storm is about Jesus Christ pointing His people to Him and challenging us to live by faith in His leadership. He did not criticize the sailing skills of these 12 men, but He did criticize them for their lack of faith in Him.

When the winds of a storm hit hard, do not focus on the waves of water crashing over the boat, instead focus in faith by asking yourself, “Who’s in my boat?” If we seek the will of God in our lives and submit to Him in godly faith, we are going to see the waters calm, we will reach our destination intact and we will eventually find the ultimate safe harbor: the Kingdom of God.