Who’s in the Boat With You? Finding Faith in Life’s Storms
The struggle is real.
Rowing Into the Storm
A few weeks ago I heard about something incredible that Kelsey Pfendler was attempting.
Kelsey is a 31-year-old American woman who started rowing across the ocean in a boat on May 21. She departed from Monterey, CA and she was attempting a solo row from California to Hawaii. If she completed the 2,400-mile trip across the ocean, she would be only the third woman to ever do it and the first American woman to ever do it. The current world record was 86 days, 10 hours, and 5 minutes, held by Lia Ditton.
She posted regular updates on social media and you could track her progress on her website.
As you can imagine, rowing 2,400 miles across the ocean all by yourself is no small thing. The struggle was real. Some days the ocean was calm and the weather was perfect and the wind was her friend. Other days, the storms came and the waves swelled, and it was just her and her boat. She had a special boat that was designed for the ocean. It was crafted in such a way that if it were to capsize, it would self-correct, meaning it would flip back over by itself. She had to face at least one major weather system that came through. When that happened, there was no sleep, and there was no one else to help. It’s just her and the boat.
On day 8 of becoming the first American woman to row solo from California to Hawaii, she posted:
“Today was really hard. A really strong westerly came in and so I’ve been rowing against a really strong westerly that has been blowing me east since 11 o’clock last night. And I’m just still rowing (crying). It’s ok. I knew this was going to be hard and this, this is just one of the hard things.”
“I knew it was going to be hard…”
The struggle is real.
What Do We Do When Life Is Hard?
Everyone has gone through hard things. Many of you are currently going through hard things. And we know, there are more hard things to come.
What do we do when life is hard?
Sometimes life is hard because, like Kelsey, we decided to do something that was hard! We signed up for the job. We agreed to the task. We volunteered for the role. We believed in the cause, the mission, the vision, and we wanted to help. We believed we could help, could make things better.
Sometimes life is hard because, like Kelsey, we’re rowing, we’re on life’s journey, and then a storm comes up. We know storms are going to come our way, but they’re not always on our radar. Sometimes they come up unexpected. They are always unplanned. And depending on the strength of the storm, they can really knock us off course, set us back, and it can be so discouraging. Even demoralizing.
When the struggle is real, we really struggle. We struggle with doubt. We struggle with self-doubt. We doubt others. We struggle with the struggle.
And what we tend to forget is that the struggle is good. Hard is good. Tension is good. It’s good because it is through the hard, through the difficulty, through the tension that we grow.
There is a reason the gym is full of weights. If you want to grow stronger, you have to lift heavy things. There is a reason the people we admire and respect the most are those who have been through some of the hardest things in life. That’s how you grow.
Real men struggle. Real women struggle. They do hard things. They push through. They don’t give in. They don’t give up.
Little Faith, Great Storm
Jesus wanted to raise up disciples who were full of faith. But He knew in order to do that, they would need to struggle.
You can see this all throughout the Gospel according to Matthew, but I want us to lean into maybe one of the most famous stories about Jesus. It’s a story you’ve probably heard before, and you’ve probably heard it more than once. Jesus has been healing people and teaching His disciples about what it is going to cost them if they are going to follow Him. And then, this happens…
Then he (Jesus) got into the boat and his disciples followed him. 24 Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. — Matthew 8:23-27, NIV
You may wonder, why did Jesus and the disciples get into the boat if a storm was on the way? Didn’t they check the weather app? Wasn’t this storm system showing up on the radar?
Besides the fact that they did not have the technology we do today that helps us predict the weather, the Sea of Galilee is famous for pop-up storms. The Sea of Galilee is a beautiful lake. It was a major source of fresh water and of food. It was the economic center for many communities. Many of the disciples, before following Jesus, worked on the Sea of Galilee as fishermen.
But the Sea of Galilee was also dangerous. It sits about 700 feet below sea level and is surrounded by hills, which made it prone to sudden and violent windstorms that could appear quickly and unexpectedly. Unlike Kelsey, their boat wasn’t designed to self-correct if it capsized.
A Boat Built for Danger
In January 1986, a first-century boat was discovered in the Sea of Galilee.
After several years of drought, the water level had dropped dramatically. Two brothers, Moshe Lufan and Yuval Lufan, noticed the outline of an ancient boat buried in the mud along the northwestern shore. Archaeologists excavated the boat under difficult conditions. They had to be careful because the exposed wood could quickly deteriorate. The excavation took only about 12 days, and the boat was encased in fiberglass foam and transported for preservation.
The boat was about 27 feet long, 7.5 feet wide, and 4 feet high. It could hold about 13–15 people. You can imagine the fear these disciples must have felt when this storm comes up, the wind and waves are rocking the boat, water is coming into the boat. It’s one thing when disciples who aren’t used to being on the water are afraid, but when you’ve got experienced fishermen in the boat and they are afraid… that’s when you know it’s time to worry. These guys have been through a storm or two. If they’re worried, then it’s time to worry.
Matthew tells us the storm is strong, and you may wonder, where is Jesus? The storm is raging…
But Jesus was sleeping.
25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
Why is Jesus asleep? How is Jesus asleep? The boat is rocking. Water is splashing everywhere. The disciples are screaming. And Jesus is asleep?
Can I give you some Good News about storms? If Jesus isn’t worried, you don’t have to worry. If Jesus is asleep in the middle of your storm, you can rest, too. If Jesus gets worried, then you can worry. But Jesus never gets worried. He never gets stressed out. He’s never anxious or uncertain. The disciples think they are about to drown. Jesus thinks it’s a good time for a nap.
They wake Jesus up. “Lord, save us!”
26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
What Matthew Means by “Little Faith”
Right here, Matthew does something that many people miss. It’s easy to miss, especially in our English translations of the Bible. Those two words, “little faith,” are just one word in the original language. It’s a word that Matthew uses four times in his Gospel. It’s important because it raises a theme in Matthew’s Gospel that those who first read it, or heard it read aloud, would have picked up on. Kind of like when you hear your favorite song played and the lead guitar hits that lick or that note that, when you hear it, makes the song. It’s the note or the melody the song is known for, and when you hear that note, or that run, you immediately identify it.
That’s what Matthew does with the words “little faith.”
The first time he uses the word is in the Sermon on the Mount:
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? — Matthew 6:28-30
Why do we worry about having enough? God takes care of the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, and He will take care of you, you of little faith.
29 Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” — Matthew 14:29-31
Why do we worry? Like Peter, we worry when we take our eyes off of Jesus. But even then, when you cry out to Him, He will save you, you of little faith.
5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? — Matthew 16:5, 8
Why do we worry about bread? Jesus had just fed over 5,000 with a few pieces of bread and fish. And He did it again for a crowd numbering over 4,000. There are only twelve disciples. So why are they worried? For the same reason you worry. You forget that the God who provided in the past can provide in the present, O you of little faith.
And then, here, in the middle of this story, after the disciples wake Jesus up and cry out, “Lord, save us!”
26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
In every situation, there is a worry, a tension, a struggle, and the struggle is real. At every turn, Jesus is teaching the disciples something about faith. He knows the only way for their faith to grow is for them to face some hard things. And there is no better time for them to go through hard things, to feel the fear, than right now while He is with them. He won’t always be with them, at least not in this way. So everything they go through now will serve to prepare them for the future.
Jesus, seeing their fear, wants to build their faith.
Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
Can you imagine being on this boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee with gale-force winds, afraid your boat is about to capsize and you are going to drown in one moment, and then, in the next moment, it’s as if there was never a storm? It’s not just calm, it’s dead calm. And it didn’t take an hour for the waves to subside.
You know how this works. If Jesus had just stopped the wind and rain, it would have taken a while for the waves to settle down. But Matthew tells us, when Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves, it went from fierce storm to complete calm.
When that happened…
27 The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
In other words, who else can calm the wind and the waves? Only Jesus. He can bring perfect peace to any storm. But even when He doesn’t, we don’t have to fear. We can have faith because He is WITH US (Matthew 1:22, 28:20).
A Storm of My Own
Several years ago, my son Will and I took a road trip to St. Louis. We wanted to go see the St. Louis Cardinals for Opening Day. Will was about six years old, and that year his baseball team was the Cardinals and I got to be his coach. So we already had all the Cardinals gear because of his t-ball team.
We loaded up the truck and made the drive. It was a great father/son trip. We had decided that we would camp out instead of staying in hotels — you know, make this a real manly trip. We went to the game that day and had a great time, then after the game we drove to our camp site. We set up our little two-man tent, got into our sleeping bags, and settled in for the night.
About 1 AM, it starts to rain. About 1:30 AM, the wind is picking up. I look over at Will — he is fast asleep. About 2 AM, water is coming into the tent, the wind is about to blow us away, there is thunder and lightning, and my weather app has issued a major thunderstorm alert for our area, and Will is still fast asleep. About 2:30 AM, Will is floating away on the air mattress, still sleeping! Ha ha.
So I made an executive decision. I picked Will up and put him in the back of the truck. It’s raining hard. I take the tent poles out of the tent, then grab everything — the tent, sleeping bags, pillows, it’s all still in the tent — and I just shove it into the bed of my truck and start driving.
That storm came out of nowhere. Will was never worried, not even a little. He was able to sleep through the storm. Why? I think it’s because he knew his father was near.
Great Faith
Four times in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus calls out His disciples for little faith. But over and over again, He also calls out people who are full of faith — people who demonstrate faith when they are going through the storms of this life.
- Matthew 8:10: Jesus is amazed at the faith of a Roman centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant. “When Jesus heard him, he was amazed and said to those who followed him, ‘Truly I tell you, in no one in Israel have I found such faith.'”
- Matthew 9:2: When friends brought a paralyzed man to Him for healing, Jesus saw their faith. “And some people were carrying to him a paralyzed man lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Take heart, child; your sins are forgiven.'”
- Matthew 9:22: A woman who was sick for twelve years believed if she could touch the hem of His robe, Jesus could heal her. “Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, ‘Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.’ And the woman was made well from that moment.”
- Matthew 9:29: After two blind men confessed their faith in Jesus, He healed them. “Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith, let it be done to you.'”
- Matthew 15:28: A Canaanite woman came to Jesus asking Him to heal her daughter, and Jesus noted her faith. “Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed from that moment.”
- Matthew 17:20: Jesus tells His disciples they can do great things if they will just have a little faith. “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
- Matthew 21:22: Jesus teaches about the importance of faith when we pray. “Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”
Faith Formed Through Struggle
We can talk about the wind and the waves and the storms of this life, and yes, they are going to come, but don’t miss the red letters in the middle of this short story about Jesus and His disciples in the boat.
Jesus says: “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?”
Faith pleases God. Faith is formed through struggle.
Why did these disciples have such little faith in this moment? I think the answer is fairly simple, and also familiar. The reason for their lack of faith was connected to their lack of understanding, their failure to grasp who Jesus is. They weren’t rejecting Jesus, they just couldn’t grasp yet who was in the boat with them.
And when He calmed the wind and the waves, that’s exactly the question they were asking.
“What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!”
Who else can calm the wind and the waves? Only Jesus.
You Can Have Faith in the Middle of the Storm
So may I remind you who is in the boat with you? And when you go through the storms of this life, can you remember who is in the boat with you?
His name is Jesus. His name literally means “Yahweh Saves.” He is your Savior. He defeated the grave. He paid the price for your sin and shame. He is Emmanuel, God with us (1:22). And He has promised to be with us to the very end of the age (28:20).
So when the rain comes, you don’t have to run. When the waves hit, you don’t have to worry. Fear is a natural and normal and human response, and it is OK to feel the fear when the storms come your way. But when you feel the fear, you can remember your Father is near.
No matter how big the storm, your God is bigger. No matter how difficult the circumstance, you are not on your own. No matter how long it will take you to get from where you are to the other side, your God will never leave you, never forsake you, never abandon you.
The same God who raised Jesus up from the grave will raise you up. The same Spirit who led God’s people all throughout Scripture will be your ever-present guide. The Son of God who said, “Peace, be still,” can calm the storm around you, and even better, He can calm the storm within you, if you will put your trust in His name.
You can have faith in the middle of the storm because Jesus is with you.
Will you put your faith in Jesus? Will you remember that He is with you come what may? And when you need Him, will you call on His name? “Lord, save us.” When you do, He is mighty and He is faithful to save.
In the words of Kelsey: “We knew this was going to be hard, and this, this is just one of the hard things.”
Life is difficult. God is merciful. Heaven is sure.
Can I encourage you to keep rowing? Keep believing. Keep trusting. God is with you. God is with us. May we put our faith in His name.
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