I shot this picture on the Mediterranean Sea as a ferocious storm was blowing up. I love storms. I think this comes from my childhood. As a kid, my Mom would get lawn chairs and we would sit outside and watch storms blow up. Today, you can have your children taken away from you for that kind of stuff (it was just as crazy back then too, but Mom didn’t care and we didn’t know any better). Mom taught us not to be afraid of the storm, she always reminded us that there is a God who is much greater than the storm. Valuable words. The storm I experienced in the far East was different than any I had seen as a kid, the back drop was much larger and the canvas this storm painted on was one of most famous seas in the world. I wanted to get the perfect shot, so I climbed to the top of a newly reconstructed theater and positioned myself and I waited. Moments passed as the wind picked up and my subject was vividly pointed out. One single rock outcropping. A single standing stone that was courageous enough to stand against the punishment of the storm. Wave after wave crashed against this centennial, as the front’s push came ashore.
On waters, not too far from where this was shot a couple thousand years earlier, a very similar story unfolds in the life of a man. The man’s name is Peter and the event is one that all readers of the Bible know. It is night time and the sea is tossed, the wind is blowing and a group of frightened men are huddled together waiting for their watery death. It is about this time they see the impossible. A figure comes to them walking on water. Interesting fact is that, according to one account, he is going to walk on by when all the shouting and screaming provokes Him to let them know He is their Leader. Peter is so taken by the event he does what any hyperactive guy would do, he asks to join Jesus on the water. Jesus obliges and says “come”. Peter exits the boat like a gray hound jumps out the gates. In a moment he is on the water. Like a toddler on a skate board, Peter is up and water walking. Everything is looking good, then it happens. The same Peter that was ready to dive in feet first realizes that the storm hasn’t stopped and he now is beyond the gunnels of the boat of safety. Peter looses sight of Jesus and gets an eye full of the crashing waves, and immediately begins to sink.
Isn’t that how it is? The storm seems to suck the faith right out of us. We can be one second praising our all powerful God and the next shaking in terror. It seems we can be Peter or Mom. We either can focus on the storm with fear and drown or we can admire the terror of the storm with the understanding, no matter what, God has a plan and that plan is for our good. I think it is important to point out that we face storms daily; storms of deadlines, storms of fears, and storms of being overwhelmed by the everyday. It doesn’t have to be a raging, extraordinary circumstance to be a storm that will cause you to take your eyes off of Jesus. No, very often, it is the relentless pounding of the smaller waves that beat down our ability to see through them and see His face. Regardless, don’t be tempted to watch the waves, that gaze will be your undoing. Many have burnt out, given up, quit, left, and ran off, because of the overwhelming size of the storm in comparison to our strength and abilities. Instead, use what I call the God measure, compare your present storm to the size of your ever present God. With those factors, the storm hasn’t got a chance. So the next time a storm blows up get out your lawn chairs and watch it pass, because it will do just that… pass.
