God Is Here

God has not left us. It feels like it, but He hasn’t.

I’m afraid of the ocean or any body of water. All of my summers in Alaska were spent catching fish in a net. We would set our net out on the beach, then the tide would come up and we would catch fish. After the tide went out, we would go pick the net of all its fish.

Sometimes we would “play” with the net. If there was a big run of fish, we would put out the net, then watch the net load up with fish, and then pull it back in. We had to quickly pick all the fish out, then put the net back out. Sometimes the tides were extremely powerful. We would pull the net in and it felt like an invisible giant was pulling the net away from us. It would take seven to 10 people to pull the net in. The rope would shake against the power of the water pulling it away from us. We would struggle so hard against the invisible giant. I remember seeing my hands snow white from gripping the rope so hard. Yet you couldn’t see what was pulling the rope. It was just water. But that’s what scares me about water. It’s this powerful force that you cannot see or touch.

The disciples struggled against the water. There was a big storm and they thought they were going to capsize. I can imagine the boat rocking madly against the waves. That would have terrified me. It terrified the disciples. They panicked. They didn’t know what to do. Finally, they cried out to Jesus, who was sleeping on the boat, to help them. They woke Him up and Jesus spoke and immediately the storm stopped. The disciples were amazed that even the winds and sea obey Him.

If feels like we are in a massive storm right now. We go from one thing to the next. We are the disciples on that boat, wondering when we’re going to die. When are we going to be flipped over by the mighty sea. But God is here. He is working. He is more powerful than the invisible force we see working right now, causing chaos. God tells us over and over in His Word to trust him. We cannot see Him or touch Him, but He is here. And believing what we cannot see or touch is an act of faith.

All believers need to call upon Him. He is listening. He is waiting. He is already working. The storm we’re in right now feels overwhelming. We all need to pray. For even the winds and seas obey Him.