Valerie Rae Hanneman
Mark 4:37-38 (NIV) “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.
I have served Jesus through the Care Fresno Kids Klub ministry for 10 years now. It was the first ministry that He called me to and I believe that it will be the last ministry that He calls me from. I have climbed the highest mountains in this ministry. But it has also brought me my greatest grief in service to Him. Eight years ago there was this little boy, Bob. (Not his real name) Bob was just a little gem of a boy. At five years old, his spirit sparkled with joy just as brightly as his eyes did. He was a non-stop talker, curious, bright and cute. When his family moved out of the neighborhood I really missed him. Imagine my surprise the following year when I was picking up my son at his school, heard my name called out, and there was Bob. For the next year, when I picked up Steven for Kids Klub, I picked up Bob. He came with us when Kids Klub went down Christmas Tree Lane. As we were traveling down the Lane, I stood up in front of all the kids and told them to tone it down or I was going to get mean. My little Bob jumped up from his seat, stood in front of me and shouted that they better not ever call me mean because I was the best person ever! This little cub had the roar of a lion when it came to protecting me. A few months passed, and then Bob changed. He became quiet; the sparkle was gone from his spirit and from his eyes. At first I thought, “He’s just going through a rough patch” but time went on, and Bob was still quiet. In just an aside to his mom one day I mentioned how quiet he had gotten. Her face crumbled and she brought me into the house. This sweet little angel boy had been molested. I let her talk about the legal stuff, the therapy, the pain of her quiet little boy – mostly of the pain. And I held it together and prayed with her as I left. I got around the corner, pulled the car over to the side of the road and gave vent to my shattered heart. The pain seemed to fill every iota of my being. And it just seemed to get worse. I don’t want to go into the gory details of my descent into despair during the next week but about 10 days later I was on the phone to one of our pastors because I could not do the Kids Klub ministry with this pain and this lack of faith in God. Part of me seemed to by dying.
It was a beautiful day. Jesus was teaching the crowds using parables – the Parable of the Sower, The Lamp on a Stand, The Mustard Seed. In private He was explaining the parables to His disciples. Then He decided to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is a lake that is 13 miles long and 8 miles wide. After they all got on the small, open boat, Jesus went to the stern (back) of the boat, lay down on a cushion and went to sleep. After an exhausting day, He welcomed the chance to catch up on His sleep. (Don’t we all?) Suddenly the Sea of Galilee was rocked by a sudden squall. The dictionary describes a squall as a violent windstorm usually accompanied by rain or snow. The Greek word used here and translated as squall or storm was seismos – it can also be interpreted earthquake and is the root of the word seismograph. Imagine being on a small open boat when this earthquake/storm hits. The wind screams as it tears at the sails from the mast, waves as high as the boat buffets it, crashing over the side. Rain slashes into their faces and into the boat. Lightning splits the sky as it walks across the waves, thunder booms, shaking their very hearts. The disciples fight the storm as best as they can. Although most of them are fishermen who have worked on this lake their whole lives, they believe that they are about to die in this storm.
As you imagine this terrifying scene, tell me, what is the greatest danger to the boat?
Do you think it is the storm? It’s not. The greatest danger is the disciples in the boat and their lack of faith. Their lack of faith made them vulnerable to the storm that was swirling around them. Although this was still fairly early in Jesus’ ministry, the disciples had witnessed Him healing the Centurion’s servant, healing leprosy, healing a paraplegic, casting out demons, giving sight to the blind and meeting the needs of all who came to Him. They knew that this Man was not your run-of-the-mill carpenter. They knew him to be Messiah – the Son of God. But they did not have faith in Him during the storm.
Where was Jesus as the storm raged around them? He was asleep in the boat. How could He calmly sleep when the boat was on the verge of capsizing in the storm? Jesus slept because He had enough faith to know that Father might let the storm pound around Him, but Father would not let it capsize Him.
He won’t let the storm capsize us either.
The pastor I called wasn’t the right pastor to talk to if I was going to quit Care Fresno, but they were the right pastor for me to talk to at that time. Gently they helped me to keep from capsizing in the brutal storm of pain that I was in. They helped me to see past the storm and to see where the Son waits for me. They helped me to see that although this seismos was going to rock me, it would not drown me. Nor would any storm.
Although the storm I was in caused me great pain – it did not break me. Satan was not able to use it to drive me out of Care Fresno. I have weathered more storms, some of them almost as brutal. Because of Jesus, I can sleep in the boat during them.
LORD Jesus, No matter the size or ferocity of the storms I have faced, You have always brought me through them. I can sleep in the boat because I know that You always will.
Contact Valerie or sign up for the e-ministry of Fresno First at Valerie@fresnofirst.org
Posted by Valerie at October 20, 2006 07:17 PM