When we are afraid, it’s easy to find ourselves praying the elementary panic prayers of those who don’t know God. But Jesus says we should never be afraid. Our Lord has a right to expect that those who name his name will rest in perfect confidence in him. God expects his children to have such faith that they are the reliable ones in any crisis, yet many of us tend to trust God only up to a point. We’re like the disciples who were in the boat with Jesus when the storm arose: we get to our wits’ end, convinced that God is asleep and that we’re going to drown (Matthew 8:24–25). When we think like this, we show God that we don’t have the slightest bit of confidence in him, nor in his governing of the world.
“He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm” (v. 26). What a pang of remorse must have shot through the disciples when they realized that, instead of relying on their Lord, they’d failed him. And what a pang will go through us when we realize that we could have produced joy in the heart of Jesus by remaining absolutely confident in him, no matter what lay ahead.
There are times in life without storms or crises, times when doing our human best is enough. But when a crisis comes, we reveal instantly on whom we rely. If we’ve been learning to worship God and to trust him, the crisis will reveal that we can go to the breaking point without breaking our confidence in him.
God’s will is that we reach a place of perfect rest, a place of oneness with him. When we are one with God, we will be not only blameless in his sight but a deep joy to him.
