There is a question that earmarks a disciple. We are set on a track for the miraculous when we can answer it. In Luke 8:22-25, Jesus got into a boat with His disciples and said, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” Then Jesus found a comfortable spot on the boat and went to sleep. Not long into their journey, a great storm came up to the point that the boat was filling with water. In a panic, the disciples woke Jesus, who was obviously not bothered by the storm, and told him they were going to die.
Right about here is where I think we can all relate. We are going along, and to our credit, we are doing so in obedience and with Jesus himself. We didn’t go solo. We haven’t gone rogue. We are actually doing it right and side by side with Jesus, no less. But just when we get far enough away from what feels safe, a problem arises, and we freak out telling Jesus we are going to die and are completely unnerved because Jesus must obviously be asleep, or this wouldn’t be happening. Am I right?
But Jesus did what He does. He rebuked the wind and the waves and calmed the storm. He then turns to His disciples and asks this dreaded question. “Where is your faith?”
When I read it, I actually heard it like this. “Where” is your faith? In other words, where have you misplaced it? Was your faith in a good weather report? Was it in the condition of the boat? Or how about in your obedience and the fact that you were following instructions? Maybe it was in your talents and abilities as a seasoned fisherman? I think you get the picture. It must be somewhere it shouldn’t be.
The fact that Jesus asked it means it was necessary to have it and then use it. Their fear made it apparent that it wasn’t in Jesus because He was right there. And they didn’t have it because they didn’t use it.
Jesus confronts His disciples to help them understand the problem. Their actions of panic, fear, and waking Him up showed their lack of faith or trust in God. We don’t realize that we have placed our faith in everything and everyone else but Jesus. By His question, He was saying that they shouldn’t have been afraid, and they could and should have handled it.
Faith without works is dead, according to James 2. So, Jesus is telling them if they had their faith in the right place, they would have had the confidence that they would make it to the other side fully alive, and if needed, they would have rebuked the storm as well. But they didn’t. Their faith must have been somewhere else and not in Jesus, who was there, present the whole time.
I don’t point this out to rebuke us. Instead, I want us to recognize, like the disciples, what the problem is. We say we trust the Lord and have faith, but our actions speak something else. Where are we putting our faith?
King David, a man after God’s heart, got this right. Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.” When we fix this problem, we are able to weather the storms without fear and rebuke them if necessary.
Today, let’s look at where and with who we have misplaced our faith. Let’s walk without fear and in His authority and see God do great things through us. With Him, all things are possible.
Jaime Luce
