The Boat
Luke 8:22-25 (NIVUK) —
‘One day Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side of the lake.’ So, they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Master, Master, we’re going to drown!’ He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. ‘Where is your faith?’ he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement, they asked one another, ‘Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.’
I was recently reading an article in which a church in Bristol had replaced their stain glass windows that celebrated the slave trader Edward Colston for ones that depicts Jesus as 'protester'. The one that caught my attention, was Jesus as a migrant in a boat crossing the channel. I was reminded of the fear felt by the disciples when Jesus fell asleep during the storm and began to think about the fear the migrants in the many boats must feel as they make the perilous journey to safety.
Seeing Jesus in the boat with these people reminded me that he stands there with them, not on the shore, but alongside each of them in the boat. For us, it’s difficult to begin to understand the fear and trauma that the migrants face as they reach the extremity of danger but the disciples must have felt similarly in this story as they call out to the only person who they know can save them.
Maybe today you feel like you have reached your end point or extremity and I would love to encourage you to call out to your Heavenly Father and allow his peace to rest on you.
Today find some time to pray for those who are having to leave their homes to find safety, for those where considering crossing channels is an immediate reality.
Prayer – Heavenly Father we lift up to you those whose homes have become unsafe, and fleeing has become the only option. Father, would you protect them and their families; may they know you close in this time. Father, we pray for leaders around the world, that you would give them wisdom and compassion to love their neighbour as themselves.