Peggy Mulambya-Kabonde on why we must sail with Jesus

How do we respond to challenging situations in life? As Jesus and his disciples were crossing to the other side of the lake, they encountered a strong wind that brought fear into the lives of the disciples. They attempted to prevent the boat from sinking but the situation just went from bad to worse.

Where was Jesus when all this was taking place? He was right there in the boat, sleeping comfortably on a cushion. The disciples responded: ‘Don’t you care that we are about to die?’ Note that Jesus did not respond, because he knew that his Father was in control. Jesus was aware of the situation, although he was asleep.

Believers in the Lord, storms come in life for a purpose. Sometimes, God uses storms to reveal his greatness to us. In fact, God allowed it at this point to enable the disciples to have a glimpse of Jesus’ infallibility. Jesus could have decided not to sail on the stormy sea, to avoid exposing the disciples to fear. But he didn’t. He allowed them to taste a problem. Though Jesus was with them, the disciples still doubted – just as we do when things go bad.

Finally, Jesus rebuked the storm, and it died down. Then he said to his disciples: ‘Why are you frightened? Have you still no faith?’

The disciples were afraid because their faith in God started evaporating. The truth of the matter is that fear magnifies the problem, or storm, but faith magnifies God. The absence of faith is fear.

We need to have faith in God, no matter the situation in life. Even in this time of Covid-19, let us put God first and allow him to be the master of our life and the situation. Let Jesus be the only focus of our attention, not the storm…

Peggy Mulambya-Kabonde is General Secretary for the United Church of Zambia

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This is an extract from an article that was published in the May 2020 edition of Reform

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