#DailyDevotion Do You Yell “Jesus Christ” In Vain Or With Faith?

Matthew 8:23–26

²³Jesus stepped into a boat, and His disciples went with Him. ²⁴Suddenly a big storm stirred the sea so that the waves were covering the boat. But He was sleeping. ²⁵So they went and woke Him up. “Lord, save us!” they said. “We’re drowning!” ²⁶“Why are you afraid?” He asked them. “You trust Me so little!” Then He got up and ordered the winds and the sea to be quiet, and they became very calm.

Just what do you expect Jesus to do about it, i.e. your problems? Probably not what he plans to do about it. In today’s lesson Jesus and the disciples get into a boat to cross over the sea of Galilee. While they were crossing over a big storm came up. If you’ve ever been on the water when a big storm stirs up the sea it’s pretty terrifying particularly when the waves start filling up the boat and your pump can keep up. Well while the disciples were trying to be the pump to get the water out of the boat, what was Jesus doing? He was sleeping restfully.

Now I could go on about how you can be at rest like Jesus in the storms of life and I might even get around to it but that is not what I want to focus on at the moment. I want to focus on the disciples and what they expect of Jesus. They cry out to Jesus as he is sleeping, “Lord, save us! We’re drowning!” Now how they act after Jesus does save them he didn’t do what they were expecting. What do I think they were expecting Jesus to do? I think they expected him to grab a bucket and help them to start bailing water. Just as we often yell, “Jesus Christ!” when something bad happens, we most often don’t expect Jesus to do anything miraculous at the time.

Now Jesus gives the disciples a dressing down. He asked, “Why are you so afraid? You trust me so little!” Even in these words of Jesus we see they were not expecting a miracle from Jesus. They were addressing him as a normal human being. They did not believe he had any capability to address the problem with power and might. However, Jesus does address the storm with power and might. He demonstrates his power over the wind and waves commanding them to be quiet. The Psalmist tells us in Ps. 89, “⁹You rule the raging sea; when its waves rise, You quiet them.” and Ps. 93, “⁴but more than the noise of vast waters and mightier than the waves of the sea is the might of the LORD above!” Jesus has power over all creation because he is its Maker.

Now we might ask ourselves, in the midst of trials and tribulations, “Why are you so afraid? Why do you trust Jesus so little?” When we cry out, “Jesus Christ!” do we expect Jesus to do something for us? Do you expect him at that moment to help you? Or are you just expressing your fear to the wind? Indeed, when we encounter a problem and we are afraid, we should invoke the name of Jesus. We don’t do it in vain though but in faith that he will do something. He will bring his salvation to our problem. He promises us, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” (Hebrews) So call upon your LORD Jesus Christ with faith in him.

Heavenly Father, grant us faith to invoke the name of your Son Jesus Christ in times of trouble trusting in his salvation for us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.