I preached this past Sunday on the miracle of Jesus calming the storm. The story may be familiar to you. Jesus and his disciples get into a boat to go across the Sea of Galilee one evening. Jesus was exhausted from teaching all day so he went to the back of the boat and fell asleep on a cushion. At some point, an incredible storm blows in. These were experienced fishermen who knew this lake well, and yet they had never seen a storm like this. Matthew uses the Greek word “seismos” to describe it. We get the word seismology, the study of earthquakes, from it. This was like an earthquake on the water, and these guys were scared to death.

And so they go wake up Jesus. “Master, we’re going to die. Don’t you care? Do something.” So Jesus wakes up, wipes the sleep from his eyes, and tells the wind and the waves to be quiet. The Creator of the wind and the waves and the Master of the weather exerts his authority and tells the storm to be calm. And it does.

Two things strike me here. First, notice that the storm didn’t arouse Jesus; the cries of his people did. Jesus might have kept on sleeping if his disciples had not awoken him. What that tells me is this. The storms in our life don’t affect Jesus. What affects Jesus is how the storms in our life affect us. The things that worry us do not worry Jesus. Jesus is not overwhelmed by what overwhelms us. Jesus is not taken aback by the difficulties in our lives. He doesn’t stand back and say, “Wow, I really feel sorry for you. You really have it hard right now.” He understands your suffering; he’s just not impressed by it. He’s been to the cross, you see. What causes Jesus to spring into action, however, is your cry for help. You are what’s most important to Jesus.

But second, notice what Jesus did not do. When the disciples woke him up, he didn’t tell them to row harder. He didn’t give them better sailing techniques. He didn’t cheer them on and tell them that if they just stayed positive and really believed in themselves, they could get out of this storm. He didn’t shake his finger at them. He didn’t say, “Aw, would you look at what you’ve done!? I realize that this is a pretty big storm, but if you had just turned the sails this way and rowed with the wind, you wouldn’t be in this mess.” He didn’t instruct them or motivate them or scold them. He did it for them. He acted on their behalf. He rescued them. He saved them. That’s what it means for Jesus to be our Savior. When he enters into our storm, he doesn’t tell us to row harder, he tells the storm to be quiet.

This is how Jesus operates. He comes to rescue us when we cry for help, and he acts on our behalf. Our task is to believe, to rest alone in his ability.