“Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. – Luke 8:24

I’ve been there and so have you: knee-deep in a sea of trouble. Not the kind of trouble like the car breaking down. No, I mean the kind of trouble that immediately forms a pit in your stomach and presses you down with guilt and shame. You get caught. You hurt feelings. You lost a friend. You lose a spouse. These aren’t the kinds of trouble that just go away. These are the things that keep you up at night. Our bodies may be weary from a stress-filled day, but our brains are all too eager to catalog the day’s mistakes. These are what might be called the storms of life.

The disciples faced a real storm one day out on the Sea of Galilee. They didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know how they were going to survive. They were knee-deep in a sea of trouble, and getting deeper. “Master, Master, we’re going to drown.” Now, Jesus could have ignored them. Chances are they would have made it through. But Jesus never ignores the ones he loves.

And that is so true for us. The storms of life come. The waves of guilt wash over us, and we feel like we’re going to drown. But the Lord comes to our aid. “Be still!” He calms our fears. “Be still!” He takes away our guilt. “Be still!” And the storm subsides.

The greatest storm we face is the storm of sin. But even that terrible squall is no match for the rebuke of Jesus. With one act, Jesus did away with sin and guilt forever. He died on a cross, and his death paid the price for our sins. By his death, Jesus rebuked the storm of sin, and it went away.

Knee-deep in trouble? I’ve been there; so have you. But Jesus rescued us. His miracle of calming the storm reminds us of how he calms our greatest storms. It’s something to celebrate. It’s something worth finding out more about.