| The Wind, the Water & the Storm |
| Sometimes 100s or 1000s of people followed Jesus around begging to hear his words or be healed. It seems they never let him rest. So sometimes he got in a boat to get away from the big crowds. One time on a boat with his twelve apostles, a big storm came up and tossed the boat helplessly on the waves. The winds roared and made the waves higher and higher. The boat was about to turn over. Was Jesus scared? He was fast asleep! They woke Jesus up. "Don't you care that we're about to drown?" they asked him. Jesus just calmly stood up and talked to the wind and waves. He said, "Peace. Be still now." That's all it took. The wind stopped and the water became smooth as glass. Jesus' apostles were amazed. No human had ever been able to command the wind and storms what to do. They knew he was more than human. He was God the Son. Another time Jesus' apostles went out in their boat without him. Once again a terrible storm came and filled their boat way out in the middle of the big lake. Jesus knew they were in trouble because he can see us everywhere we go. So he decided to go to them by walking on the water. He leapt out onto the waves, the wind blowing in his hair, and just laughed and had such a good time. He looked like he was riding a skate board, though nothing was there but deep water. Soon he was in the middle of the lake. When his apostles saw him walking on the water, they thought he was a ghost. They screamed in fear. Jesus just laughed and said, "It's just me!" Peter decided to join the fun on the water, so Jesus told him to come on. Peter walked on the water a few minutes, then got scared and started to sink. Jesus grabbed hold of Peter and helped him back into the boat. As soon as Jesus got in the boat with his apostles, the storm stopped and the sky was sunny. Jesus loves to take care of us. |