Today in the readings, we see God both not in the storm and in the storm. From this, we can be reminded of two great mysteries. First, the need to hear God in the quiet of our heart, and second to focus on Him alone in the storm.
In the first case, we have the Prophet Elijah who was great in works and yet he had pretty much given up on life. He had just completed a great contest against the prophets of Baal and now he told God that there was no point in living. God gives him the strength to walk forty days and nights to the mountain of God and then God speaks to him in a gentle wind and tells him what is going to happen. This reminds us that we need to give God quiet time so we can know what God’s plan is with what is happening in our life.
Jesus Himself follows this model in the Gospel today when He, like Elijah, after He has worked a great miracle, goes up a mountain and He spends time in prayer. Because of this, after some time, He walks across the water as though it is something He does all the time. Like, “Whoops, I better catch up to the Apostles since they are rowing in a boat through a storm.” You can imagine what the Apostles are thinking. They are rowing at night, there is a storm, they can’t really see where they are going, they are probably scared to death of drowning, and maybe even rowing around in circles, and then comes Jesus walking across the water. What a sight that must have been – not even walking towards them but walking as to go by them, as though their plight does not matter to Him, he is simply out for a nice walk across the sea. Peter makes a bold statement and, really, an act of faith. The Lord responds to him saying, “Come,” Peter does and he see the waves and he sinks.
Here we encounter the next great and, perhaps, most perplexing mystery of our faith, why does God allow bad things to happen? Or if God is good, why doesn’t He always stop evil? I am sure the Apostles who were rowing in their swamped boat thought, “Why doesn’t this guy who is our friend simply stop this storm? Why didn’t He just calm the waters? Why are we rowing like mad men against the wind when we have a friend named Jesus? Why is Jesus walking by us, doesn’t He care?” As a priest and as followers of Jesus, I am sure we have all come into times where we thought Jesus didn’t care. I have watched a newly converted mother with a young daughter die of cancer. I have watched a healthy sixteen-year- old girl die of cancer. I have seen newborn babies die. I have heard of rape where the person asked God to save them and He did not. Why do bad things happen to good people and good happen to evil? The response is I don’t know, I am not God. Sometimes we might be tempted to say God simply does not have control but the Bible seems to indicate that He does. We confess that He is all powerful so why do these things keep happening, why do people that are claimed to be beloved of God still perish? That is a great question and there is only one who can answer that and His name is God. You see this is why we need to first hear Him in the quiet so that we can hear Him in the storm.
The Apostles teach us a valuable lesson; they continually ask Jesus, “What does that mean?” When we enter the dark times in our life, Jesus is walking beside us and is not far. I once was hiking with a fellow and he was good at not paying attention and being in his own world. I was always ahead of him and he went at his own pace. I once went back to look for him and on my way back found a better trail and when I found him I said, “Don’t go this way, go the other,’ but he did not hear me, even though I was very close to him because he was in his own world. He attempted to cross a log over a small draw about five feet deep. I once again told him not to and he keep going across until he lost his footing and landed on his butt on the log and started to fall into the draw. He yelled for help as he started to topple into the draw, not realizing I was right behind him. I was so mad I picked him up, pack and all, and set him on his feet and told him once again not to go that way. You see we are like this man who are so caught up in our grief that we do not see Jesus walking right beside us, the only solution to our problem and the
only help. Many people turn from Jesus at this point in their lives because Jesus did not act as they expected Him to. But the way out is to be like Peter and cry for help, ask for explanations and remain with Jesus. We are told that when you go through a dark tunnel on a train and the light goes out, don’t jump off the train, stay on and ride it out, the light will come back on and you will see what God really has planned for you.