What Kind of Man is This?

Happy Ocean Day! Yes, this is actually on the calendar, which I was quite excited to discover this morning. If I had it my way, this would be a national holiday, and we'd all get the day off to go to the beach. (Or days off depending on how far inland you were.) We would all spend a lazy day in the sun, absently gazing out into the vast awesomeness that is lady ocean, pretending that we would live out the rest of our days in flip flops. It would be epic.

There's almost nothing that sets my heart at ease like the ocean. For me, the ocean is synonomous with relaxation, and peace; comfort and clear thoughts. I read about the sea during my Bible reading this morning, only in this passage, the sea isn't described as anything calm and comforting. Matthew chapter 8 says,

Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

It's the last sentence in this passage that struck me the most. "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him?" How often do we marvel at this man who calms our seas? These storms allow us to know Jesus in a way that sunshine doesn't make room for. Just think, if they hadn't experienced that storm, the disciples wouldn't have had cause to ask that question. So often we wish that Jesus would guide us around the inconvenient, and frightening storms of life, but if He did, we would never have reason to ask in awe, "What kind of man is this?" Without  the need for deliverance, we won't know our Deliverer. Without danger, we can't experience refuge.

I think it's very good for us to step back sometimes, and ask in wonder about our savior,

"What kind of man is this?" 

~ j