Driving down the highway yesterday, a sudden surge of brake lights caught my
attention. It wasn’t an accident or traffic which caused the sea of bright red
to appear. It was hard rain, which seemed to come out of nowhere, catching all
of us by surprise.
The sky had a few clouds scattered throughout it, but none seemed large
enough or dark enough to provide the rainstorm that came down. It was as if the
storm cloud was hovering just above my car at one point because I couldn’t actually see it.
What I could see, though, briefly through the cleared space from the
windshield wipers, was the blue sky ahead.
Isn’t that how life is? Full of storms which are unexpected. Sometimes we can
see the blue sky just beyond the storm and other times, well, all we see is a
sky overwhelmed with clouds waiting to burst open with no evidence of an end.
That’s what faith is. It is knowing the blue is going to show up. It is
the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews
11:1) It is knowing that even though the entire sky is consumed with storm
clouds, that beyond it, where our earthly eyes cannot see, there is blue. There
is hope. There is clear, calm sky filled with heavenly brightness waiting on
the other side of the storm.
In Mark 4, we read the story of Jesus calming the sudden storm which shows
up on the sea. His disciples are scared and call on Him. He calms the sea and
says to His disciples in Mark 4:40,
“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
When I feel the fear from one of lives’ storms present itself, when I can’t
see the blue sky beyond the clouds, I hear Jesus asking me this very question. “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
It always reminds me that Faith is greater than fear and even the smallest amount of faith can calm the largest of storms.
Raelyn Pracht 