The Wink in the Waves



A few years ago, I heard a powerful sermon given by a pastor out of Grand Rapids, MI.  In it, he talked about a dream he had in which he met Jesus….

His dream had him listening to Jesus as He preached to the crowds while sitting in a boat on a lake.  During His teaching Jesus told a number of parables, but he ended His teaching with one about a mustard seed.

In that one, Jesus said the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed – the smallest seed on Earth.  He noted that when it is planted, it becomes the largest of all garden plants, with big branches that provide perches and shade for the birds… (Mark 4:30-34)

Interestingly, that was not the only time Jesus used a mustard seed in an object lesson.  The other time He said, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20-21)

So, after Jesus has been preaching to the crowds about faith…He tells his disciples they should all get in the boat and go to the other side of the lake.  Jesus lets those who have spent their lives as fishermen handle the task of getting the boat from one side to the other, and He goes to the rear of the boat and falls asleep on a cushion.  But when a storm comes up and the waves start breaking over the boat, the panicked disciples wake Him saying, “teacher don’t you care if we drown?”

Now, In the pastor’s dream, he said he imagined Jesus – looking directly at him, smiling and shaking His head a bit, and winking, the kind of wink that conveys a hidden secret…the kind of wink that says, “watch this!”

And then “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.  He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’”– Mark 4:39-40

See, Jesus knows something we don’t know, or maybe something we don’t always remember…He’s the one in charge!  And even when things seem scary, or it looks like we might get “swamped” at any time…EVEN WHEN WAVES START TO CRASH over the boat – Jesus has the ability to calm the storm.

In our times of trouble and distress, it is important to remember the wink in the waves, and to KNOW, truly know, that He is our hope in the storm.

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