Jesus will be there in the storms of our life - a podcast by Francis Neil G. Jalando-on

The Sea of Galilee is the lowest freshwater lake in the world. It is also called Kinneret or Kinnereth, Lake of Gennesaret, or Lake Tiberias in the Gospels. It is approximately 53km in circumference and has been utilized from Biblical times up to now as a major source of tap water, agriculture, and fishing.

In the Gospels, there are many stories that happened in the Sea of Galilee or in its seashore. This is the setting of Luke 8:22 to 25 during the boat ride of Jesus and his disciples.

The lake has squalls or storms. This is because it is surrounded by mountains that act as a funnel of the wind. And squalls could come anytime.

When we were there in 2018, we had to transfer to another port because of a squall.

The squall that came without warning during that boat ride can teach us the following lessons:

First, Jesus will always be there for us.

Jesus is our ever-present help in times of need. He will always be there to assure us that He will calm the storm when we ask for His help.

Second, Jesus should always be our first recourse rather than our last resort.

In the story, Jesus was sleeping while there was a storm. The disciples, most of them fishermen, couldn’t do anything to steady the boat. The boat during their time is not as well-built as the small fishing boats now with outriggers.

When the disciples realized that they cannot do anything anymore, they asked for Jesus' help. This teaches that we need to come to Jesus first and not try our own solutions that will eventually fail.

Third, when Jesus asks us "where is your faith?", we have to be ready to answer it.

The disciples were questioned by Jesus about their faith. They were not able to answer it because they were afraid to say that they had none during that time. Well, it is okay if you have no faith in Jesus now. But like what happened in the Gospels and the book of Acts, the faith of the disciples eventually grew. We hope that this would be the same with us.

May we grow in our faith in Jesus as we go through the "storm" of COVID-19!

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