We were concerned about seasickness when getting ready for this cruise. My wife had purchased the Dramamine patches and pills. We also had a special drink that if you get nauseated and start heaving, one shot of it and the sickness is gone.
Never once did we get seasick.
There was another thing we experienced and I’m not sure what to call it. There were a couple of times when the water got a little rough. It made you feel like your head and legs were made of Jell-O. You could be sitting perfectly still at a show when all of a sudden, you started to sway. Walking was a trip – literally! You staggered, feeling like you were floating one second and had cement in your shoes the next. I don’t think the sensation would have been nearly as bad if you hadn’t felt it in your head.
This was a nice feeling lying in bed at night. I haven’t been rocked to sleep since I was little but here I am, sleeping as sound as can be, enjoying the feeling of one side of your body gently sinking into the mattress, then the other side, back and forth. You could fall asleep in seconds and stay asleep the entire night.
Don’t get up too quickly, though, when you have to make a bathroom trip in the middle of the night! Take a moment and make sure you have your bearings.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell a story that made me think of our experience aboard the ship. Mark 4:35-41 gives a few extra details. “And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. (36) And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. (37) And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. (38) And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? (39) And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. (40) And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? (41) And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
I cannot be critical of their fear. This storm must have been something extraordinary for experienced fishermen to be this frightened. There are plenty of things that will never be on my bucket list: hot air balloons, the glass walkway at the Grand Canyon, spelunking, traveling in a submarine, or snake handling. So, I get their fear.
But there is a big difference between their fear and mine. Jesus had already told them that they were going to the other side. There could have been a typhoon or tsunami, but they were still going to make it to the other side.
During the storm, where is Jesus? Asleep on a pillow, completely at rest and peace. His humanity rested while His divinity was fully engaged and ready.
The disciples made several grave errors. The passage alludes to the fact that the disciples exhausted their human efforts and expertise before waking Jesus. By the time they went to Jesus, they were in full panic mode! Then, they accused Him of not caring and that they were about to die.
With total calmness and authority, Jesus spoke peace to the troubled waters and wind, and it all ceased and a calmness engulfed the moment. What just happened? What kind of a person can do this?
Storms come into all of our lives. Our world is rocked by the waves of problems, and we get those wobbly sea legs, our heads feel woozy, and we feel as if we are stumbling and staggering through the day.
Let’s trade places with Jesus. Let’s put our head on the pillow and sleep soundly and let Him calm the storm. Rest in peace (not in the sense of death!) in the arms of a loving God who cares for us in all our trials and troubles.
Psalms 89:8-9 says, “O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee? (9) Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.”
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