Happy Sunday, friends!

The Sea of Galilee is an amazing place. It can be the most peaceful body of water one moment, and suddenly it becomes a raging sea! Well…actually a raging lake! (It is not a sea, though it is called that!)

Mark 4:35-41 recounts the narrative of Jesus sleeping in a small fishing boat when, suddenly, a storm arose on Lake Kinneret (the ancient name of the Sea of Galilee). Seasoned fishermen, who had undoubtedly been in storms before, were in the boat with Him as they went to the other side of the lake. However, this particular storm was enormous, and water was filling the boat.

Frantic, the fishermen awakened Jesus and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are perishing?” Jesus calmed the sea and asked, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” In the midst of their extreme fear, the disciples/fishermen wondered, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Friends, when life’s storms come up suddenly and we fear we are perishing, Jesus is in our boat! We are safe when the One who calms the sea calms us as well! Entrust your storms to Him!

Recently, my dear brother in Christ, Pastor Saleem Shalash, was at the Sea of Galilee when a huge storm blew in. I’ve never seen the waters quite this turbulent before! In the video there is a blue floating platform used to board small boats like the one we boarded just a couple weeks ago in Israel. I would not have wanted to walk on that platform on this stormy day!

Here’s a look at the angry sea!