Keeping Calm in the Storm

By Dr Ruth Bancewicz, who is based at The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion in Cambridge. She writes on the positive relationship between Science and Christian faith.

One of the most famous stories about Jesus is the calming of the storm (Luke 8:22-25). Of course, anyone could say that the wind stopped suddenly of its own accord, but the disciples were not fooled. They had seen a number of these ‘coincidences’ in Jesus’ ministry, and they weren’t about to ignore this one. Jesus had calmed the waves with only His words. Wasn’t this an act of God? Who else could be in complete control of creation?

Jesus dealt graciously with the very pressing and practical issue of the raging storm before He did a bit of teaching, asking His followers “Where is your faith?” It’s not surprising that they were scared, given the circumstances, but clearly Jesus expected better of them. He had already been teaching them for some time, and clearly knew they were ready to trust Him.

In similar circumstances, Christians often do several things in quick succession. We start by panicking and being afraid. After a while we might remember what we know about God’s character and pray for help, trusting that whatever happens He will help us to handle it. Most often, we don’t get the storm-calming effect when we ask for it, but battling on with faith and God’s help is much easier than trying to keep going in a panic.

‘Peace’ in this kind of situation is a very active holding on to what we know about God. The difference between trusting and not trusting can be like night and day in terms of stress levels. I have found that it can make the difference between unmanageable stress and something that stretches me and teaches me something new.

Knowing some science can help us to trust God. A Being who created the whole universe, sustaining the wonderfully creative processes that produced diverse life on earth, must be both extremely powerful and extremely wise. The God who can both calm the waves and walk on them must be in complete control of the things He made. When this knowledge goes hand in hand with experience of God’s intimate love for us and care for us in every situation that we find ourselves in, I am reassured that He’s got things in hand.

I will always need help from others to pray faithfully in stormy situations, but hopefully I’ve seen enough now not to panic for too long.

Time (and my closest friends) will tell!

From: The Parish Pump