When You Encounter the Storms of Life. 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A

Sunday Breakfast with the Word 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

First Kings 19:9, 11-13, 2, Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14:22-33

 

                 

 

Storms come with a violent disturbance of the atmosphere, always accompanied with a strong wind. Sometimes it manifests itself with thunder, wind and lightning. Storms are terrifying to experience. Storm can also be referred to any terrifying experience one may have encountered.

 

These two key definitions played a role in the readings of today, especially in the first readings and the gospel.

 

In the first reading we see how Elijah encountered God in a gentle still voice or whisper which came at a time He was going through a rough experience of his life and in the gospel we saw how the apostles encountered Jesus walking on the water while they were already struggling with the storm and in the midst of a chaotic environment (water).

 

There are many today passing through some terrific experiences, the question then is “how do we conquer these problematic situations?” How do we encounter God in the midst of troubling experiences? How do we find peace despite the struggles along the way?

 

The Settings

 

To fully understand the first reading we need to read from the beginning of the chapter to understand what truly happened. After His encounter with the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18, Elijah seized the prophets of Baal and  slaughtered them at the Valley of Kishon.

 

Enraged by this action, Jezebel sent a message to Elijah that by this time the next day, He will also be killed in the same way he did to the prophets. Terrified by this, Elijah fled for his life, to the extent Elijah left his servant at Beersheba and traveled alone into the wilderness.

 

He even prayed that God should take away his life, to show how distressed He was. It was a terrifying experience.

 

Just like Elijah, we have had so many hard experiences like this, at some points, some may even contemplate suicide like Elijah, but despite this, God did not abandon Him. The angel of the Lord appeared and fed Elijah and commanded Him to go the Mountain Horeb; known as the mountain of God. This is where Elijah encountered God. In the midst of storm, the most precious thing we need is time with God and not suicide.

 

 

The Mountain Experience

 

The mountain has always been described as a place of encounter. For example, Jesus always goes to the mountain to pray. Moses received the ten commandments at Mount Sinai, Jesus transfigured at Mount Tabor, it was at Mount Carmel that Elijah defeated the prophets of Baal.

 

Today after feeding the five thousand, Jesus also went up to the mountain to pray, and today Elijah encountered God in a quiet whisper at the Mountain Horeb.

 

We need a mountain experience in the midst of the busy world. We always need moments of encounter with God in a world devoid of peace. It is in the midst of this silent moment that we can encounter an inner peace that can only come from the Lord.

 

The world today is filled countless number of problems. We seem to have become busy and abandoned the things of God. We need quiet moments.

 

Jesus’ mountain experience always comes after having a busy time with the crowd. We also need to encounter God’s inner peace in the midst of the busy world. Just like Elijah, we need His presence in times of trouble and we cannot do this if we do not have a place of encounter, a mountain experience. Very often, the Lord reveals himself to us in the quiet moments of our lives.

 

 

The Apostle’s Encounter

 

Just like Elijah encountered God during His pressing moments, the apostles also encountered Jesus in the midst of a storm. However, unlike Elijah’s experience, Jesus came to the Apostles in a gentle way but terrifying to behold, He came to them walking on the water, which has never happened before that anyone could walk on the water, so they thought this might be a ghost. Imagine how terrifying today’s encounter could be..

 

1.Few things that can explain how distressed the apostles could be are: 1. The encounter today was at a time they were already struggling with a mighty wind, which must be terrifying.

 

2. This happened on the fourth watch of the night,which was from 3am to 6am, a lonely time. It is practically certain that many could be sleeping by this time.

 

3. The Apostles were not with their master at this time, unlike in Mark 4:35-41 when they cried to Him to calm the storm

 

4. Jesus came again in an unusual manner walking on the water. Just like the apostles we also have our countless number of challenges which can be terrifying.

 

5. The bible said that “they even cried out”. The greek word used here is ἔκραξαν (Ekraxan) from Krazo (κράζω) which means to cry out , to scream out of fear.

 

It is like somebody who met a lion in the middle of the night. Such an experience could be highly terrifying. However, just like God spoke with a gentle still small voice in the midst of Elijah’s troublesome moments, Jesus called out to them.

 

From some exegets, it is quite certain that Jesus saw how terrified they are, otherwise, he would just walk into the boat without uttering a word. This reveals to us that in our terrible moments He always comes to us with the word of peace and encouragement, but sometimes we do not recognize Him just like the Apostles thought he was a Ghost.

 

YOU MAY READ : COME TO ME AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST

 

We Need His Ever Abiding Presence 

 

Today, God came and strengthened Elijah in a gentle voice. In the gospel, Jesus calmly speaks to them “Do not be afraid” “it is I”. 

 

The greek word  elalēsen “ (ἐλάλησεν) is used here which which means to speak or just utter a word. 

Therefore, in the midst of a storm, always pay attention to that gentle voice that tells you “to be calm, it must surely be over”.

 

t is a reminder of the “Emmanuel “God is with us” or the farewell message to his disciples before He went into suffering when He says “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world” or the last message before His ascension into heaven “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of time” (Matthew 28:20).

 

Despite the storm, Jesus continues to reassure us of His ever abiding presence. We need His presence, We need His grace to conquer our fears and remain victorious in the midst of any storm.

 

We need Courage

 

Despite the things that can make us become afraid of the storm, Jesus did not ask us to continue to fear. He did not try to console the apostles, or to reason with them the cause of their fear but asks them to do a simple thing “be courageous”.

 

This is a command to stay in faith instead of fear. It is a command to substitute our fears with courageous hearts when we encounter the storms of life. 

 

This is what differentiates the weak from the strong. An Iron will can go to where people dread to go. An iron will can do the impossible.

 

Orison Marden says:

“Miracles have been wrought by self-confidence, the self-determination of an iron will! and impossible deeds have been performed by it! It was this that took Napoleon over the Alps in midwinter; it took Farragut and Dewey past the cannons, torpedoes, and mines of the enemy; it led Nelson and Grant to victory; it has been the great tonic in the world of discovery, invention, and art; it has helped to win the thousand triumphs in war and science which were deemed impossible. It was an iron will that was brought into play when Horatius with two companions held ninety thousand Tuscans at bay until the bridge across the Tiber had been destroyed” (Orison Swett Marden: The Iron Will). Without a courageous heart we will always sink in the storm.

 

We Need the Word

 

When the Apostles heard His voice , Peter then decided to speak up. By hearing it was the Messiah, Peter asked “Lord if it is you, tell me to come to you across the water.”

You can see that Peter first of all requested a command from the Lord to do so. He knows that just like He cursed the fig tree and it withered (Mark 11:12-25), just like the centurion demanded that Jesus speaks only the word and his servant will be healed, (Matthew 8:5:13), just like He commanded the storm and it became still (Mark 4:35-41), just like He commanded healing unto the Bartimaeus  (Mark 10:46-52), He need nothing but a command from the Lord. He knows that His commands carries power and obeying the command is already swimming in the same current.

 

Immediately Jesus spoke, Peter jumped into the water. In the midst of a storm, our proper guide should be the word of God and nothing more. Here, the psalmist says “the word is a lamp for my feet,a light on my path”. We need His Word to help, inspire and encourage us again.

 

We need Faith

 

When Peter was joyously walking on the water to Jesus, the gospel he says, he took notice of the wind and immediately began to sink. This event happened already in a chaotic environment; there is the presence of a storm already and also it happened on the water.

 

When Peter initially paid attention to the Lord and followed his word, he couldn’t notice the wind. The word of God gives joy and peace to the soul, whenever we keep our faith in his word, and focus our attention on Him and not on our circumstance, it may be stormy but we will always walk through it.

We might not even know that such exists.We sing then with David, who says :that even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of darkness I fear no evil, for you are with me”.

 

Then immediately Peter began to focus on the storm, He began to sink. This reveals that whenever we begin to focus on our problems, circumstances, and difficulties, we also begin to die in worry and sink gradually.We need faith when we encounter the storms of life. Without this we always sink into the storm.

 

Conclusion

 

1.Just like the disciples today saw Jesus and misinterpreted him to be a ghost, this is how many of us have misinterpreted some blessings coming into our lives.

 

Blessings must not come like luck. Sometimes they are packaged in ways we may not understand. Sometimes those blessings that you are seeking for today are stored behind that challenges that you want to avoid. 

 

Therefore, just like the apostles today were terrified by such an encounter when the object of their fear is harmless, is also how many of us live in fear over something when in the actual truth, the situation is not fearful in itself.

 

What might be holding many today is the fear of something  that is not even harmful. Many are afraid of what they might face, not that they must surely face it.

 

2.Like Jesus and Elijah did, we need quiet times, with God. It is in the midst of these quiet times that we receive the greatest inspiration. That time we use in worrying, could be used in thinking out solutions.

 

In Matthew 17:14-20, when the disciples of Jesus could not deliver the son of a man brought to them. They did not spend their time blaming Jesus that He did not teach them,like some blame religion,  Christianity, and  God even. etc

At their private time, what they did was to ask Jesus the reason they could not perform such miracle. Therefore, just like the apostles approached Jesus at a private  and quiet, should be a lesson we have to learn, We must learn the importance of private,silent and quiet times.

 

Quiet times are times to find out what is working and what is not working, it is a time of intense prayer, a moment with God, a time to  seek what went wrong and reevaluate new strategies.

 

Let us learn to develop our own quiet times. Do not be surprised that what we might need to solve that particular problem is just a simple idea, which always come in our silent times with God like a flash of inspiration.

 

3. Let us go back to the first reading. Do you observe that Elijah was waiting for God, in the extraordinary experiences but none happened? A mighty wind came. This wind is so strong that it tore the mountains and shattered the rocks, after the wind came the earthquake.

 

After the earthquake came a fire. In all, God was not in them. Hence, God came in a gentle manner. Do you notice that sometimes we also make this mistake of waiting for God to act in an extraordinary manner before we notice that His hands and presence are in what we do?

 

We want that Miracle to happen like an earthquake, a big thunder, a fire, a powerful extraordinary miracle, sickness vanishing immediately. We must stop expecting God to prove His presence only through extraordinary miracles.

 

Sometimes we think God is working only when something spectacular happens: when the sickness disappears immediately, when money suddenly comes, when a difficult situation changes overnight, when we receive an obvious sign, or when something dramatic happens during prayer.

 

We shout, we dance, we try to act , some ministers will begin to push somebody down so that they will feel that through the acting God is working. God often decided to works quietly and gently.

 

Sometimes We can become so busy looking for the earthquake  but God is silently talking and whispering in your heart how to save your situation. He may speak through the advice of an ordinary person. He may give you an inner conviction to forgive somebody. He may quietly remove your desire for something that would have destroyed you. He may give you peace even though the problem itself has not disappeared. He may give the grace, the strength or people that will help you pass through the waters. 

Jesus Himself often worked in this quiet way. He said: “The kingdom of God does not come with things that can be observed.”— Luke 17:20. Some of the greatest things God does in our lives begin almost unnoticed.

 

4. Do you know that sometimes, your problem is not that God does not answer your prayer. Your real problem could be that you do not have a single silent time with God.

 

Many miracles, powerful ideas, life changing inspirations happen during our quiet times with God. The Bible says “Be still, and know that I am God.”— Psalm 46:10. He did not say, be busy and know  that I am God. Sometimes what truly saves us is not how much time we spent being busy, but how much time we remain silent and still in God’s presence.

 

Elijah never encountered God in a noisy environment. Elijah encountered God in a silent whisper, in a silent breeze.

Silent moments are always transforming. This is where you can get answers to the most questions you ask about your life. This is why moments before the Blessed Sacrament can become so powerful.

 

Create deliberate periods of silence every day. Put down the phone. Stop talking. Stop scrolling. Open the Scripture. Sit before God. Sometimes, ten quiet minutes can reveal what hours of worrying could not discover.

 

5. When difficulties come, do not immediately conclude that God has abandoned you or that you made the wrong decision. Ask instead, “Lord, what are You teaching me through this?”

Do you see that in the gospel, Jesus told the disciples to get into the boat and cross to the other side. They obeyed Him, yet the Gospel says that the boat was “battling with a heavy sea.” They were doing exactly what Jesus asked them to do, but trouble still came.

 

This corrects a misunderstanding many Christians have. Sometimes we think that if we pray, serve God, go to church, and try to live well, then everything should become easy. However, the Bible never promises us a life without storms.

Do you know that you can be doing what God asked you to do and still encounter opposition? We have to understand that the presence of a storm does not automatically mean the absence of God.

 

When you encounter the storms of life, do not give up your faith. Jesus Himself said: “In the world you will have trouble. But take courage; I have overcome the world.” — John 16:33. Hence, God’s silence is not God’s abandonment.

The disciples had been struggling for hours before Jesus came during the fourth watch of the night. To them, He seemed late. But He came. Sometimes God does not prevent the storm because He intends to reveal something about Himself in the middle of it. He intervenes when you least expect. When you encounter the storms of life, Keep your faith strong always. 

 

5.Finally in the gospel just like Peter cried out while sinking in the sea, do not keep quiet and continue to die in silence.

 

If you do not know how a thing is done, cry out to people who may help you and direct you. Peter did not die in silence because He cried out. Many today are dying in silence and passing through a lot of challenges. Find people who have done what you are doing to help you. Also spend time with God and cry out to him for help.

 

The moments of our distress should be a time we have to increase our time of prayers and not a time of losing faith. So remain inspired, Be blessed and stay faithful, there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Happy Sunday and God Bless you