Seven years ago, my dad’s side of the family (all 18 of us) spent a week on a houseboat. We also had a tiny speedboat, so one afternoon, my dad and uncle took us kids tubing in one of the lake’s large inlets. A tall wall of trees restricted our view, so it wasn’t until the massive thunderstorm was practically on top of us that we realized we were in trouble. Uncle Kevin floored the accelerator to beat the storm back to the houseboat. We almost beat it. Almost. I’m sure our parents’ and grandparents’ prayers in that moment closely resembled the disciples’ prayer in today’s gospel: “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

We have all been victims of storms that seemingly come out of nowhere—downpours on boats, perhaps, but also storms of heartbreak, illness, injury, or losing a job or loved one. I am often like the disciples in today’s gospel. At the arrival of even the smallest of life’s storms, I am quick to say, “Lord, save me! I am perishing!” However, Jesus challenges us to see these storms not as existential threats but as opportunities to grow in faith. As St. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” With Christ in our boat, we cannot perish. Faith will not prevent every storm, but faith gives us the strength to endure and grow. Even if we struggle to see Jesus amid the storm—if he appears asleep—he is ever present and will always wake when we call him.

May our faith in Jesus inspire us to trust that he will bring growth and regeneration out of the storms we face!