“He said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Our weather yesterday was gross most of the day. Today’s not promising to be much better. It wasn’t particularly cold, which was nice, but it was rainy and windy and overcast all day. Then, yesterday afternoon it got foggy out of nowhere. It was the kind of thick pea soup fog you usually only see in the morning except it was at 3:00 in the afternoon. Driving toward on particular intersection, I couldn’t see the traffic signal until I was almost through the intersection itself. It reminded me of another thing in thankful for. Today I’m thankful for not being able to see tragic signals.

Now, just for the record, I did manage to lay eyes on the little, red circle floating in the air before I went blazing through the busy intersection. That being said, I love foggy weather. I love walking in it. I love driving in it carefully. I love the rainy weather we had last night. I love hearing thunder echo through the heavens. I love weather. Except blazing hot weather. I don’t care for that at all.

I suspect part of the reason I love weather like that is because I mostly have the ability to enjoy it from inside the safety and comfort of my house. In the ancient world, weather that was anything other than pleasant was likely not quite the same enjoyable affair that it is for me. It was especially unnerving when you were rowing along in a little boat on the Sea of Galilee when a wild storm blew up from out of nowhere as was a fairly common occurrence in that part of the region.

As the disciples were sailing across the lake one particular evening after a long day of listening to Jesus teach the crowds, the very thing happened. They had Jesus with them, but he was asleep in the front of the boat. Meanwhile, they were doing everything they could to keep the boat from capsizing and them all from drowning. Finally, they cried out to Jesus for help. How could He not know they were all about to die? How could He just sleep through a gale like this?

Jesus finally woke up, scolded them a bit for their lack of faith, and then told the storm to can it. And it did. The disciples freaked out. If you or I had been there, we would have too. Jesus did something that no one else had ever done or would do after. We joke about having control over the weather, but we rather decidedly don’t. But Jesus did. He still does.

Because He does, we can be thankful for the weather. Now, that doesn’t mean we don’t still occasionally have scary weather, destructive weather, deadly weather. We do. And it can get bad. But we know beyond a shadow of doubt that our God is bigger than the weather. He is perfectly capable of keeping us safe in it, whatever it happens to be. But even if not, He’s still bigger than that, and if our trust is in Him, we’ll still be with Him anyway.

I’m thankful for not being able to see traffic signals because it is a reminder that I serve a God in whom I can place my trust. He’s big enough and strong enough and good enough that I don’t have to worry. I just need to trust. I’m thankful for that. The same can be true for you if you’re willing to accept it.