Even the rain

So yesterday in my town, just a mile from my, er, my rental house, train cars were being dropped from the sky like something out of a Godzilla movie.

About 10:30 a.m. it was darker than a moonless night. The wind was singing like someone from the New Orleans opera. The occasional stripping of lightning was impressive to say the least. Lights flickered like the lightning bugs of old.

Yet, through it all, through it all, God was God.

One Monday (hey, it's my story, too), "while they were ailing, he (Jesus) fell asleep. Gale-force winds swept down on the lake. The boat was filling up with water and they were in danger. So they went and woke Jesus, shouting, 'Master, Master, we're going to drown!' But he got up and gave orders to the wind and the violent waves. The storm died down and it was calm. He said to his disciples, 'Where is your faith?' Filled with awe and wonder, they said to each other, 'Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!'  "

You want to know the most impressive, most unlikely part of the story? It's not the fact Jesus got up and gave orders to the wind and waves. It's not the fact the storm died down and was calm. It's not even the fact the disciples were filled with awe and wonder.

Nah. It's the fact they went to Jesus, woke him and said they were going to drown. If I'm going down and I have so little faith my master asks me where it is, I wouldn't have gone to a man to tell him we're drowning in the first place, would I?

In other words, the fact that they had enough faith to go to Jesus int he first place is incredible, isn't it?

Oh, these guys. These guys.

They get such a bad rap, but quite frankly they knew enough, had seen enough, had experienced enough to realize that whomever this Jesus is, he's better than anything I've ever known.

I believe that when the storm starts dropping train cars off elevated tracks, we all turn somewhere, don't we?

But the fact is we don't have to let it get that far before we turn to him, now do we? The storm doesn't have to get so bad that it's dark-night at dawn, does it? The storm doesn't have to be especially dangerous before we thank him, call on him, scream and shout at him, does it?

We are people of little faith, granted, but I believe through it all, through it all, my Lord is there. Sometimes we have to step out, as it were, but all the time, he is there.

Today, as the skies start to darken again, let's turn to him before the fain, and the wind, and the train cars start to drop. Let's turn to him and thank him for even the rain.