She was among an eager group of four-year-old children crowded around my feet as I taught their Sunday school lesson. I was the teacher and they were the students – or at least that’s how it started out. The pint-sized audience listened intently as I tried to create a mental image of Jesus and His disciples trapped in a thunderstorm on the Sea of Galilee.

“The winds bleeeeeeew and rocked the little boat back and forth, back and forth. The waves were soooooo big; they splashed over the wooden sides and got the men all wet. Then water started filling up the boat – and do you know what happens when a boat gets full of water?”

“It sinks,” they chimed together.

“That’s right.” I continued with a wrinkled brow and concerned look on my face. “That’s not all. The lightening was sooooo bright, it looked like fire in the sky. And the claps of thunder were sooooo loud, they could feel them vibrate in their chests.”

After painting this picture of impending doom and thinking I would have my “congregation” just a little worried about the fate of these men trapped in a storm, I asked the question. “Now if you were in a tiny boat like this, caught in a terrible storm like this, would you be afraid?”

Then one precious little girl, confident and unshaken by the entire scenario, shrugged her shoulders and replied, “Not if Jesus was in the boat with me.”

I will never forget that answer. As her words have echoed in my mind, I’ve come to realize that this is the answer that calms all my worries and fears. Just as the disciples had the storm raging all around them, many times the storms of life rage around me. A friend discovers she has cancer, a husband loses his job, a child is born with birth defects. These are storms with waves of emotions so high that our lifeboat fills with tears and appears that it could sink at any moment. Waves of fear that rock our boat and threaten to spill us into the depths of despair without even a life jacket to keep us afloat. Storms that cause us to doubt who we are, what we have, and where we are as a child of God. Waves of emotions that rock our faith.

“Tell me, would you be afraid?”

“Not if Jesus was in the boat with me.”

And guess what. He is! Although the pain may be great, I don’t need to be afraid that the storms of life will destroy me, because He’s in the boat with me and that gives me great peace.

After the children filed out and were off to Sunday lunches throughout the city, I sat in the room to digest the words of the real teacher that day. It was childlike faith in its purest form. The little girl believed God.

Prayer for today: Dear Lord, help me to have the faith of a child today. In the areas where my faith is weak, make me strong. In the areas where my faith is strong, make me stronger. I give all my worries and cares to You, knowing that You will never leave or forsake me, and that You care about the intricacies of my daily life. In Jesus’ name. Amen

Application Steps: On a piece of paper, write down something that you are presently worried about. Place that slip of paper into an envelope, seal it, and write God’s name on the outside of the envelope. As you seal that envelope, consider that burden “mailed” to God.

~*~

Sharon Jaynes is an international conference speaker and author of ten books including Being a Great Mom-Raising Great Kids, Becoming the Woman of His Dreams, and Becoming a Woman Who Listens to God. For information about Sharon’s books or speaking topics, visit www.sharonjaynes.com.