It was a good day for lake trout fishing. Lake Superior was like blue reflective glass as I stowed my gear on Pete’s 14’ lake boat. Our plans were to head for the deep, cold waters out about a mile due north of the Ore docks where at the moment a gigantic ore freighter’s belly was being loaded with hundreds of rail cars of milled iron balls from the several mines the dotted the Upper Peninsula of Michigan’s landscape. I watched as one after another immense chute was lowered and the ore flowed. Pete’s yell from the stern was barely audible over the thunder of the iron cascade.
“Cast off the bow rope, would ya!”
With a nod I did as asked. Now my attention was on our goal, bringing home enough monster trout to line my smoke house and keep both of us in savory jerky for the winter, this would probably be the last time we would get out before Superior would ice up as winter approached. Pete’s boat chugged out of the harbor with a cloudless blue sky above blending with the calm lake in perfect harmony. I sat in the bow chair and felt the joy of being on the water again.
In less than 15 minutes we were out of view of the land and nearing the waters we sought for deep fishing. As I broke out my gear and opened the bait buckets, I noticed a shift in the wind as it now blew as a headwind from the north and the once calm lake began to churn a bit. I called back to Pete at the wheel in the stern house,
“We’re picking up a north wind, did you check the forecast before we came out today?”
Pete shrugged as if to confirm he had not. He yelled back,
“No, did you?”
It was my turn to shrug and before I could speak again, I saw the once blue sky begin to swirl, as dark greenish black clouds moved in. My stomach began to churn also, I knew a Lake Superior squall was moving in fast and we needed to head back to a safe harbor. Pete was already ahead of me and had reversed direction now heading south at full speed. Could we outrace the storm? If not would the little lake boat weather, it? My heart raced as the first drops of rain fell as I was about to experience the ‘perfect storm’.
The other day I was talking with my friend Cheri and she was telling me about a devotion she had just finished. The title of it was, “Steward Your Storms”. As she spoke, images of this day so many years ago came to my mind. It was not the first time. There have been many days since I have come to accept Jesus as my Savior that I have thought of it. Acknowledging that not every day has been smooth sailing, there are still storms. Days when I feel I am back in that boat trying to outrun a squall that is about to overtake me. In the year 2020 there have certainly been more of those than I have experienced before. Maybe it is the same for you! But that is where the conversation Cheri and I had comes in. The question is not about the storm but how we ‘steward’ them.
I am sure most of you who have read the Gospels might be thinking about another boat and another storm. Over two thousand years ago on the far away Sea of Galilee. The Gospel of Luke tells the story this way:
One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So, they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement, they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” (Luke 8: 22-25)
Why was Jesus so calm even sleeping in the middle of the storm as his disciples quaked in fear? Why do we do the same today when the storms of 2020 rock our boats? I think, sadly, for us the answer is still the same. Jesus said it then and he says it to us now,
“Where is your faith?”
If we have faith in the One who calmed the storm. The One who even commands the wind and the water, then it is time for us to believe he allows storms so we can steward them in a way that will change the way we approach our day to day lives!
The word steward can be a noun or a verb. The noun speaks of a person who is in charge, who is responsible. While the verb is the action that comes from that, to manage or to direct. When we steward our storms, we no longer let them direct our lives, throwing us to and fro with every wave. We acknowledge that God allows storms to strengthen our faith and to understand we have the power through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to find peace in the storm because we know who has the power to calm the water and the wind every day. Every minute. With Christ living in us we submit our fears in faith to him. He becomes the steward of our lives and we become the stewards of our storms. From this He will create good from bad and spread peace in the midst of turmoil. It can happen today to each of us if we have faith and prayerfully surrender our fears to Him. Are you ready, I sure am!
Back in that boat the storm caught Pete and me! In the midst of the storm, we could no longer tell exactly where we were. Compasses could be messed up in an area that had so much magnetic iron in the ground. I bailed as Pete tried to keep the boat on a southernly course. Some way or another we came to shore about 2 miles from where we had launched. In those days I did not believe that there was a God who directed us in storms. But as I look back at it today, I know that He has been in my life through every storm and has whispered, “Where is your faith?” Today, near the end of this extraordinary year, I am more willing than ever to turn control of my boat over to Him. To take responsibility for my sins, to confess them and pray,
“Father help me to steward the storms, as I seek the indwelling of the Holy Spirit! In the name of He who commands the wind and water! Amen!
Blessings
John
12/9/20
