Wednesday: Matthew 8:23-27

Jesus calms a storm.

It sounded so simple in Carver's Beginner's Bible:

Jesus and his disciples got into a boat. They wanted to cross the sea. Jesus took a nap. The waves gently rocked the boat back and forth.

Suddenly a great storm came up. Waves splashed over the boat. Winds whipped around the disciples. They woke Jesus up and shouted, "The boat is sinking. Don't you care?"

Jesus asked, "Why are you so afraid? Don't you have any faith at all?" Then Jesus told the storm to stop. Right away it was calm.

The disciples were amazed. They said to each other, "Who is this man Jesus? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Reading this story caught me a little off-guard. It made me pause and think Why am I so afraid? Don't I have faith? Right now just feels like such a transition for our family. There are so many unanswered questions. But suddenly the how-long-are-we-going-to-live-in-family-housing-what's-going-to-happen-with-Ethan's-career storm calmed in my heart. I guess sometimes it takes reading the Beginner's Bible to have child-like faith.

I like the English Standard Version of verse 26:

"And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm."

Word Wednesday: Ephesians 4:26

"Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger"

This is another verse I came across in my Bible Study. I remember our pastor, Father Ron teaching on this passage. I found his explanation interesting; that anger itself is not a sin, but a natural and healthy reaction. Its what we do with this emotion that determines the spiritual consequence and its affect on our lives. Thankfully, Paul, the author of this letter to the Ephesians tells us what to do: resolve our anger before bedtime!