Increase Our Faith, O Lord

As I read the Gospel for this Sunday the picture that came to mind was of Jesus who had stepped away from the crowds he was teaching to be alone, perhaps to refresh himself, rest a bit, and to spend some time in conversation with his Father, only to lift his eyes to see his disciples in trouble – again!

Jesus immediately responded by walking out onto the sea and quieting the wind. I can only imagine that he could see the fear in the eyes of his disciples as he approached them, as they were certain that their lives were at the mercy of this storm. How often do we in the midst of a “storm” in our lives, look to Jesus for his assistance? And then, giving ourselves to him we trust Jesus, or do we? Perhaps we are like Peter who took his eyes off of Jesus too soon only to succumb to fear once again. It is difficult to remain focused especially if we are in fear of something.

We might well apply this scenario of Jesus and Peter to something like waiting for test results as we are dealing with a medical issue that seems unexplainable. Many people search for months along with their doctors to explain why they are experiencing pain or other symptoms.

Our bodies, like our lives, are complex. When dealing with uncertainty about our health, the faithful call upon Jesus to be with them, to give them strength, to save them. Sometimes it is serious enough to be a plea to save their lives. We find comfort in knowing that Jesus hears us and desires to answer our prayers. But do we stay focused on Jesus, especially when we get a diagnosis we do not like? Or do we drift off thinking that we are in this storm by ourselves? Oh we of little faith! We must remain focused on Jesus. We must trust that Jesus will be with us and will see us through things that we cannot imagine that we can accomplish; like Peter walking on the water toward Jesus.

We must remain strong in faith, confident that Jesus will see us through even the roughest storms in life. So often we wonder, what do people who have no faith or do not believe in God do when life gets difficult? By our baptism we have been gifted with faith and we are made strong as we grow in our relationship to God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But it takes desire and discipline to not lose sight of our faith in Jesus and our knowledge of how much we are loved. Let us together pray for an increase in faith, trusting that Jesus is with us as we weather the storms of life and for strength to not turn away in fear.

Blessings and Peace,

Deb Rudolph