Daily Bible Reading 11th July 2026 // Luke 8:22-25
22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marvelled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
There is something else, however, of great importance to be learned from this story: there is some evidence for supposing that it may not have been our Lord's will to perform this miracle at this point, at least not in this way. Look at the facts: it was our Lord Himself Who directed the disciples over to the other side of the lake (22). He must have known a storm was to come; yet He deliberately directed His disciples into it. Surely He had a purpose in this? Could it be that He was intending them to learn how to pass through storms, trusting in His unfailing presence with them? If this be so, then He stilled the storm not because strong faith called forth His power, but because their faith was weak! He did, in fact, chide them about their little faith (25). What if this was a storm which He wanted them to go through, and in which He wanted to teach them deep and lasting lessons for the gospel's sake in days to come? What if there were lessons that they could have learned only if the storm had not been stilled and they had to endure right to the bitter end? And would things have been different for them in another storm - that in Pilate's judgment hall - if they had been able to learn the lesson of standing firm and immovable in time of storm? This may be taught by the symbolism of Christ asleep in the boat, seemingly unaware of the fear and the heart-cries of His people. Ah, we must learn to trust Him. He that keepeth Israel slumbers not nor sleeps. He often delays His help, to test our faith and make it strong. And His seeming unwillingness to work a miracle for us may be an evidence not of lack of faith on our part to elicit it, but of His confidence in us that we do not need one, and will be better served by the storm raging on than by its being calmed. Does this say something to someone today?