Bedtime Stories

Late one evening, after a long day of teaching the crowds, Jesus turned to His friends and said, 'Let's cross over to the other side of the lake.' So Peter, James, John, and the other disciples climbed into a little wooden fishing boat, untied the rope, and pushed away from the shore. Jesus was very tired. He went to the back of the boat, laid His head on a soft cushion, and quickly fell fast asleep. The sky was peaceful at first. The water was calm, the boat rocked gently, and the disciples were quiet so as not to wake their friend. But the Sea of Galilee is a strange and tricky lake. It sits low between high mountains, and sometimes, without any warning, fierce winds rush down through the valleys and stir the water into great wild waves. All at once, the wind began to howl. The little boat rocked back and forth. Big waves crashed over the sides. Water poured in faster than the disciples could bail it out. Lightning flashed. Thunder boomed. The boat tipped one way, then the other. Even though many of the disciples were strong fishermen who had been on this lake all their lives, they had never seen a storm like this. 'We're going to drown!' they shouted. 'Help!' And there, in the back of the boat, Jesus was still sleeping peacefully on His cushion, as though everything was perfectly fine. The disciples scrambled toward Him, shaking Him gently. 'Master! Master! Wake up! Don't You care that we are going to die?' Jesus opened His eyes and stood up. He was not afraid at all. He did not even raise His voice. He simply looked out at the wild wind and the angry waves and said three quiet words: 'Peace. Be still.' And in that very moment — as if the wind itself had ears — the storm obeyed. The howling wind dropped to a whisper. The huge crashing waves smoothed into a gentle ripple. The clouds slipped away. The stars came out, one by one, and shone like tiny lamps on the still, dark water. Everything was quiet. So quiet that you could hear the soft drip-drip of water falling from the sail. Then Jesus turned to His friends with kind eyes. 'Why were you so afraid?' He asked gently. 'Where is your faith?' The disciples stood in the boat looking around at the calm lake, then back at Jesus. Their hearts were full of wonder. They whispered to one another, 'Who is this? Even the wind and the waves listen to Him!' Sometimes, even today, big scary storms come into our lives — not storms of wind and rain, but storms inside our hearts: worries, sadness, fears that feel too big. When that happens, we can remember the little boat on the dark lake, and the quiet voice of Jesus saying, 'Peace. Be still.' He is right there with us, and He is never, ever afraid. And just like the wind and the waves, our worries can settle down too, when we trust the One who made the sea.

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