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He's In The Boat

"Hey, let's get in the boat and row to the other side of the lake! What d'ya think?"

We all agreed wholeheartedly. It was a beautiful night. "Great idea!"

We doused the fire, tossed our gear into the boat, then climbed in and pushed off. The sky was clear and inky black, sprinkled generously with brilliant stars, twinkling like the eyes of children at play. The surface of the lake was glass. It reflected the heavens above it. Gorgeous. Nature at its best.

Then without warning, a powerful gust of wind smacked the side of our boat, then another, and another! At the same time, clouds rushed the night sky and opened above us to release sheets of rain. Waves crashed down over and over and over! We scrambled around in a frenzy, bumping into each other, slipping, sliding as the boat rocked from side to side. We yelled! We cried out as waves knocked us off our feet! We frantically tried to bail the water that was so quickly filling the boat. As we rode a sudden giant swell, I lost my footing and slid, head first, down to the stern. I would have tumbled overboard had I not caught hold of the anchor as it lay coiled on the floor. I pulled myself up, and that's when I saw Him, incredibly, asleep. ASLEEP! Through this?! No way! I couldn't believe it. This whole boat ride was His idea too! I felt anger rise within me. Why wasn't He helping?! How could He sleep?! I yelled out my accusation above the raucous of the squall. "We're all about to die, and you're sleeping! This was Your idea!" He blinked open His eyes, but instead of apologizing, jumping up, and helping bail water, He calmly looked straight into my eyes. No, that's not quite it. He looked straight through my eyes, right to my soul and said, "Do you still have no confidence in Me?" Then He told the wind and the sea to be still . . . and they obeyed Him!

As the boat settled once again on calm waters, the sky cleared. The moon and the stars appeared, but I barely noticed. I couldn't take my eyes off Him. After all I've seen. After all I've heard. After all the time I've spent in His presence. When the storm came, not only did I not trust Him, I forgot Him! Completely. I was so worried, so frantic, so busy trying to save us that I'd forgotten He was even in the boat!

That's when I realized that He'd known. When He made the suggestion to cross the lake? He knew. He knew this storm was coming. We were never in danger of capsizing or being thrown overboard. He was in the boat. He was in the boat the whole time.

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