“We’re All Going to Die”
It should have been a routine crossing. The disciples and Jesus were taking what was normally a two-hour trip across the Sea of Galilee after Jesus had finished a long day of teaching.
But then the wind howled, lightning split the night sky, the waves spilled into the boat, and all their expectations about security, control, and what it meant to have Jesus with them were suddenly put to the test.
You might say they failed the test spectacularly. Horrified, they knew they were about to drown as Jesus slept through the storm.
“Teacher,” they cried out, “do you not care that we are about to die?”
They weren’t questioning whether Jesus cared for them. Their question began with the Greek οὐ, which signals that they expected an affirmative answer from a rhetorical question. They knew Jesus cared, but they were caught in the gap between what they knew about Him and what they expected in that moment.
The Danger of Unrealistic Expectations
The disciples didn’t yet know what to expect from Jesus. They were still wondering just who He was. They didn’t have our advantage of knowing Jesus through Scripture as Creator, Redeemer, and King.
However, even our present-day knowledge about Jesus doesn’t keep us from forming unrealistic expectations about Him.
It can be especially easy to think that when we’re doing this or that for God, we have some sort of immunity against the storms of life. Like more than half of American Protestant churchgoers, we may believe that if we give more, God will bless us more.
Some of the most powerful expectations we carry grow quietly inside us, some out of what we long for, others out of what we’re afraid of. We picture the life we want, or we brace for the things we hope never happen. Without even realizing it, we may start building our expectations of God around those desires and fears. And when our expectations are shattered, we’re left disappointed, afraid, frustrated, and even angry—maybe with God Himself.
The Gap Between Our Expectations and Reality
Fear lives in the gap between unrealistic expectations and reality. For the disciples, that gap was massive. They may have thought they would never face storms with Jesus in the boat, that His presence would always protect them from harm.
But when Jesus stopped the storm with only His words, “Peace, be still,” He crushed another expectation. They could imagine Him helping, but not Him commanding the wind and waves into silence! When He did, their fear shifted from drowning to terrified awe: “Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey Him!” (Mark 4:41).
We, too, may expect God to restore calm in our storms in ways we can envision, ways that allow us to return to “normal.” When God acts in ways that break our categories, the comfort of “normal” is gone. In those moments, we can either reject Him for not meeting our expectations—or we can allow Him to reshape them.
What, Then, Can We Expect from God?
The disciples were following Jesus when they were overtaken by the storm. They had gotten in the boat just as He had asked them to.
Storms should never surprise us. Jesus plainly told us that we should expect trouble in this world (John 16:33) as well as burdens (Matthew 11:28).
In fact, the ABCs of life start with Adversity and Burdens.
But here comes Comfort as we read the entirety of John 16:33 and Matthew 11:28:
“In me you may have peace…. Take heart! I have overcome the world.”
“I will give you rest…. You will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Peace in the Storm
This passage about Jesus calming the storm is not simply about His power to perform a miracle. It’s also about the danger of unrealistic expectations—expectations that come from not truly knowing God and His ways. It’s also about discovering our own expectations of God when the storm hits, when we see whether they’re built on who we want God to be or on who He truly is.
The storms of life expose the gap between our expectations and God’s ways.
Peace doesn’t come from getting the outcome we picture; it comes from knowing the One who commands the wind and the waves. Jesus may not always calm the storm, but He is always Lord of the storm and will always see you through the storm. And when we rest our expectations on His truth instead of our own, the waters may still be rough, but our hearts can be still.
