“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.” Luke 8:24 ESV
Reflection: do you think it is possible to modify the weather ?
The topic of weather modification is old. In fact very old. People have been idolizing the weather since the beginning of time, because of the awesome power on display. For instance in my own culture, the Vikings worshipped Thor, the god of thunder. Across the world, people have been doing all sorts of prayers, dances and rituals in hopes of changing the weather, such as rain for the farmers.
If you spend just a bit of time researching this topic in our “modern world”, you will find that we are still at it. However, we are (mostly) using science to do things like cloud seeding for rain, and possibly various systems to direct weather. Some even believe some of the extreme weather we see these days is man made. Not to get too controversial, but clearly man has a long-standing desire to control weather, so perhaps we should not be too surprised. Or perhaps man’s desire is more accurately to control nature. And we do see this pursuit out of control where some even promote that we can change and control the earth’s climate.
Ok, before iI completely lose you, let’s look at a well known weather modification story. “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,” Luke 8:22 ESV. Jesus fell asleep, and suddenly they find themselves in the middle of a storm. “ And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.” Luke 8:23b ESV. Notice, it was
A sudden windstorm.
The disciples being scared for their lives, woke Jesus up, “he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm.” And commentaries often settle for what Luke writes in the last verse, that Jesus has authority also over nature. Let’s read “He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”” Luke 8:25 ESV
But it is such a strange story, and we have to ask ourselves why is it included in the Bible? Of course we know Jesus has control over the weather – he is the Creator of all. But let’s dig a bit deeper here, what else he might be trying to tell us. Did you notice that Jesus was challenging the disciples on their faith? Why? This was weather, right, what does faith have to do with it? Notice again how this weather occurred. “a windstorm came down on the lake”. Came down? It doesn’t sound like a typical storm. And if you have been to the Sea of Galilee, you know this lake is actually not a large body of water.
If you think about it, there is a spiritual dimension to the way Jesus responds to this situation. He “rebuked” the wind and the waves, “commanded” them as he did with other spiritual forces. If we look at it in that light, this boat carrying the disciples and Jesus were under attack, as they were on their way to the other side. The lack of faith of the disciples was also similar to them not being able to command, and cast out unclean spirits at times.
I believe the Lord is also telling us with this story that sometimes what is happening around us, yes, even the weather, is spiritually driven. Can be an attack. And that we too, as children of God, disciples of Christ, have authority to rebuke such an attack. All we need is faith.