The Ballad of Gilligan’s Island: “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship. The mate was a mighty sailin’ man, the Skipper brave and sure, Five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour, a three hour tour. The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost, the Minnow would be lost.”

But what happens when the storms of life leave the confines of the screen and intrude unexpectedly in our lives? What happens when our once fearless courage begins to waver? What do we do when our worst nightmare becomes a reality? What do we do when the very presence of suffering in our lives begins to challenge everything we thought we believed? When we begin to wonder if God really cares about us?

Here’s why this is important: It is a fact that you and I will face storms in this life. How do we make sense about these things? Where is God when life all of a sudden breaks bad? Is He good? Can he be trusted when it all goes wrong? Does God even care? How do we know?

These are some of the questions we’ll ponder today as we look at an amazing account from the life of Jesus when he took a short boat trip with his disciples across the Sea of Galilee when the weather started getting rough, and their tiny ship was tossed. And these disciples, many of whom had spent their lives on the same waters, and the courage of these once fearless, storm-hardened fishermen—mighty sailin’ men, brave and sure—evaporated, and even worse, they lost all faith. 

And what is perhaps even more astonishing is the dread that fell upon then once they were rescued and had had survived the storm of their lives.