I was thinking again this morning about New Orleans, and Hurricane Katrina and as I was designing this picture I thought how it I must seem naive to those who lived there. I continued in prayer and made a request of the Lord to explain “The Promise” to me. Here is what I said; "Lord, I understand the great flood and Noah’s righteousness in that he was spared. I feel strongly that everything I do is inspired, by You, so help me see how can I place such importance on the promise when I am sure they feel You have let them down?” Thankfully no question is to tough for Him!

Even after Noah’s days, great tragedies came upon the earth; it is not our question or our fear that interferes in our relationship with the Lord. It is our lack of faith even in the midst of adversity. When Jesus was in the boat His disciple's were fearful during the storm. Think about it! Jesus was in the boat with them. He is the Son of God. He is God! That boat was not going to sink…It is easy for us to see that now, but what about the troubles we face. Is it so different? I am thinking it is not. Let’s look at it.

Jesus Calms the Storm
Matthew 8

23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.
25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"
26 But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

Jesus Walks on Water
Matthew 14

26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid."
28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."
29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

It is not our fear the Lord is concerned with, He knows we are going to be afraid. Our lack of faith in these times is what we need to be most attentive of. We can be afraid, and never waver in our faith, knowing that the Lord is with us always even in times of trails. He will forever calm the storms of our life. Physical and emotional. We can forever hear the words of our Savior saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." Notice He said: It is I; do not be afraid. I still say He understood their fear, and was not saying do not be afraid at all, He was saying do not be afraid of me. It is I. I am here child, it’s OK, everything is going to be OK. Isn’t that what we tell others when we are trying to comfort them?

I understand, that Noah had been promised protection from the storm, and that promised was fulfilled. I am also sure that Noah and every single person on the ark were afraid as the waves tossed them. I do however believe that their faith was stronger than their fear. So I will leave you with this. I am not naive to the plight of those during difficult times. I only encourage you to look to the heavens, and remember the promises.

When we like Peter see the winds of doubt about to toss us, let us keep our eyes on Jesus. A friend of mine likes to say:

You don’t have to tell God how big your storm is, He already knows,
lean on Him, through your storm,
and tell that storm how big your GOD is

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