A Chat With John - "The Storm".

We were at the lakeside just after six. The sun was still not above the mountains.

Jesus turned up at about quarter past. He looked dog-tired and I'm not surprised.

The previous day, it had been six in the morning till nine at night, all day, no let up, people crowding round, pushing him, some desperate, some argumentative, constant noise, it was awful.

Somebody across the other side of the beach shouted, "There he is!". Within a few seconds, there were two or three pointing, then eight or ten people running.

And Jesus said, "No, no, not today. Let's get in the boat. We're going over the other side".

So we got straight in Peter's boat, and pushed off. There was six of us plus Jesus.

The sun was just about to come up, and the lake was sparkling, the sky was still orange, and there was a cool breeze, and soon the shouts from shore died away, and I thought "At last, we get some peace and quiet".

Well, we hoisted the sail, and pretty soon we were making good headway.

I turned to see Jesus who was in the back of the boat, and no surprise, he was fast asleep already. Peter grinned and the others laughed. Looked like it might be a day off at last!

The gulls were up and shrieking. Diving for fish. They always followed the boats.

But then the wind picked up a little. Another ten minutes or so, and it was a strong breeze. Whistled in the rigging. And it veered. We were now into the wind. It happens. So we reefed the sail and got the oars. It was hard work, because the waves were slapping against the boat now. There was quite a bit of spray, but Jesus was still dead to the world!

Then within maybe ten minutes, the sky went grey, then black, and the rain arrived. It was like stair-rods. Kicking up the lake surface. And the wind whistle had turned to a howl.

The sea was churning by then. Pretty big waves, and with the wind like this, it was gonna get much worse.

Well, we rowed for maybe another ten minutes or so. But we were getting nowhere. My back was aching, my hands were numb and gripped around the oar, and we kept pulling.

I looked out across the lake. We were about a third of the way across, miles from the other side. And I could see row on row of waves, and about 6 waves out, one huge one. It must have been 6 or seven feet high.

I shouted to the others to get ready to pull the boat around, so it wouldn't broadside us. I shouted to Jesus too, because we needed someone to bale. We had 6 inches in the bottom of the boat. But I couldn't rouse him. Incredible. How could he sleep through this?

We made it through the big one, but of course there was another coming in the distance. A monster. It looked ten feet high. Even this far away I could see the wind whipping the foam off the top.

Then we hit a couple more waves, and we'd shipped maybe nine inches of water in the bottom of the boat. We were rowing like crazy men, but going nowhere. It was all we could do to keep facing into the waves.

I had another look, and I thought, 'we're in trouble here'. The wave was maybe 50 yards away. You couldn't see over it. It was a wall of water. Massive. I had another look at it. The storm was roaring like crazy. And that huge wave rearing up getting closer. I knew we were done for then. Every man in the boat knew of someone who had drowned in this lake, and now it was gonna take us.

Peter and the others were exhausted. Eyes stinging. Muscles burning. Still pulling the oars. But it was no good. We were being tossed about like we were in a washing machine.

I screamed at Jesus then, "Wake up, we're going down!" But still he slept. So I stretched out and kicked him on the shins!

He woke with a start - stared around, pretty bleary, and looked at me.

"We're going over! We're going over!" I screamed.

There was a little frown on his face, but not much else.

Then his face cleared. He looked at me and said, "John, I want you to hear this...."

I grabbed his arm and pointed. The wave was maybe ten seconds away. There was no doubt, we were lost. "Look at it!!"

"John", he said, "you need to hear this". But I'm not listening. I'm screaming, and the boys are shouting as the wave races closer.

"John!", says Jesus. I looked at him then. Strange. "John, you need to TRUST ME".

"Do you hear me? You need to TRUST ME! Understand?"

I nodded. I didn't trust him. He obviously had no clue about the situation. The wave was nearly on us, it was mast high.

Then something strange happened. Jesus stood up in the boat.

I mean ... no-one does that!

Not in a storm.

And I swear you will not believe what he did next.

Nor what he said!!

He turned around and faced the wave. And then he said ....

You won't believe this! He said ....

"Really???"

Like he was talking to a three year old child. And then he said, "Enough!"

And time froze.

And that wave fell like a dying man.

And when it hit the lake surface, it was flat calm.

And then there was total silence. No wind. No rattle of halyards.

We were all thinking the same thing, though no-one spoke.

I tell you, I have never been so terrified.

He sat down, and looked at us. We were soaking wet, white, wide eyed, trembling. Struggling for breath. Hearts pounding.

Then he smiled, his face softened, and he said in a quiet voice.

"I said we were going to the other side. And You need to trust me, because there's worse storms coming than this".

And then he said, and I swear he was looking just at me, "You do know, don't you, .... you're mine".

Well, I tell you, since that day, I haven't been afraid of anything.