Jesus came to the disciples at the fourth watch which is between 3am-6am.The journey across the Sea of Galilee should have taken them two hours at the most. Now it is nearly twelve hours and they have not even traveled half way. It was not their fault that they got caught up in a storm. It was at the word of the master that they set sail. They obeyed him. Unlike Jonah who faced the fury of the storm when he disobeyed. They were unaware that it was classroom time once again and this time they got to graduate to the next level. This was the second storm they faced. The first one can be seen in Matthew 8:23-27.Here Jesus was in the boat though he was sleeping. The frantic disciples of little faith woke Jesus up and he calmed the storm. If their faith was complete and mature, they would have known that it was the Lord of the universe who created the wind and sea that was sleeping peacefully in the midst of the storm and they too would have taken a nap. Instead of snuggling up to him they were struggling without him. Either you snuggle up to the lap of Father God and trust him like a weaned child or struggle all your life and achieve nothing. When they faced the second storm things were slightly different. Jesus was not in the boat. He was on the mountain at the start of the storm and later on the sea. The disciples soon forgot the lessons learnt in the first storm. They should have remembered that they were in the will of God because it was Jesus who said to them to go to the other side. They have his Word. He did not send them to drown them in the middle of the sea. Instead of taking hold of his word they were looking at their own helplessness, the howling wind, the waterlogged boat, the angry sea and at each other sympathetically. Their attitude should have been "who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall……distress….. (Romans8:35).Jesus came to them. And when he finally did come they thought it was a ghost. Anything that does not look familiar or sound familiar or does not belong to our community or church is often seen as the ghost. When they screamed out in fear what was Jesus' reaction? Instead of throwing a life jacket to his disciples or bringing out a life boat to them he said something profound and awesome "be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid" (v27NKJV). Note that he was asking his disciples to be cheerful when they were lip deep in water! In other words when you are sinking rejoice! What would the reaction of someone be if you said "rejoice" while they were sinking?

Paul said rejoice in the Lord always. Whether in chains or in any adverse circumstances (Phil4:4).Joy is an attitude we need to cultivate. Nehemiah 8:10 says the joy of the lord is my strength. The source of our joy should be Jesus.1Thess.5:16-18 again reminds us to rejoice and give thanks in all circumstances as this is the will of God. Praise is power. Jesus told them to rejoice in the storm and not after the storm. He didn't take them to the shore safely and then commanded them to be cheerful. Rejoicing precedes miracles. Rejoicing in the midst of unforeseen situation is an outward expression of your faith. Only those who can rejoice in the storm can step out of the boat to become water walkers. Your joy level is the thermometer to gauge your faith. True faith and full faith will cause you to rejoice. Obey him with glad reckless joy!