Reflections on Matthew 8:26

He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

Matthew chapter 8 holds many stories of healing, the leper, the Centurion’s servant, the demon possessed men, but what often strikes me is Jesus’ power to calm the waters and weather.

It shouldn’t really be surprising since everything, including the weather patterns and the waters of the Earth are all God’s creations.

Recently, I’ve been diagnosed with arthritis in my back, and for a while I was in denial.  I didn’t want to have arthritis in my back!  I know how it works and what it does to the body!  I’ve had arthritis for years in my knees, and more recently, I’ve showed signs of it in my hands, fingers and hips as well, but then to discover it’s in my back devastated me.  

And for 2 weeks, it completely destroyed my freedom of movement.  Sitting, standing, laying down, walking, even just going to the toilet led to excruciating pain.  I knew if I was patient enough the pain would pass. Arthritis, although a long term ailment, comes and goes like the tides of our planet.  There’ll be days where I’ll forget I have it, and there’ll be days where the pain is so great that I dread getting out of bed.

I didn’t think to pray to God to heal my arthritis. I did pray to God to heighten my tolerance of pain so that I may learn to live with it.  Accepting that arthritis is an age-related issue, I don’t know why I didn’t think to ask God to just heal me instead.  It is in his power after all.

I’m reminded of Jesus’ words in the boat, “Oh ye of little faith!”  The funny thing is, I put all my faith into God to help me ride through the pain and just to get through every day that my back tortures me, and I did pray to God for healing every day, at the very least to lessen my pain.

But I do often question if I had just enough doubt in my mind that Jesus would heal this ailment.

God has performed countless miracles on me in the past re other parts of my body, and I’ve lost count of how many times He has physically saved my life, yet I didn’t think to put all my trust in God to take the pain away completely.

Today was Mother’s day, and I feel I’ve been blessed with another miracle tonight when I woke up from my nap to discover that my back pain was minimal.  I would class it as a 1/10.  The twinges are still there, and the dull ache, but compared to the excruciating and intolerable pain I’ve had to deal with for the past two weeks, these twinges are nothing.

I’m reminded once again just how powerful God is, and the miracles He can perform.  I haven’t stopped thanking Him tonight for this healing.

Arthritis is a long term thing, yes, and here in Australia, we are one month away from Winter, so I know my back will flare up again.  But I also know with God’s help and grace, I have the confidence to get through every physical challenge my body throws at me.

I’m no longer saying I’m having a war with my body.  I understand that my body is ageing, but I know God is with me every step of the way, holding my hand, telling me to keep my eyes on him, and I will get through this. He will stay by my side always, as He has always done in the past.  I just need to stop fearfully looking at the choppy waters ahead of me and continue to put my faith in God.