My favorite thing about Soujourn Bible Church services is that there is a time for questions and open discussion after the sermon. The sermon isn’t a performance, but Wez explaining the Bible passage as an educated storyteller. Both of the weeks we have been I was very much encouraged by the discussion that came out of other people’s questions.

The first week we had covered the passage where Jesus calms the storm for the disciples of little faith. Dylan asked what I have always wondered: Are we not supposed to cry out to Jesus to save us in the storm? And Wez helpfully explained that there’s a difference between crying out with confidence in Jesus’ ability to help and crying out in anxiousness, focused more on the storm.

I was in my own little storm the first week we were here. I want to be honest, even dreams come true are not all roses. Our children were unraveling behaviorally and I felt helpless and frozen to do anything about it. I was unravelling from all the uncertainty and unsettledness. Our marriage was unravelling from parenting stress. There were moments where I wondered what I had done bringing us here. The stress was feeling like too much on our family’s relationships, and I had envisioned it drawing us closer!

So this was just the thing I needed to hear, to keep my eyes on Jesus, who is able to calm this storm, and all others. And He totally did through the generosity of real people, the Coffey’s! I can’t tell you how different and calm we are all feeling this week, like we’re grounded again. It really was a miraculous calming of our storm when we decided to stay here with them.

This last Sunday we looked at many places where Jesus healed people in Matthew 9. Wez reminded us that it’s Jesus who heals us, not our faith. Someone asked what we can take away from all these varied responses to Jesus. Some were skeptical and disbelieving, some were disobedient after they were healed. Wez said that we need to be careful to let Jesus have authority in all areas of our life, not just some.

This really convicted me, because honestly I have no problem believing that Jesus can heal us physically, raise the dead, cast out demons, and do all the things he did in the gospels still today through prayer. But it occurred to me that lately my faith is limited somewhat to what’s been recorded there. For instance, I believe he will provide for us, as he does for the birds of the air. But I have a really hard time believing he can heal my broken family relationships.

I wish there were accounts in the gospels of Jesus healing marriages or parent-child relationships. Honestly I struggle with the fact that Jesus was never married or had kids. He even seemed to have somewhat distant relations with his mother and brothers during his ministry. But this is no excuse for not giving him authority over these relationships. I only suffer for it.

At the end of Matthew 9 is the real reason why I want to give Jesus full authority over all my messy relationships. It’s because his compassion is big enough to heal it all, regardless of whether he lived it or not. “When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd.” How can I not see myself in there and lean into that compassion?

I am so thankful to be in a community that encourages questions. And I am so thankful that God welcomes them too. It wouldn’t really be faith if we had all the answers.