Bail, Jesus! Bail!

I can't imagine how tired he was. Jesus was just wiped out. Super long day. Super long week. So he calls all the guys together to take a cruise. They climb in and Jesus heads down to let the lap of the water on the boat lull him to sleep. That's one of my favorite places to nap: out on a boat in the middle of the lake. Ahh...

Now, I've taught this story of Jesus calming the storm to 2 year olds for the last 10 years. It goes something like this:

Jesus and his friends got in their boats. (Pretend to climb in a boat.)
Jesus went to sleep. (Hands to cheek.)
And a storm came and the rain came down. (Pat legs like rain. Wave arms like wind.)
And the thunder crashed. (Clap hands really big.)
And the boat rocked. (Sway side to side.)
And the disciples were scared. (Show me a scared face!)
And Jesus was sleeping. (Hands to cheek.)
"Wake up! Wake up! Help us!"
And Jesus just stood up and told the storm to stop. Say it with me, "Stop, storm. Be still."

Cute. The kids get into it. It's one of my favorites to do with them. Except I've been teaching it WRONG for 10 years.

I reread this story not too long ago and, um, the disciples weren't scared until after Jesus calmed the storm. That's a seemingly small detail, but it brought up a huge question for me.

What were the disciples expecting Jesus to do when they woke him?

These guys are fisherman. They had been in storms before. They knew what needed to be done. Now, I'm not a sailor, but I did go white water rafting once. Our guide told us the most important thing we needed to know was "BAIL!" When he said "bail" we were to grab our bucket and start bailing the water out of the raft as fast as we could. I think that's what the disciples expected Jesus to do. "Get up, dude. Grab a bucket and bail!"

But instead of following their plan and meeting their low expectations, he did something that they couldn't have known was even possible to ask for. They couldn't have fathomed his response. Just tell the storm to stop. Peace. Be still. And it scared the tar out of them.

How often do I do that? I ask Jesus for help and I know exactly how I'd like him to help. I don't usually give him a laundry list, but I often ask for him to intervene in a friend's life in a specific way or ask for discernment on a decision I need to make with options A and B. I'm limited in what I think the options are. And when He answers in a way I couldn't imagine, I'm shocked and in awe. I commented to one of my Honduran friends that I don't know why I'm always so surprised when God answers my prayers. His repsonse: You're not surprised He answers, you're suprised at the way he answers.

So I think I gotta stop asking Jesus to bail.