My mother Elinor worked as a secretary at United Airlines’ headquarters at Chicago’s Midway Airport from 1946-1951.
“We need Jesus’ eyes even more when we face those real-life adversities. We’ve heard it a thousand times — in the storm, keep your eyes on Jesus rather than the wind and the waves. It’s good counsel, but here’s an even better offer: you can look at the storm through Jesus’s eyes.”- Alan Wright, Seeing as Jesus Sees (2023)
“Here the King of all the ages, / Throned in light ere worlds could be, / Robed in mortal flesh is dying, / Crucified by sin for me.”- Cross of Jesus, Cross of Sorrow, LSB 428, v.2
“Trust him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.”- Psalm 68:2 (ESV)
Sometime prior to her marriage to Hugo Dahlke on October 31, 1903, my maternal grandmother Charlotte rejected the beliefs of the Catholic Church. She began attending church with her protestant friends. Charlotte’s marriage took place at the house of the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Milwaukee. Although her family refused to attend the wedding, they later reconciled.
Certainly, my mother Elinor carried on the courage and unwavering faith of her mother. So, in the spring of 1940, Mom took a civil service exam. Almost as an afterthought, she checked a box that indicated her willingness to go to Washington, D. C. Thus, to her surprise, in June of that year Elinor received a telegram. It asked her to report for work at the Navy Department in Washington. Mom remained there until the end of the war.
Finally, after the war, Mom decided she wanted to work for an airline. Unable to find a job in Milwaukee, she accepted a job with United Airlines in Chicago. Like Charlotte, Mom saw the storm through Jesus’ eyes.
Writing in his latest book, Seeing as Jesus Sees, Alan Wright underscores that it’s good to see the threatening world through Jesus’ eyes. Because Jesus sees the truth — and the truth sets us free. Above all, Jesus sees the storm for real. Hence, the Word of God never downplays the pain of life. Jesus never trafficked in denial. As a result, He rebuked the storm, calmed the sea, and shushed the wind for a reason. The storm was real, the waves truly surged, and the wind produced a life-threatening situation.
However, Pastor Wright observes, superficial answers never solve deep fears. And no matter how much we grow up, huge storms like the disciples encountered on the Sea of Galilee still loom large before our eyes. Consequently, we need to see the storm through Jesus’ eyes. Because Jesus viewed the storm as small.
Most significantly, Pastor Wright stresses, seeing the storm through Jesus’ eyes certainly makes them less scary. But, Alan adds, it also makes such storms kind of exciting. Furthermore, Alan points out a deep irony. No one would remember that night if they hadn’t faced the storm. For such events leave an indelible impression on our souls, Therefore, through the eyes of Jesus, adversities look more like adventures.
In conclusion, Pastor Wright exhorts, just like the storm failed to destroy the disciples, no earthly storm contains the power to sink you either. Because God created you for eternity. Thus, Alan encourages:
“Jesus, the better Jonah, threw Himself into the tumultuous waters of guilt and shame so you could be forgiven and have peace with God forever. He calmed the cosmic storm at Calvary. As author Timothy Keller says, ‘If you know He did not abandon you in that ultimate storm, what makes you think He would abandon you in the much smaller storms you’re experiencing right now?’ When the world looks scary, ask Jesus what He sees. Through Jesus’ eyes, our storms are real, but they look a whole lot smaller.”
