On the last Thanksgiving I spent with my little sister, Linda, she was all smiles. Her son was home from the Marines; her first grandchild was due that summer. Unfortunately, she would not live to see the birth. A brain disease erupted within her. We tried everything to no avail. She died before summer came. We all have been there. We are sailing along the seas of life when, seemingly out of nowhere, a tempest descends. A cancer diagnosis; a vocation terminated; a relationship ruptured; a loved one dies before our eyes. Life brings storms. Sometimes they are brutal.

Today’s story reminds us that within whatever storm we find ourselves, Jesus is with us. He comes as a compassionate companion. He understands our terrors; he grieves for our suffering; he sustains our spirit even as the storm continues to rage.

Peter finds himself within a storm. And, as promised, Jesus comes. But Peter does not trust. “If it is really you,” Peter says, “command me to walk on water” (ap). Peter can’t. He sinks. His lack of faith is exposed. Peter’s lack of faith is not that he cannot walk on water. It is that he does not trust that Jesus is with him in the storm. He demands proof. He demands the extraordinary.

The truth is, oftentimes, the storms endure. Cancer has its way; the relationship dissolves; our loved one succumbs to disease. Our faith cannot prevent it. Jesus does not promise to help us walk on water. He promises to be a compassionate companion within the boat navigating the rough seas. While such compassionate presence may not defy the laws of physics, it has the power to calm the storms of terror and anxiety swirling within us.