When the Waves Get Too Big

Matt 8:23, 24 “Now when He got into a boat His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep.”

Have you ever been in over your head and knew it? The disciples knew it that night (you know the rest of the story).

I received my Bachelor’s degree from Walla Walla College in the state of Washington. Eight days after graduation, I began work towards my Master degree from the same school. One thing that had attracted me to the school in the first place was their Rosario Beach Marine Research Station, situated at the southwestern tip of Fidalgo Island in the San Juan Islands. And that is where I was that summer.

One of the classes I took was Advanced Marine Invertebrates. There were five of us graduate students in the class, whom I will only identify by state of origin. Alberta had grown up on the plains of said province, and was returning to school during the summers to work on her MA (she was a high school biology teacher). California was working on his MA in hopes of gaining entrance to medical school. Ohio was in the same situation as Alberta. Oregon and I were planning on becoming college professors, and had been classmates for four years. Our instructor was only several years older than the two of us, having received his MA while we were sophomores. I will only say that we were as experienced in boating as was Matthew the tax-collector.

We took a four day field trip into the northern San Juans, at the southern end of the Strait of Georgia, which runs northerly between Vancouver Island and the British Columbia mainland. We wanted to collect deep water specimens for our class, and where we were headed the water is a little over 100 fathoms (600 feet) deep. We were on the station’s forty-five foot fishing boat, and the weather was great when we set out.

After a day's worth of sailing, we were in deep water. The net had been on the bottom for only a short while when a squall line hit us from out of the strait. I’d seen and been in large waves on Puget Sound before, but these came up so fast that we were caught quite unawares (Can somebody say we weren’t paying attention to what was going on around us? Thanks.) If the Coast Guard had boarded us, we would have been cited for numerous violations. None of us were wearing life jackets. Our radio did not work. Our small boat that would have served as a life boat was firmly lashed amidships.

As soon as the waves hit, Alberta grabbed a life jacket, climbed to the bench at the small flying bridge on top of the cabin and held on for dear life. The spray coming over the bow into her face was not exhilarating. In fact much of the salty liquid running down her face was tears. She was admittedly terrified.

The net was still on the bottom, acting much like an anchor. That wasn’t too bad, except to get it back onto deck using the short boom required pulling it up over the side of the boat. What we didn’t know was that the net was filled with a bunch of boulders. So when we started winching it up, it tended to give quite a list to the boat. California thought we were going to capsize, panicked, and grabbed an ax to cut the line to the net. Ohio became quite irate at this, and threatened California with bodily harm (he actually threatened to toss him overboard if he didn’t put the ax down.)

Oregon and I were so intent on getting our specimens that we continued to work the winch, becoming frustrated that no one was helping us. Our instructor was at the helm, trying to keep the boat from becoming broadside in the waves, and was at a loss as to what to do to help any of us. We were in over our heads and we knew it.

I am sure that we, each in our own way and time, reached the same point the disciples did two thousands years ago- we went to the Lord in great need of help. Oregon and I managed to get the net with its rocks and crushed specimens aboard and our instructor got the boat turned around. About an hour later we were in a safe harbor at Sucia Island.

People respond in different ways when faced with extreme situations. When you feel like panicking, the Lord is the answer. When you feel terrified, the Lord is the answer. When you feel like you’re becoming combative, the Lord is the answer. When you feel like you have to go it alone and nobody is there to help you, the Lord is the answer. When you are so intent on your own interests that you don’t know what’s going on around you, the Lord is the answer. When you’re expected to be in charge and know what to do, but you can’t think of anything to do, the Lord is the answer. If fact, when it is all boiled down to basics, the Lord is always the answer.

Now, where did I leave my foghorn?

Dr. G