In today's readings we have two of my favorite readings from scripture, that of Elijah hearing the voice of God in "a tiny whispering sound" (1 Kings 19:12) and Peter reaching out to Jesus from the water after saying, "Lord, save me." (Matthew 14:30).
By this point in 1 Kings, the prophet Elijah is convinced that there is nothing more he can do for the Lord. He was even praying to God to take his life. But God had other plans for him and gave him strength to make a 40 day journey to Horeb, the name for Mount Sinai preferred by the book of Deuteronomy. After the storm and earthquakes Elijah hears the voice of God in the tiny whispering sound of the wind and feels Gods presence and comfort with him
In our Gospel, we see our Lord go off to the mountain to pray and to be in union with the Father. As the Gospel goes on, we see Jesus manifesting His divine identity by walking on the sea and saving Peter from the turbulent waters.
Both stories from today's readings shows us that when we are feeling frustrated or abandoned by God, in whatever storms we may be facing in our lives, God is always there for us, either in the quiet and solitude of prayer, or in the storm that we may be facing. God is reaching out to us.
Jesus is asking us to be strong in faith and to not doubt that He is present in all our situations in our lives, no matter what the problem is that we may be encountering. We may feel frustrated like Elijah or Peter, thinking that God is not there! But like Elijah, we have to be open to His voice by quieting our minds and being open to God's voice. We have remove all the clutter of the storms in our minds and attempt to listen to God's voice calling out to us. Then, like Peter, we can reach out to Jesus, and have Jesus restore our faith that He is present to us in all our troubles and situations in life.
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