I had a rough sea crossing the other week on a short outing from Newhaven to Dieppe. There was a gale and we were warned against going on deck. From the ferry you could see the rise and fall of the sea and smaller boats in the English Channel perilously bobbing up and down.

On board there was a gentle motion on account of the stabilisers which counter the rocking we’d otherwise have felt directly. It was a great parable of Christian faith which doesn’t take you out of troubled seas but helps you sail through them with peace passing understanding.

The same week I’d experienced a bereavement. Whilst the pain of loss was there I found it allayed by knowledge of the risen Lord, through whom we know life is changed and not ended by death. 

Jesus Christ is our stabiliser as we voyage through the stormy seas of life. His Church - the immense body it is - sails like a boat towards the eternal shore and, as the song goes, ‘with Jesus in the boat you can smile at the storm’. 

You can smile, but, as on my ferry, you still feel the sea’s movement. No boat is aloof in a storm even if its passengers benefit from those wonderful stabilisers below deck.

Like me you may be travelling now through a storm in your life. Put faith in Jesus Christ as your stabiliser and keep fellowship with others in the ferry which is his Church. You’ll one day reach harbour and be part of the rejoicing felt after a stormy voyage!