[Mark 4: 39-40] And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was great calm. Then He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? Do you still have no faith?”
I awoke early this morning and slipped on some clothes to get an early start at the office. As I stepped down off our front porch in the darkness, I felt a rain drop pelt my head and then my arms. With each step the rain drops fell more frequently and heavily. I managed to get in my truck before being deluged.
I backed out of the driveway and drove the short distance to my office having to use my wind shield wipers for the first time in a long time. As I drove the rain became more intense. Once reaching the parking lot I raced from my truck to the front door with some books in hand trying to keep them dry. When I sat down at my desk I immediately went online and checked the weather radar. Heading our way was a major rain storm and I had only felt the first drops of the leading edge. The front setting off the storm on the radar stretched from Tulsa, OK all the way south of Austin. The radar was bright with the colors green, red and yellow indicating the severity of the storm. The approaching tempest took me by surprise as I had not watched the weather report the past several days.
Life can be like that too. Storms can suddenly pound our lives like Hurricane Ike pounded the Gulf Coast region only weeks ago. I am referring to storms like bad health, dysfunction in families, financial devastation, and emotional trauma. There are others to be sure. The storms of life are not respecter of persons. They can pummel the poor and the rich, the long time Paradise residents as well as the “move ins”, the influential as well as those living in obscurity. These storms impact young and old, the religious and nonreligious. No one is exempt.
Life’s storms can come in the form of emotional trauma over losing a spouse way too soon and being forced to learn how to endure life alone. They come in the shape of relational conflict with others or more subtly disguised as a string of bad luck like broken down vehicles, house repairs, and minor sicknesses. Multitudes clench their fists and through grinding teeth blame and curse God. Accusations are hurled at Him that He does not care about people and that He must not be in control.
This was the disciple’s attitude toward Jesus while He slept in the midst of a storm out on the sea. The disciples blamed Jesus of not caring that they were about to die. The truth is they were not about to die. Jesus was and still is firmly in control even though it may not look that way from our perspective.
That is when Jesus simply spoke these words, “Peace! Be still!” The word peace translates as “hush, stillness, involuntary stillness” while the words be still translate as “muzzle.” If He was able to calm and muzzle a physical thunderstorm can He not also do that in the storms we face whether they come unexpectedly or not. He is more than sufficient to still our hearts in the midst of chaos. He is able to muzzle the storms we face and provide our souls with tranquility when all else is unraveling at the seams.
Jesus questions to the disciples are still relevant for us today. Why are we so afraid? Why do we not have faith? If you could see your storm from God’s perspective or see it like radar on a screen you would see that storms have a beginning and ending. Even as I finish writing this article the radar tells me the thunderstorm outside is more than half way over. In less than hour the winds will become calm, the rain will cease, and the thunder will fade away in the distance. We can trust Jesus in the storms of our lives to bring calmness and stillness to our situations but to also give us the strength to endure them.
I’d like to conclude this article with a poem written by William Cowper well over 200 years ago. The storm Cowper faced was chronic depression. He battled it his whole life, attempting suicide on numerous occasions and spending time in an insane asylum. Cowper penned these words after coming through a dark storm of melancholy. “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. You fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds you so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace; behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.”
I awoke early this morning and slipped on some clothes to get an early start at the office. As I stepped down off our front porch in the darkness, I felt a rain drop pelt my head and then my arms. With each step the rain drops fell more frequently and heavily. I managed to get in my truck before being deluged.
I backed out of the driveway and drove the short distance to my office having to use my wind shield wipers for the first time in a long time. As I drove the rain became more intense. Once reaching the parking lot I raced from my truck to the front door with some books in hand trying to keep them dry. When I sat down at my desk I immediately went online and checked the weather radar. Heading our way was a major rain storm and I had only felt the first drops of the leading edge. The front setting off the storm on the radar stretched from Tulsa, OK all the way south of Austin. The radar was bright with the colors green, red and yellow indicating the severity of the storm. The approaching tempest took me by surprise as I had not watched the weather report the past several days.
Life can be like that too. Storms can suddenly pound our lives like Hurricane Ike pounded the Gulf Coast region only weeks ago. I am referring to storms like bad health, dysfunction in families, financial devastation, and emotional trauma. There are others to be sure. The storms of life are not respecter of persons. They can pummel the poor and the rich, the long time Paradise residents as well as the “move ins”, the influential as well as those living in obscurity. These storms impact young and old, the religious and nonreligious. No one is exempt.
Life’s storms can come in the form of emotional trauma over losing a spouse way too soon and being forced to learn how to endure life alone. They come in the shape of relational conflict with others or more subtly disguised as a string of bad luck like broken down vehicles, house repairs, and minor sicknesses. Multitudes clench their fists and through grinding teeth blame and curse God. Accusations are hurled at Him that He does not care about people and that He must not be in control.
This was the disciple’s attitude toward Jesus while He slept in the midst of a storm out on the sea. The disciples blamed Jesus of not caring that they were about to die. The truth is they were not about to die. Jesus was and still is firmly in control even though it may not look that way from our perspective.
That is when Jesus simply spoke these words, “Peace! Be still!” The word peace translates as “hush, stillness, involuntary stillness” while the words be still translate as “muzzle.” If He was able to calm and muzzle a physical thunderstorm can He not also do that in the storms we face whether they come unexpectedly or not. He is more than sufficient to still our hearts in the midst of chaos. He is able to muzzle the storms we face and provide our souls with tranquility when all else is unraveling at the seams.
Jesus questions to the disciples are still relevant for us today. Why are we so afraid? Why do we not have faith? If you could see your storm from God’s perspective or see it like radar on a screen you would see that storms have a beginning and ending. Even as I finish writing this article the radar tells me the thunderstorm outside is more than half way over. In less than hour the winds will become calm, the rain will cease, and the thunder will fade away in the distance. We can trust Jesus in the storms of our lives to bring calmness and stillness to our situations but to also give us the strength to endure them.
I’d like to conclude this article with a poem written by William Cowper well over 200 years ago. The storm Cowper faced was chronic depression. He battled it his whole life, attempting suicide on numerous occasions and spending time in an insane asylum. Cowper penned these words after coming through a dark storm of melancholy. “God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. You fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds you so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust Him for His grace; behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.”
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