"The same evening, Jesus suggested they cross over to the other side of the lake. With Jesus already in the boat, they left the crowd behind and set sail along with a few other boats that followed. As they sailed, a storm formed. The winds whipped up huge waves that broke over the bow, filling the boat with so much water that even the experienced sailors among them were sure they were going to sink. Jesus was back in the stern of the boat, sound asleep on a cushion, when the disciples shook him awake.
Disciples (shouting over the storm): "Jesus, Master, don't you care that we're going to die?" He got up, shouted words into the wind, and commanded the waves.
Jesus: "That's enough! Be still!" And immediately the wind died down to nothing, the waves stopped.
Jesus: "How can you be so afraid? After all you've seen, where is your faith?" The disciples were still afraid, slowly coming to grips with what they had seen.
Disciples (to one another): "Who is this Jesus? How can it be that He has power over even the wind and the waves?" (Mark 4:35-41)
Even the wind and the waves. We always talk about Jesus as being the savior, the overcomer, the prince of peace, the author and the finisher of our faith. And yes, he is all of those things and so much more.
But have we ever thought of him as the stiller of the waves?
The scripture says that there was so much water being whipped by the waves that the sailors felt like they were going to sink from the weight of the water in the boat. I can resonate with what they are feeling on so many levels. As I have mentioned before in some of my other posts, my family has been going through a lot of tribulation with my mom's passing and my grandfather's cancer. Because of all of the weight that we have had to carry this past year, I have gone through what feels like an emotional roller coaster. My family and I have been in our own boat, surrounded by waves that are crashing into us left and right. But its not just the waves that are crashing into us, but the wind also. The waves may be crashing into the boat and causing the boat to get heavy from the weight of it, but the wind is what is driving the waves full force. There feels like there is no time to catch your breath and scoop all the water out of the boat so that you can be at peace that you are not going to sink. Have you been there? Have you felt like the world's tribulations just keep crashing and crashing and crashing over you until you are too exhausted from trying to fight to keep the boat from sinking?
I have felt like this. Some days I still feel like this. But I am learning that I cannot carry the weight of the world, the water from the waves, in my boat, in my own strength, and still be at peace. I need Jesus, the stiller of the waves, to help me have faith and peace in any circumstance that I may be in. I love how Paul writes about what it looks like to have faith and be at peace in whatever situation that we are in:
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 "To keep me grounded and stop me from becoming too high and mighty due to the extraordinary character of these revelations, I was given a thorn in the flesh - a nagging nuisance of Satan, a messenger sent to plague me! I begged the Lord three times to liberate me from the anguish; and finally He said to me, "My grace is enough to cover and sustain you. My power is made perfect in weakness." So ask me about my thorn, inquire about my weaknesses, and I will gladly go on and on - I would rather stake my claim in these and have the power of the Anointed One at home within me. I am at peace and even take pleasure in any weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and afflictions for the sake of the Anointed because when I am at my weakest, He makes me strong." (voice translation)
It wasn't until the experienced sailors and the disciples were exhausted from trying to fight the storm in their own strength that they decided to wake up Jesus and ask him for help. How often do we as Christians do the same thing? Just like the disciples, we too forget who Jesus is and what power and authority he has over our situations. I think that is part of where we feel hopelessness, fear, or anxiety in our storm. We forget that Jesus is right there with us in the boat, and all we have to do is have faith that he will bring us through whatever trial we are going through, whatever waves the wind blows our way.
The story about Jesus being the stiller of the waves is an important one. It shows that Jesus can provide a different kind of miracle in our storms when everything else in life feels unsettled, out of our control, and just plain difficult. This miracle is of a different kind because it is not the kind that makes itself known through manifesting itself in the physical world like maybe a healing of the body would. It is instead the kind of miracle that makes itself known in your spirit. The kind that maybe no one else knows that you have until you share the story of the season of life that you are in right now, or the testimony of what you have walked through in the past with someone else who also needs this kind of miracle.
This miracle is simply called peace.
Jesus is our peace. He is the prince of peace, the stiller of the waves.
Let me tell you about the peace of Jesus. Peace, in worldly terms, is often defined as the opposite of chaos, a sense of order in a society or group, or freedom from disturbances in life. This is not true peace. Not the way that Jesus describes peace anyways. Because we live in a broken world, there will always be trials and tribulations that rock our boats in the storm. But what we decide to use as our anchor will depend on if our boat sinks. If we put our trust and peace in worldly things then we are not going to find true peace. However, if our boats are anchored in the true peace of Jesus, then even when it seems like the waves are surrounding us and crashing harder and harder against the boat to the point that we don't know if we are going to be able to withstand the storm, we will not only survive the storm but we will also thrive within it. I think this is a part of what the book of Philippians describes about what it means to not lean on our own understanding and have the peace of Jesus:
Philippians 4:5-7 "Keep your gentle nature so that all people will know what it looks like to walk in His footsteps. The Lord is ever present with us. Don't be anxious about things; instead, pray. Pray about everything. He longs to hear your requests, so talk to God about your needs and be thankful for what has come. And know that the peace of God (a peace that is beyond any and all human understanding) will stand watch over your hearts and minds in Jesus, the Anointed One."
Jesus has been my peace when life has been turbulent. His peace has been my anchor in the storm and the wind and the waves. When I feel like my whole world is falling apart and my mind is not at peace, then that is when I turn my thoughts and situations to Jesus. As the book of Philippians reminds us, it is only when we lay every thought, feeling, and circumstance in prayer to Jesus, will our hearts and minds find a peace that is so great that it surpasses all of our human understanding. I encourage you to bring every worry, fear, anxious thought, emotion, or circumstance that you are dealing with to Jesus today.
Dear Jesus, thank you for being our peace. Even if our situations don't change, your peace is our constant anchor in the storm when the wind and waves are too much for us to bare on our own. Help us to lay down every care and worry down at your feet today and help us to lean into the peace of Jesus that surpasses all of our human understanding. Thank you for being the stiller of the waves. In Jesus name, amen.
Commentaires