Through the Storm
We have a boatload of wind and rain in the forecast here on California’s Central Coast. It’s that time of year, when the days are shorter that I don’t mind the rain as much – we need it after all. If you’ve ever driven by the ocean during the storm or been brave (or foolish) enough to go for a swim, you’ll know that when storms and oceans come together chaos ensues.
It’s with that picture in mind I want to bring us to Mark Chapter Four. Jesus has just finished teaching parables to a crowd by the sea. As the sun is setting, he says to His disciples, “Let us go across to the other side (of the sea).”
This is about an eight-mile trip across the Sea of Galilee, and as they are progressing on, a windstorm comes upon them. Now, we have to remember that a number of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen by trade. They are well acquainted with life at sea. They know these waters with a degree of expertise. This makes their response to the storm all the more valid.
It’s likely dark at this point, or at least dusk. The waves are increasing in size seemingly by the minute. The wind is slapping their faces with water picked up from the sloshing waves. All the while, Jesus is asleep in the stern (Mark 4:38a).
They’ve seen wind and waves before and they are tending to the situation, employing the practices they’ve no doubt performed many times, practices learned by trade and from their fathers before them. But a moment comes. I’d like to think it’s one of those “stand still” moments, where everyone stops in the midst of chaos, looks around and someone in the group says, “we need help – or we’re not going to make it.”
There’s a collective understanding now that this storm is now bad enough that it could take their very lives. Someone runs down to wake Jesus and says, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing” (v.38b)?
Then something far more frightening takes place. Even greater than the present storm that seems moments away from taking them down. “And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm” (v.39).
In the dead calm, you could hear a pin drop, the order and peace that was just moments ago filled with windy chaos, Jesus says to them, “’Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And the disciples were filled with great fear” (v. 40-41).
Within the matter of a sentence, their fear shifted from the storm to an even greater fear of the Man who was standing before them. There’s so much to be looked at here, but my reaction is this — why did Jesus lead them into a storm in the first place?
Then I consider the totality of the story and how it must have been retold over the years to follow. This story has nothing to do with a storm. The takeaway the disciples walked away with was that they were in the Presence of He who had authority even over wind and sea. This story points to the authority and provision of Jesus and makes even the most deadly, powerful storms pale in comparison to His magnitude.
Maybe you find yourself in the midst of a storm. Maybe you know where you’ve been asked to go may bring a chaotic windy forecast. And maybe you’ve experienced the peaceful calm after a stormy night. I want to encourage you, friend, God is bigger than the storms of your life. Storms bring fear, doubt, and confusion. But when we get a glimpse of God bringing us through those storms, what we receive is far greater – life, peace, and depth with our God. It’s far more beautiful and lasting that He walks with us through the storms of life rather than keeping us from them in the first place.
