A Storm Blows In

I had a thought when reading Mark 4. I want to share it with you.

Let me first share the set of verses that caught my attention.

“As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.’ So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41

Dark Skies over Linville Gorge

How often in your life have the proverbial storms you have faced caused you to fear life itself? A fear so great you lose control of your reason and your ability to think?

I know for me this has taken place a number of times.

-When I left the family business to go out on my own

-When we found out my youngest son had a blockage in his lower colon and the guess by doctors was cancer

-When I went through the financial heartache and the build up that comes with it leading ultimately to a filing of bankruptcy (7 years of sheer hell)

-When shortly thereafter my first wife left our family after 22 years of marriage to marry another man whom she had been involved with while at the same time peddling some of the most horrific stories and lies in an attempt to justify to the world her decision to do so, ruining my reputation among many friends in the process

I might mention that the culmination or the coming together of the last 3 happened within a short span of about 6 months. This created a storm of storms for me.

I took note when discussing the above scripture amongst a group of fellow Christians recently of a few lessons.

The disciples in this boat at this time were likely all very skilled fishermen. They certainly must have been accustomed to storms on the sea.

This storm however was such that they felt fear to such a degree drowning seemed imminent.

Jesus, however, was taking a nap. It would appear this was a planned nap as his head was on a pillow. He was totally at peace during the worst of it.

I believe the Lord allowed this storm to develop and overcome his followers so that in the end his majesty and power might be displayed.

When his power manifested and he told the sea to “knock it off” so to speak, they were more terrified of being in his presence than of the storm itself.

Stormy Sunset over Linville Gorge

Here’s my thinking on the matter.

Jesus allows storms in our lives and in fact may even orchestrate them. The storms we face are likely to be big enough to get our attention as it was for the disciples. They are likely to be larger than anything we can handle on our own. It will be outside the boundaries of what is “normal” or what we are “accustomed to”.

When they do we must not panic as the disciples did. (easier said than done)

Instead, at the time when fear begins to rise and worry consumes us, we probably would be best off to ask of the Lord to help us.

Don’t get frenzied mind you, but instead, look for peace and a calm way to pray and ask Jesus to intervene.

Jesus in this case was sleeping during the storm. This says, to me, that it didn’t phase him one bit.

If he is the model we are to mirror, I believe we too should seek out and strive to obtain this kind of peace and calm.

I do believe the only way to get it is to fully trust that He knows what is going on and happening at the moments we are most fearful or worried and can, with a word, calm the storm.

If, however, this doesn’t happen immediately like we might want it to happen, we should still remain in peace as we remind ourselves that he has it in hand and knows exactly what’s taking place. It’s ultimately going to make us stronger and more able to help others once we weather it and learn whatever lessons are in it for us.

It’s here we need to rest knowing that the Lord knows us. He cares for us and knows how to deal with whatever we are facing.

When we reach out to him and ask him to intervene, we can then rest knowing he has it handled and will do so exactly as he sees fit. We can then more so trust the process taking place meant to grow and change us.

It may not fit into our model of how we’d like it to turn out, but it will certainly be fit to his molded vision for our life.

Kicking and screaming and fearing does us no good. It only creates misery and anxiety. (and may likely incur his rebuke “…why do you have so little faith?”)

“Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” Matthew 6:26-27

Instead let us try and lean more on him and trust that he knows what’s happening, when it’s happening and he can and will work it out the way it’s supposed to happen. We are far more valuable to him than we may even consider or think.

I believe the single greatest message in the story is this.

When we face the storm and we fear the outcome, call on his name. He can and will with a word bring us peace and calm immediately deep within our heart and soul because we trust in the one who created it all. Don’t doubt him as they did “…don’t you care?” as tempting as it may be. Instead rest after you reach out, give it to him, and let him deal with it. He will, in his time. And his timing is perfect.

May you find peace in your storms.

rob out