Calming the Storm

Good Morning,

Mark 4:35-41 (NIV)
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

This morning I'd like to suggest that we are all, each of us individually and even, perhaps, some of us corporately, in our own "boat" attempting to go here or there; to accomplish this or that. Now, in that boat with us is Jesus (remember that He told us, "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Mat. 28:20). Yes, He's there. Maybe He's lying back, out of sight, and just observing us as we go about our chores on our journey to, well wherever...because we each have our own destination and our own voyage to sail. Now, on our expedition, in our own boat, we will come upon storms that will frighten us, just as the disciples those 2,000 years ago. But, now remember please, just as Jesus was in that boat with His disciples, He's in our boat with us, as well. When we face our storms...trials and tribulations that seem to want to sink us and capsize the boat we're traveling in...we can do as the disciples did and panic and we can ask God, "God, don't you care that I'm sinking here? Doesn't it matter to you that I'm failing at what I feel you want me to do?" Or, we can have faith that, in Jesus Christ, we have all the help we need and He won't allow us to go under...just as He didn't allow that boat to sink way back then.

Many of us have faced these various challenges, of course, and have learned that Jesus IS with us and that He WILL calm the storms that give us so much fright in our lives. Some of us have witnessed miracles...or what seemed like miracles, anyway...as we went on ON FAITH to do what God called us to do. We've actually had the honor and privilege of experiencing Jesus calming the tempest that we faced...even as we asked if He might not care about what happened to us.

The point today, I think, is to realize that Jesus is, truly, with us. And...He will NOT allow us to sink in the storms we face. You see, we have something that the disciples did not have in that boat those thousands of years ago. We have the absolute proof of who Jesus Christ truly is. We don't have to wonder, as they did, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" No, we don't have to question the identity of Jesus as He sits back in our boat, right there with us, and will rise up to calm the storms we face.

Let's remember to thank Him!

Love, peace, and blessings,

David