Read: Mark 4:35–41 | Bible in a Year: 1 Samuel 25–26; Luke 12:32–59
Into Our Storms
He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. Mark 4:39
Wind howled, lightning flashed, waves crashed. I thought I was going to die. My grandparents and I were fishing on a lake, but we’d stayed out too long. As the sun set, a fast-moving squall swept over our small boat. My grandfather instructed me to sit in front to keep it from capsizing. Terror flooded my heart. But then, somehow, I began to pray. I was fourteen.
I asked God for His reassurance and protection. The storm didn’t weaken, but we made it to shore. To this day, I don’t know if I’ve experienced a deeper certainty of God’s presence than that night in the storm.
Jesus is no stranger to storms. In Mark 4:35–41, He told His disciples to head across a lake that would soon turn windy and wild. The storm that night tested and bested these rugged fishermen. They too thought they were going to die. But Jesus calmed the water and then led His disciples to deeper faith.
Likewise, Jesus invites us to trust Him in our storms. Sometimes He miraculously stills the winds and the waves. Sometimes He does something equally miraculous: He steadies our hearts and helps us to trust Him. He asks us to rest in the belief that He has the power to say to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!”
Lord, the storms of our lives sometimes seem like they will swamp us. Help us trust that You are the Master of the storm, to place our faith in You when life’s winds blow fiercely.
No danger can come so near that God is not nearer still.
INSIGHT
The end of Mark 4 poses an interesting question that each of us must answer: Who is this man? The disciples asked this question after Christ spoke to the wind and the waves and they obeyed Him. Though we may think this was merely a response of astonishment at what Jesus had just accomplished, Mark wants us to take the question seriously because he wants to present the answer.
Immediately following the disciples’ question, Mark recounts three stories that are meant to fill in the answer. After the miracle of calming the storm, Jesus casts demons out of a possessed man (5:1–20), heals a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years (vv. 21–34), and raises a girl from the dead (vv. 35–43).
Who is Jesus? He is God in the flesh, the one with power over nature, the spirit world, our bodies, and power over death itself. There is nothing we face that is beyond His ability to command.
What storm do you face today? Turn to Him knowing who He is and what His power can do.