Peace, Be Still
Mark 4:36-39 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Jesus was perturbed with the men who woke Him. Some say that it was because He had told them that it was His intention to go to the other side of the sea. Since Jesus was God in human flesh, He would surely know that the boat would make it. Another thought would be that the Lord was upset because they had indeed tried everything they could do within their ability to withstand the storm. Only when their "let's try this" was exhausted and they were in complete panic did they come to the Master for help.
Isn't this just like us? And how like the storm on the sea are the storms in our hearts? We live our lives in our own sufficiency as long as we possibly can. The storms come up quickly and we struggle with them. Only when we are unable to withstand the next crisis, or get past the next problem, illness or issue do we come to Jesus. Of course at this point we feel we had failed Jesus. Really the only thing we have failed to do is include Jesus in our plans and pray when we first begin to encounter resistance, for guidance and wisdom. We are told to remember our labour of love and patience of hope in Jesus Christ (1 Thes 1:3), to thank God (1 Thes 2:13), and to pray (1 Thes 5:17) without ceasing.
Our relationship is to be a constant thing. Jesus is not a magician to get us out of our latest problem. He wants to have a constant conversation with us, as His children and His friends. He called the disciples His friends. He wants that kind of fellowship with us.
When Jesus rebuked the storm, the storm ceased immediately. It did not die down over a period of minutes. It died down at the command of the Lord of the Universe. And the peace that replaced the storm was complete. It is just like the peace in our hearts when we give up a problem to Him. And it is just like the awe that struck the disciples who witnessed the complete control and power of the Savior over the very wind and the water.
And it ours for the asking......God Bless, Pappy
