But a furious squall of wind came up, and the waves were dashing over into the boat, so that it was fast filling. He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. So they woke Him up and said to Him, “Teacher, is it no concern to you that we are going down?” Then he aroused Himself and reproved the wind, and said to the sea “Hush! Be still.”
Mark 4:37-39 Williams Translation.
There’s been much conversation in our culture lately, regarding Mental Health issues. It seems the stress resulting from the Covid pandemic has been impacting, not just on our bodies, but on our souls as well.
I think the greatest revealing occurring, for Christians, is what was actually shaken in lives. While the governments have alleviated most restrictions, the habits formed through out the time have given us a new norm. Did we build upon our fears or did we find our secret place of hiding in Him while the storm raged? Either way, we are living in a new norm. Life will never be the same again. The question in front of us is not who we are now but who we want to become.
Here’s reality; as believers, we are to reign in chaos. Our goal is to be conformed into the image of Jesus, growing up into Him. Not a washed up version of Jeanne, but finding myself in Him. He is to so permeate my being that Jeanne is lost in the revealing of Him. This is the oneness we are to hold; me in Him, Him in me. The whole earth is groaning, waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. If we are blown about with every wave that comes, how can we demonstrate to others the calm that resets order.
Our scripture today from the life of Jesus, shows the response we should carry; perfect peace. Isaiah tells us we shall have this perfect peace as our minds are stayed, [to lean, lay, rest, support] on Him. Minds stayed on him because we trust in Him. Is. 26:3. The reality isn’t our circumstances but what our minds are saying in the midst of the swirl around us.
We can image the disciples in this boat. I don’t know if you have ever been on the open sea with billowing waves, but the first thing that occurs is the imbalance to your equilibrium - sea sick. This is the only time in my life I ever thought death would be a welcomed relief. No land in sight and simply the violence of the waves - over and over, unending and you are simply sick. Don’t touch me, don’t talk to me, don’t move me, sick. Now this might not have been the case on the boat with a bunch of fisherman who seem to be inured to this kind of imbalance but men seasoned enough to know that when the boat is filling, ‘fast’, they have issues. Yet, how does this man sleep through it all. Is it an irritant to them? Why the question, ‘don’t you care’. Does it mean get your lazy self up and help? I don’t know what they thought he could do but clearly from the rest of the story they did not think he could simply talk to the elements and produce this kind of calm. “Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey Him? We have lessons to learn. Apparently they are to be learned in the storms of life.
I’m mindful of Paul’s storm; the ship wrecked, the salvation of all and the testimony to a faithful God because of one mans assurance of the Father’s promise.
Sometimes, all we have is the step back, the closed eye, the deep breath with the attachment to the author and giver of life who is the restorer of our souls. It is the way of escape: Be still and know.
Whatever our storms may be in 2023 may we learn to find our rest in Him, not from creating perfectly ‘peaceful’ conditions but engaging in the one who is the Prince of Peace in every storm, and be carriers of His Peace.