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AT PEACE IN THE STORM

Christian Life, ,

AT PEACE IN THE STORM

“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.” (Mark 4:37,38 NIV)

What a ridiculous situation! Wind howling, little fishing boat writhing in the storm, waves crashing over the sides, twelve men frantically trying to keep the craft afloat and Jesus sleeping through it all! How could He sleep with the icy waves drenching Him every now and then, and the boat wildly rocking in the waves? It’s no wonder the disciples were irritated with Him and shook Him awake with a stern rebuke, “Don’t you care if we drown?”

Jesus woke up, wiped the water from His eyes and stood up in the heaving stern. With a sweeping gesture with His hand across the expanse of water, He shouted into the wind, “Be quiet!” Instantly the wind subsided, and the water sank down into a dead calm, the stars shone in a cloudless night sky and the moon cut a silvery path across the lake. The disciples were stunned. They could not believe what had just happened; from howling gale and raging sea to dead calm within minutes. Who was this man and how could He do that?

Jesus ignored their amazement at the miracle and called their attention to their own complete mistrust of Him. “Why did you doubt?” He demanded. They had no answer.

Let’s examine the situation. Jesus said, “Let us go over to the other side.” He never said or did anything outside His Father’s instruction; therefore He intended to reach the other side of the lake. Since He was completely at peace, trusting His Father’s love and purpose – and he was still to go to the cross – the storm was not a threat to Him. It was a natural phenomenon over which He had complete control within His Father’s plan. He could sleep peacefully despite the raging water and the drenching waves because He dwelt safely in God.

What surprises me is that the disciples were more amazed about His stilling the storm than about His sleeping through it! Did it not occur to them that it was unnatural for anyone to sleep so peacefully in such outrageous circumstances? Should that not have aroused their astonishment and alerted them to something about Jesus that was much bigger than they could understand?

What can we take from this story for ourselves? Since Jesus’ instruction to anyone who would be His disciple is a simple “Follow me”, what the story holds up for us here is a lesson in trust in the trustworthiness of our Father. The disciples’ terror was a clear indication that they did not trust God’s word to them at that moment, “Let us go over to the other side.”

This is the story of our lives. Built into our old nature through Adam’s rebellion is an instinctive mistrust of God. We just don’t trust His Word. It takes a lifetime for Him to teach us just how trustworthy He is so that He can get on with the task of recreating us in the image of His Son.

We need to make a non-negotiable decision that God is always good and that He loves us, so that we can filter every experience through those unchangeable truths, just as Jesus did.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – PERFECT GOD…PERFECT MAN

Bible Study, ,

PERFECT GOD…PERFECT MAN

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 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?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41

What a lovely story, Jesus’ fragile humanity and His sonship in perfect unity! In contrast to the disciples who had not yet come to understand or practise their sonship in God, Jesus’ attitude presented the perfect balance between an ordinary human being at the mercy of circumstances, and the Son of God whose confidence in the Father’s love and His purpose for Him, which nothing could derail because what God wants will always prevail, provided such security that He could sleep in a howling gale.

This shows the difference between us humans who are suspicious of God, and Jesus, who knew the Father and could therefore trust Him all the time, no matter what happened. Jesus called it “my rest, my peace, my joy.” This really speaks to our hearts because this is where God wants to take every child of His. This is what sonship is all about. Part of Jesus’ mission was to show us how to be sons. He took His disciples through some gruelling training so that they could see, feel and experience what sonship was all about.

On this occasion, they were more amazed by the miracle of the wind than they were about the attitude of Jesus. Why did Jesus calm the storm? Was it because it had, and had not served its purpose? It did serve its purpose by showing the disciples what trust is all about and by exposing their failure to trust God, but it didn’t serve its purpose because they fell into a panic instead of being at peace as Jesus was.

Is that why God allows stuff to happen to us that isn’t the kingdom of God? If we interpret it as “the attack of Satan”, we have completely missed the point. If Satan causes the problem, God allows it. Jesus made that clear when He warned Peter of his coming denial. Jesus didn’t forestall the attack. He focused on Peter’s faith. Adverse circumstances are an essential part of building our faith muscles. God wants to root out all suspicion of Him by allowing or setting up circumstances to expose the remnants of our mistrust.

Don’t blame the devil when stuff happens. He is only a tool in God’s hands to fashion you into someone who resembles Jesus, our elder brother. Trust God to work all things for your good because His intention is to conform you to the image of His Son that He might be the firstborn among many brothers (Rom. 8:28-29).