When Jesus rebuked the storm in the gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, He said three simple words: “Peace! Be Still!” and it was so. Prior to that he also rebuked His disciples for their weak faith because they were demonstrating their lack of trust in Jesus’ sovereignty as God (see Matthew 8:25-26, Mark 4:38-40, Luke 8:24-25)
There are so many times in the life of a Christian on this side of Heaven where we become anxious, even panicked like the disciples were in that moment. And our focus is fixed on either ourselves or our circumstances or both that we forget that Jesus is right there with us in the midst of our storms, every moment of calm, and every time in between. We also forget that He is sovereign over our storms and He has the power to give and take away — all the while maturing us, strengthening our assurance of faith, and humbling us. Even if He does not change your situation, you can trust Him to uphold and transform you. That is what so many of us tend to forget. Jesus calming the storm in itself is not the point of significance. Yes, it was important evidence that Jesus is God, but that is not what we often miss when reading about this event. Think back to when the disciples were afraid of perishing in the storm, what did Jesus do? He rebuked them for their weak faith. The storms of life threaten our assurance of faith, they threaten our reliance and rest in Christ, sometimes the storms of life even tempts us to question God’s goodness. Our natural fallen human nature has the tendency to turn inward and worry about our circumstances and our angst towards those circumstances. But you are a redeemed child of God, a new creation! Jesus didn’t come to guarantee us a comfortable, worry-free life here and now, Jesus came to defeat death itself for you and for me because we never could do it on our own merit! Remember that and remember God’s sovereignty and goodness. When we become more deeply aware of God’s sovereignty over every detail of our lives, over all of creation, that is when are able to be still and at peace like the storm Jesus rebuked. In other words, the more acutely aware of God’s sovereignty the more aware we become of His presence and experience the sweetest of peace and contentment. The same God who merely spoke and breathed out all of creation, breathed life into Adam and Eve and every human being thereafter, is as close to you and I as our next breath. And on our last breath, we will experience His glorious presence in His fullness and know nothing but unfathomable joy forevermore.
Questions to ask yourself:
- What are some things in your life that is causing your eyes to be fixed on yourself or circumstances rather than on Jesus?
Prayer Prompt:
Bring those things to the Lord and ask Him to grant you peace that surpasses all understanding.