They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mark 4:41
Think of that.
“Even the wind and the waves…”
The disciples knew that wind and waves could sink a boat. In their storm, they were learning something very important about who Jesus is, what his nature and character are like, how he does things. They were learning more about God’s goodness and faithfulness, especially in the most difficult and confusing circumstances, by observing God’s son, Jesus:
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 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. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41
Out on rough waters, the disciples watched as Jesus placed an anchor for them during a storm.
That anchor was Jesus.
They needed Jesus to do what they could not do for themselves, something beyond an obvious and wanted solution to their crisis. They needed rescue from going under, but the most important thing they needed then, like we do now, was to walk with their Savior by faith.
Among the disciples’ circumstances were some things within their control, and others none. They were finding out that trusting God is a process, and part of that process is learning he is our Creator who is above our circumstances. Like the disciples began to realize, we grow in faith by observing God’s consistent ways of helping us. We learn more about his love for us as we read his Word and spend time with him in prayer.
Sometimes I take a walk and talk to God in my heart about various things. Other times, I will sit and pour out to him burdens that are weighing heavily, and just be quiet to receive what he wants to say about something. Usually I “hear” nothing at all, and what I am supposed to learn comes later in a circumstance I thought was completely unrelated, but realized God used to teach me that he heard my prayers and is working on the very specific needs I was asking about for myself or others. He uses my circumstances while still allowing me to make my own choices, like he did the disciples during the wind and waves.
These are times I realize how Jesus is calming a storm or making a way where, at first, there seemed to be no way. I begin to remember how no one is exempt from experiencing minor to overwhelming difficulties in life, how no one is exempt from difficulty and suffering. This truth is a greater challenge of faith when it seems some storms will never end or at least ease up, and especially storms that have persisted for years and through consistent seeking of God’s guidance or deliverance.
Some people believe that if you have problems, you are not showing enough faith, but I don’t care who you are, what you do for a living, or what your background is: everyone experiences adversity and setbacks. Seeking our Creator, however, makes all the difference. This is something I recall often during the most difficult times, having watched God’s faithfulness for many years. Getting through the storms has always been possible every time I chose to recognize how he is in control of what seems out of control. Always easier said than done, but always worth taking time to seek God by reading his promises in the Bible and talking to him in prayer, recognizing that peace about circumstances and a sense that he is working everything out for my good, and the good of others, comes every time I turn to him.
Here are just a few examples of how people in God’s Word observed and wrote about his faithfulness and sovereignty:
You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. Nehemiah 9:6
The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Psalm 24:1
The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets. Psalm 50:1
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
We can take comfort in knowing how much he loves us in seeing the way his creation works, how each day comes with newness and grace. We especially watch the ways God keeps his word by changes he makes in our lives, how we learn more about how to love like God does, to have more of a sensitive heart for others.
Truth
Life is never easy and in seeking God’s guidance does not mean life will be easy. For example, we are in a time of sorting through inconsistent reports about a virus, why and what that means; others who fear allowing civil debate about health, values, economics, or any controversial public policy subject that should be discussed in a free society; people who want to take down the United States, and some who believe it is wrong to check inconsistencies in elections to ensure the real winners are seated, just to name a few.
In seeking God about what to do, we absolutely must look at how God deals with sin whether a circumstance appears to involve sin or not. We recall how God causes the truth to rise to the top and never allows sin to go without being revealed. We have to remember that truth is not an opinion, that God created truth and he is truth. Throughout the Bible, we are shown how to confront sin rather than tolerate it (put up with as if sin is harmless or inconsequential) or believe nothing can or should be done about it. Plus, sin always hangs itself up on the truth.
We make it through the most difficult challenges knowing God responds by revealing the truth about circumstances and according to his unchanging ways. The disciples learned this as they grew to understand what Jesus was teaching them about adversity and living in a sinful world. He shows us too how we are not on our own because God will not tolerate evil and because God knows that sin destroys us. Sin appears to get away with it at first and for what seems like forever, but God promises to confront it and we must seek him and know that he will turn things around. People bent on doing evil want to blame those who want to do what God says, but their problem is really with God and not who wants to do right in God’s eyes. This is why it is written, “The battle is not yours, but God’s” in 2 Chronicles 20:15. We see how in the Bible, and the world history recorded in it, that despotism does not survive long and God does not bless it. This is true for individuals and it is true for nations.
The Way Through
Walking with God through a relationship with his son, Jesus, is where we gain more of an understanding of right and wrong, and what we must to do confront evil or face challenges in general. We find that life with Jesus has meaning and purpose we cannot find any other way. We recognize how God looks at the heart where people just look at the surface of things. We see that through it all we become more grateful, more humble, wiser and discerning.
Whether in business, ministry, politics, or anything we pursue, the storms offer opportunities to share how knowing Jesus has changed us and helps us get through the worst adversity we could never have imagined. We all experience such times, but God is always there inviting us to receive his help and more that grows us in the ways we need.
Sometimes this learning comes in a boat out on a lake during a storm that threatens to sink you. This is what the disciples found out that day on the water. They grew to worship God because they learned more about him through Jesus’ example. They learned that he was reachable, knowable, and genuinely cared about them. They learned through getting to know Jesus that God loved them in a way that does not end even during a storm they could not understand. They learned that God could command his creation of wind and rising waters to calm, doing the same for each of them personally, affecting their impact on others. God was showing the kind of peace they could know because of who Jesus is and his father’s character and nature. They were also learning that storms can last for much longer than preferred. An example about this was placed in the Bible to teaches us, and with unconditional love, about the great strength and power God has to change any circumstance from unstable to stable, and that he uses our challenges we see only as insurmountable, and of no value, to change and use us mightily.
The question the disciples asked then, “Who is this?” is clearly answered revealing our evidence, our testimony, of how only God could do it while strengthening our faith at the same time, to quiet and still even the wind and the waves.
