MARK 4: 35-41

The story of Jesus calming the storm on the Lake of Galilee is a great teaching about life in the hands of God. It had been a busy day and Jesus was exhausted from the crowds. He had fallen asleep in the hinder part of the ship despite the storm. The disciples panicked, and cried to Jesus Christ, “Master,” they said, “we are about to go under here. Don’t you even care?” Don’t just lay there ! Wake up! Take charge! Do something to SAVE US ! Jesus got up, looked around and spoke but three words: “Peace, be still.” The wind immediately died down and things became completely calm. There were no wind or waves, just a calm sea. Jesus puts another question to them. “Do you still have no faith?” Remember that the disciples had been with Jesus listening to him teach and preach. The storms of life come upon us without warning- death or sickness of a loved one, loss of our means of support, serious auto accident or airplane crash, being shot or stabbed or even wars. Most of us, if not all become fearful when the storms of life blow and the waves threaten us because we think we are in control and we can save ourselves. We assume we have all the answers to all problems and keep one hand on the rudder, just in case God doesn’t know where He is going. The good news is that we are not in control, God is and we must remember in the storms of life, amid the chaos of suffering, through all the temptations that we face, God is present and God is in control. We must remember that we need to be faith-filled and not fear-filled. Beloved children of God, we are not told that if we have Jesus in the boat with us, our lives won’t get rocked. It never means that being in relationship with Jesus promises us perfect health, a satisfying marriage, a successful career, or a life without cares. Even as Christians, we are still subject to all the same adversities of the human condition which others experience. The message we need to take from this is that when the storms of life threaten us we have someone to call on. We have someone who will help us carry the load. That someone is Jesus Christ. Some of us today have a storm raging in our life. Others come knowing friends or loved ones who have a storm raging, whether that be a health problem, a marital problem, lack of job problem or even the storm of lack of immigration papers. We must remember that Jesus is in the boat with us. He calls us to turn our eyes for a moment from the storm to the Savior. He asks us to hear his words, “Peace! Be still. I am with you even to the ends of the earth”. He asks us to not only hear these words, but believe them as well. Brethren, let us fix our eyes on Jesus and place our faith in the Son of God who has the power to calm the storms on the sea. When we are faced with a storm or a crisis in our lives, our immediate action is to turn to God and ask him to keep us safe and to help us weather the storm. God never told us that we would not have storms, trials, or tribulations in life, but He did tell us: “I will not leave you nor forsake you”.(Hebrews 13:5). Brethren, God cares for us and stills the storms of life. He takes care of our storms. Jesus said, “And I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. Storms will come and storms will pass, but God’s word is steadfast and it will always give us direction in our walk through life. PRAISE THE LORD!