By Jerry D. Ousley
It had been a long day. Jesus and His disciples had spent it teaching and seeing to the needs of the people. It might not sound like a lot of work, but teaching and taking care of the public can quickly fatigue the mind. As I said, in Mark 4, they had been at it all day long.
As the evening grew near, Jesus told His disciples, “Let’s cross over Galilee to the other side.” Jesus was so exhausted that He fell asleep on a pillow in the stern (back of the boat). It seemed the disciples understood and let Him rest.
As the sun was disappearing in the distant horizon and the evening overtook the day, the stars above began to quickly disappear as a storm rolled in. Several of the disciples had spent their lives as fishermen, spending most of their time in boats on the Sea of Galilee. The others seemed to trust their experience and didn’t think much of it.
Things began to get a bit rougher. The wind began to blow which resulted in higher waves. The boat began to rock against the oars and shook them around. The further they got out in the water, the rougher it seemed to get. Still, at this point, they trusted the other disciples who had experience with the sea.
Continuing to get worse, now, not only were the waves tossing the boat from all directions, but the sky began to light up furiously with lightning and the thunder roared over the sound of the crashing waves. This had to be one bad storm, for those experienced fishermen became concerned. It turned out to be a storm like none they had before experienced.
Trapped in the middle of a dark sea, only being able to see as the lightning strikes hit the water, even those who thought they knew what they were doing grew concerned. They were all afraid and, in their minds, they thought death was imminent.
During all the turmoil Jesus was still fast asleep in the rear of the boat. How could anyone sleep at a time like this? “Master,” they cried, “Don’t you care that we’re all about to die?”
What a silly question asked of the one they had just witnessed healing the sick and working miracles. But all they could think about was their immediate situation. Before we judge, if we were in their position, I’m pretty sure we’d do the same thing.
My wife, Rose, is like that too. A storm can blow up in the night and I’m up looking out the windows, checking to make sure that everything is okay and that we are safe. Meanwhile, she’s in bed sleeping soundly, never realizing that the storm is going on outside.
Now, I’m not afraid of the storm (usually) but I always tell her that I respect what they can do. While I do admire her for being able to ignore the rage outside, I like to think that she is sleeping soundly, feeling safe that her husband is watching the situation to make sure she is safe. Sounds good anyway.
Now the boat was beginning to take on water and they were in danger of sinking out there in the middle of the sea in all that rage. They were scared and in a panic. But the Bible tells us that Jesus stood up, looked around and then addressed the storm as if it had a life of its own. “Peace,” Jesus cried out, then commanded, “Be still.” In complete obedience the lightning stopped. The thunder became quiet and the boat rocked gently a few times from the few remaining waves, then all was calm.
The Bible doesn’t say this, but I can imagine the clouds beginning to roll out as the stars peeped out from behind them. The disciples were amazed, wondering how even the elements obeyed the commands of this Man.
Of course, the obvious comparison in this story is that Jesus is still calming storms. We all experience storms in our lives. They could come under the guise of many situations but when they strike in our own lives, regardless our experience, or life-choices, when they rage, we feel as if we are going to perish. Life will end unless our situation changes.
It may seem that Jesus is off somewhere asleep, unaware and uncaring of our situation. How could He let us go through these terrible life storms? Doesn’t He care?
The answer is, yes, of course He cares. But He may remain silent until we care enough to call out to Him. “Lord, help me! I am about to perish!” In those storms Jesus will come to us. It may be in different ways, depending our what is in our hearts and our unique situations, but He will show up.
Call on Him, but then allow Him to work and be obedient to what He is speaking to your heart, and I know that the waves will calm, the lightning will cease, the thunder will become quiet and the sun will come out again. Learn to trust in Christ and He will teach us to sleep through the storm.
Why? Because we come to know that He has it in His hands. He will take care of us. And, if the storm would take our lives, if we have put our trust in Him as our Savior, we will get the best calming we could ever experience, right in His very presence. Either way, the storm goes away and you will discover the tranquility of sleeping through the storm.
—————
Jerry D. Ousley is the author of “Soul Challenge”, “Soul Journey”, “Ordeal”, “The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional” and his first novel “The Shoe Tree.” Newer books include “Finality” and “Dividing God’s Church.” Visit spiritbread. com to download these and more completely free of charge
It had been a long day. Jesus and His disciples had spent it teaching and seeing to the needs of the people. It might not sound like a lot of work, but teaching and taking care of the public can quickly fatigue the mind. As I said, in Mark 4, they had been at it all day long.
As the evening grew near, Jesus told His disciples, “Let’s cross over Galilee to the other side.” Jesus was so exhausted that He fell asleep on a pillow in the stern (back of the boat). It seemed the disciples understood and let Him rest.
As the sun was disappearing in the distant horizon and the evening overtook the day, the stars above began to quickly disappear as a storm rolled in. Several of the disciples had spent their lives as fishermen, spending most of their time in boats on the Sea of Galilee. The others seemed to trust their experience and didn’t think much of it.
Things began to get a bit rougher. The wind began to blow which resulted in higher waves. The boat began to rock against the oars and shook them around. The further they got out in the water, the rougher it seemed to get. Still, at this point, they trusted the other disciples who had experience with the sea.
Continuing to get worse, now, not only were the waves tossing the boat from all directions, but the sky began to light up furiously with lightning and the thunder roared over the sound of the crashing waves. This had to be one bad storm, for those experienced fishermen became concerned. It turned out to be a storm like none they had before experienced.
Trapped in the middle of a dark sea, only being able to see as the lightning strikes hit the water, even those who thought they knew what they were doing grew concerned. They were all afraid and, in their minds, they thought death was imminent.
During all the turmoil Jesus was still fast asleep in the rear of the boat. How could anyone sleep at a time like this? “Master,” they cried, “Don’t you care that we’re all about to die?”
What a silly question asked of the one they had just witnessed healing the sick and working miracles. But all they could think about was their immediate situation. Before we judge, if we were in their position, I’m pretty sure we’d do the same thing.
My wife, Rose, is like that too. A storm can blow up in the night and I’m up looking out the windows, checking to make sure that everything is okay and that we are safe. Meanwhile, she’s in bed sleeping soundly, never realizing that the storm is going on outside.
Now, I’m not afraid of the storm (usually) but I always tell her that I respect what they can do. While I do admire her for being able to ignore the rage outside, I like to think that she is sleeping soundly, feeling safe that her husband is watching the situation to make sure she is safe. Sounds good anyway.
Now the boat was beginning to take on water and they were in danger of sinking out there in the middle of the sea in all that rage. They were scared and in a panic. But the Bible tells us that Jesus stood up, looked around and then addressed the storm as if it had a life of its own. “Peace,” Jesus cried out, then commanded, “Be still.” In complete obedience the lightning stopped. The thunder became quiet and the boat rocked gently a few times from the few remaining waves, then all was calm.
The Bible doesn’t say this, but I can imagine the clouds beginning to roll out as the stars peeped out from behind them. The disciples were amazed, wondering how even the elements obeyed the commands of this Man.
Of course, the obvious comparison in this story is that Jesus is still calming storms. We all experience storms in our lives. They could come under the guise of many situations but when they strike in our own lives, regardless our experience, or life-choices, when they rage, we feel as if we are going to perish. Life will end unless our situation changes.
It may seem that Jesus is off somewhere asleep, unaware and uncaring of our situation. How could He let us go through these terrible life storms? Doesn’t He care?
The answer is, yes, of course He cares. But He may remain silent until we care enough to call out to Him. “Lord, help me! I am about to perish!” In those storms Jesus will come to us. It may be in different ways, depending our what is in our hearts and our unique situations, but He will show up.
Call on Him, but then allow Him to work and be obedient to what He is speaking to your heart, and I know that the waves will calm, the lightning will cease, the thunder will become quiet and the sun will come out again. Learn to trust in Christ and He will teach us to sleep through the storm.
Why? Because we come to know that He has it in His hands. He will take care of us. And, if the storm would take our lives, if we have put our trust in Him as our Savior, we will get the best calming we could ever experience, right in His very presence. Either way, the storm goes away and you will discover the tranquility of sleeping through the storm.
—————
Jerry D. Ousley is the author of “Soul Challenge”, “Soul Journey”, “Ordeal”, “The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional” and his first novel “The Shoe Tree.” Newer books include “Finality” and “Dividing God’s Church.” Visit spiritbread. com to download these and more completely free of charge
