Jesus Mark 4:35-41
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Jesus just finished ministering to the crowds and both he and the disciples were tired. They went away from the crowd and rode a boat. During the boat ride, a storm came and the disciples thought they were going to die. Coming from experienced fishermen, you know this was no ordinary storm. But Jesus was asleep.
Some might picture this as a picture of irresponsibility. But I truly love this picture because this shows how in control Jesus was. A picture of someone sound asleep in the midst of the storm communicates how sovereign our God is. He is in control. He knows what will happen and He knows what to do.
Since the disciples woke him up, He got up and rebuked the wind and commanded the storm to be at peace and still. And the Bible says there was a great calm.
In the eyes of Jesus, the storm was no reason to panic. He was calm before the storm and He was calm during the storm. The disciples should have learned from the master.
This has been the word the Lord has been telling me lately – Dennis, be calm. To make the right decisions, we need calmness of the soul and the heart. And where do we get this supernatural kind of calmness? We see that calmness like these can only come from having faith in Jesus.
If the disciples understood who Jesus is, they could have moved in calmness. That’s why Jesus rebuked them after for not trusting and for panicking in the storm.
Take heart, have faith, be calm.