Sometimes it takes a storm to move you to the other side of the lake.
Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a storm? Whether we’re talking weather or the turbulent storms of life, the collision of two air masses with rapid change in wind direction and violent gusts can feel like they’ll blast you off your feet. I know. I typically bend my head into the gale, while howling winds and furious squalls pick up debris as it rages, I tend to ignore a heart that’s bleeding and keep going.
As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
Have you found yourself crying in the nights, “Jesus, don’t you care that I’m drowning?”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41
There are times when storms crash and dark skies will open to pour out a deluge. Sludge may muddy your path and rock your faith in the Creator and those He created. No one is immune. Hang on, hang on, hang on. Because sometimes it takes that very storm to put you exactly where God wants you…anchored in His presence in ways you’ve never known before.
It was actually a perfect storm that rescued my soul.
I had been hurrying to catch up to who I was trying to become, but the hurry made me exactly who I was not meant to be. I began losing myself in the whirlwind…adapting for someone else and succumbing to the rushed expectations of who and the demands of what others said I am and should do in the midst of a fast-paced world.
Christian philosopher Dallas Willard wisely warned, “Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”
Cutting through the vicious wind, Jesus’ rebuke whispered to me, “Silence! Be still!” I heard His sweet voice urging: “Quiet your life, unhurry your soul…submit your will, settle your thoughts, decelerate your body and stop doing what others expect of you. Rest child, and wait, I’m in the boat.”
The wind actually stopped and there it was: calm.
I was shipwrecked in a different place, but safely anchored in His love. Jesus restored my faith and breathed abundant life back into my soul.
If a storm blasts you, rebuke the darkness, assert your authority in Christ over the wind and the waves. Stay faithful in spirit, keep your heart focused on Him, get to the back of the boat and rest with Jesus. It’s all grace.
You keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! Isaiah 26:3