“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?’” Mark 4:37-38 (NIV)
Jesus and His disciples were in a boat crossing “to the other side” (v35). A fierce storm, a ferocious tempest, a great windstorm or as we saw, a furious squall came upon them, threatening to sink the boat and drown them all. The threat was very real. The storm, some say was a demonic attack, came up out of nowhere, and frightened these water warriors to freak out. Meanwhile, Jesus was asleep on a cushion, a pillow, at the back of the vessel. Undoubtedly, He was getting drenched, but continued to rest as the crew panicked. Finally, they came to Him, woke Him up and accused Him of not caring! Without a word, He stands up in the midst of the gale force wind and rebukes it, and then told the waves to be “Quiet! Be still!” (v 39). Suddenly, everything was calm, and the only sound was the water dripping off the boat. And classically, the Disciples recognize God in their midst.
This is exactly where we are right now. We are in the boat with Jesus. The storm is raging and we wonder where He is. After all the prayer, fasting and spiritual warfare that got us to this moment, where is He? Does He not care? Ha! He is in the boat with us. He is not fused by the storm. We need to choose to trust Him and not the furious storm that is raging. He is not finished. He is doing exactly what He needs to do right now. So, find rest in Him! Don’t let the circumstances rock or worse, tip your boat over. This is a great hour for His body. How will we respond? His word is still true. His commands are still holy. His ways are still right. Ask Him to fill you with His peace, a peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:6-7). Pray that for others whom you know are wondering where Jesus is right now. Pray for your pastor to have wisdom and grace to navigate the waters before them and to lead your church in the way that would be pleasing to Jesus! Pray that Jesus’ identity, presence and power would be manifest in the midst of this storm!
