Jesus, Calmer Of Our Storms

We have all seen the devastation that storms sometimes bring.  We see the images on our televisions or our devices of the horrible destruction storms can leave behind.  We have all seen the images of what hurricanes can do when they slam into a small island or into a community on the coast.  Many people's lives can be impacted in such a way that the effects will last a very long time.

Storms can be scary and they can cause a whole lot of damage.  Storms can turn our worlds upside down.  There are many dangers in our world and powerful storms such as hurricanes reek havoc on communities.

There are also other storms that effect people such as severe thunderstorms, snow storms, and there are also the storms that come against us in life.  These "life storms" can turn our lives upside down as well.  A "life storm" are those event that come against us unexpectedly such as a job loss, loss of a loved one or a dear friend, a serious illness, or some other event that affects our lives for a brief moment in time and maybe longer.

Storms can be scary and they can cause a lot of damage.  The disciples were familiar with storms since many of them were fishermen.  There was a time when they were in their boat and a storm came upon them.  This storm was so severe that they were frightened to the point that they went looking for Jesus who was asleep.  We can read of what happened in Mark 4:35-41 which says,

"35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.”
                                                                           

36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.

37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.

38 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?”

39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

           

The disciples and Jesus had gotten into a boat to go to the other side.  Somewhere on their journey a furious storm arose upon the lake.  The wind was blowing violently and the waves were rough.  The tiny boat was tossed back a forth.  The waves were pounding the boat and nearly swamping it.  The disciples were soaked, tired, and their nerves had been frayed.  They were beyond scared.  Their fight or flight mode was off the charts.

They had a great idea in all of the chaos of the moment.  They looked for Jesus and called our to Him.  That is a good lesson for each one of us when life throws a storm our way.  Look for and call out to Jesus.  They find Jesus asleep in the stern of the boat.  Thankfully, we won't find Jesus sleeping when we need Him.

The disciples cried out to Jesus, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

Sometimes when life gets hard and a storm of life comes our way we wonder the same thing.  We wonder if Jesus cares.  The Lord does indeed care for us.  Jesus loves us more deeply that we can possibly imagine.  He endured the Cross for us.  He took all of our sin upon Himself to reconcile us back into right standing with the Father.

Jesus stood up after the disciples woke Him up and He spoke to the wind and the waves, "Quiet! Be still!"

Then the wind and the waves were calm.  Jesus calmed the storm with a word.  Jesus can calm our storms as well.  He may not take away the difficulty.  Things may not seem better to those looking on from the outside, but when we have Jesus in our boat we know we will be alright no matter what happens.  We need to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  We need to trust Him more.

The Lord will always be with us each step of the way and we can trust Him in the midst of the storm.  We may be scared and we may feel tired by the storm that we are facing, but if we have Jesus we know that everything will eventually work out.  Things may not get better for us here on the earth during our lifetime, but if we know the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord we know that One Day we will be with Jesus in Heaven for all eternity and what a wonderful day that will be.

May we continue to turn our eyes upon Jesus during our storms.

Lord,
We praise Your Name.
You are Holy.
Thank You for loving us so much.
Thank You for Your mercy and grace.
Calm our storms O Lord.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.