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?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
Mark 4:38-39
Silencing the Storm
Daily Devotion – June 25, 2018
Devotion based on Mark 4:38-39
See series: Devotions
“Let us go over to the other side,” Jesus said. As they were getting into their boat, Jesus’ disciples didn’t expect to be soon staring down a storm that would have them scared for their lives. With Jesus along, no doubt they expected smooth sailing.
That’s like us. We expect our lives to be smooth sailing, especially since we are living our lives under Jesus’ direction. But when the dark clouds of depression form over us, when our relationships are racked by the winds of life, when the waves of sickness have us swamped, we can feel that in the storms of life we are staring down death. Is Jesus asleep when those storms rise up? With rattled souls we cry out to him, “Don’t you care?”
Jesus replies, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Faith always holds on to something. For it to really matter, faith needs to rely on power greater than ourselves. Go outside, you mere mortal, and call on the winds to cease. They won’t listen. Strive against the storms in your own life and they won’t stop. You need someone who has a greater power than wind and storm.
After the disciples woke Jesus up, he said to the wind as if it were a naughty child, “Quiet! Be still!” The wind stopped. The waves were stilled. There was instant silence, serenity, and a glassy sea. The wind and the waves could not prevail against his power. If Jesus has power greater than a storm, then he is the source of real safety for your life.
Of course, he has power, but doesn’t he care when life’s storms strike at us? He cares more than we could ever fully know. He stared down death and won. The storm of sin he silenced. The wind and wave of guilt he put to an end. He threw himself into the swirling storm of sin, guilt, and punishment. He went to the cross and instead of crying out, “Be still!” he cried out, “It is finished!” Sin was silenced. Guilt was over.
Jesus suffered that storm on the cross because he cared about you personally. He wanted that final storm to be done and you to live in peace with him. Jesus cares. If he went to his cross for you, he will certainly not leave you to face the storms in your life by yourself.
Prayer:
Jesus, thank you for silencing our sin. Use the storms in our lives to strengthen our faith in you. Amen.
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