The previous verses of Mark chapter 4 revealed the rabbinic ministry of Jesus with teaching sauced with deep parables and served on the lip of truth to the thousands of people who gathered to listen to him. However, from verse 35 to the end, a number of details in this concise account attract attention.
Jesus, after teaching decided to cross to the other side of the lake. It was evening, the dark blanket of night was almost upon the earth. Jesus and his disciples voyaged, crossing the lake to the other side leaving the crowd of people behind them.
Sometimes, it is easy to be enticed by popularity and difficult to walk away from people who look up to us. People who find meaning in life because of the position we occupy in their lives just as Jesus did. We must learn as believers to always separate ourselves from the crowd. We must find solace in the secret place where we solely share intimate time in fellowship with God.
Like every other journey, they set out upon the vast waters rolling the boat and sailing forward. Suddenly, a big wind storm arose and the waves beat into the boat so much that the boat was almost filled. It was a violent windstorm that threatens to sink the boat where Jesus and his disciples were cruising. The disciples were frightened, the ferocious tempest led to an uproar, a cry for help.
Remember, some of Jesus’ disciples were trained fishermen who must have handled moderate storm, fought through it, and arrive at the shore. This time, the disciples had exhausted all their professional skillsets and everything they could do to balance the boat upon the waters. They were all in a state of indescribable chaos. They almost assume the end had come. The turbulence was so great that it beats their imagination. The storm was like a death sentence, It was not a common storm.
The disciple reached out to Jesus as their last hope. Their knowledge had failed them as much as their experience. Every minute on the boat in the face of the storm gave no hope of survival until Jesus was called upon. The disciples accused Jesus of being negligent and indifferent. They believed serious situation demands serious attention and truly, one would wonder how could Jesus be sleeping comfortably at such a deadly time?
Jesus on hearing the disciples arose to the storm and extends His lordship to nature by rebuking the wind and speaking peace to the sea. Wow! the sea and the wind heard him and they obeyed. It is not scientific for inanimate things to hear (listen to instructions) but the sea and the wind heard Him. Scientific laws and assertions will fail when divinity (or those who by sonship are authorized) decides to take preeminence.
The great storm and the raging waters became a great calm because the author of life declared peace.
… PBO
We might have been touched by the storm of life, a furious squall determined to break our resistance so we can give up our beautiful dreams, aspirations, and the life God has given to us. One truth we must hold on to is that He is Emmanuel– God with us.
In the midst of our troubles, confusion, and uncertainties, Jesus is our comfort, our hope, and our restorer. He engineers endings crafted by the enemies to be disastrous by redesigning them in conformity to His will to the glory of His name.
Jesus feared no storm. Like Jesus, we must fear no storm. He is just as much in control and the disciple was just as safe in his hand while he was asleep well as while he was awake. If Jesus in the human flesh could calm the sea to restore comfort, how much more Christ the glorified?
You will walk through the storm and come out of it undefeated. You will survive life because He is your anchor and your comfort.
Many times when we are passing through the storms of life, we often think that God is absent, but He is not. He is only waiting for us to call on Him.
… PBO
Shalom!!!
D'Inspired 