In Mark 4 Jesus gets into a boat with His squad and says, “Let us go across to the other side (of the Sea of Galilee).” That sounds good but then an epic storm comes up. The winds are described as a “hurricane” type force and the boat starts to fill up with water. The men in the boat, the disciples, feared for their lives and some were experienced boatmen. In other words, this was not their first rodeo. They were in a crisis; a storm was between them and getting to where Jesus said they were going. Sound familiar?
Let’s not forget that Jesus is in the boat and of course Jesus is God and so He is omnipotent. Anyone that can turn water into wine can stop the wind and the waves, right? But Jesus is asleep in the back of the boat on a Yeti soft cooler (actually a cushion). The boys wake Him up and say, “Teacher, is it nothing to you that we’re going to drown?” Of course Jesus gets up and tells the storm to be, “Quiet!, Settle down!” And it does. Problem solved. Jesus reprimands the disciples by saying, “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith at all?”
Later in Mark 6 in a separate incident the disciples are in a boat without Christ because He stayed on the shore to spend some time in prayer. Scripture says Jesus could see the disciples were struggling against the natural elements, Mark 6:48 tells us they were “troubled and tormented in their rowing, for the wind was against them.” Jesus then walks on the water out to them and after they freaked out because they thought He was a ghost, we are told the wind ceased as He reached the boat (Mark 6:51). Again, problem solved.
That’s kind of my life right now. I’m in a boat with Jesus and I am confi dent I am going to get to the other side, wherever that is. The wind is strong and it’s going against me, but I am sure Jesus sees it and is just as concerned as He was in Mark 6. That’s theory, but what about real life? Is that all we do? We just know what we know and watch another episode of Jeopardy until things work out?
No, there’s more than that. We need to be proactive with our faith. In Mark 6:49 the disciples “cried out, for they saw Him (Jesus) and were terrifi ed (they thought Jesus walking towards them was a ghost).” Part of their reaction to trouble was accurate, they “cried out” only their cry should have been a cry to the Father and that cry should have qualified as prayer. We are told in 1st Peter 5:7 to cast our cares on Him because He cares for us. We will do this through prayer.
A friend of mine recently pointed out to me that when we are in the storms of life, we need to be people of prayer and our prayers need to be: Persistent (Luke 11:8). When it’s hard to pray we need to pray the hardest. We need to include praise in our cries out to God, counting our blessings and being grateful will take you a long way down the road (1st Thessalonians 5:18). It’s okay to include our petitions, specific requests, asking for what we need, strength, comfort, guidance, etc. (Philippians 4:6).
Be patient when you are fighting the wind, it can’t blow forever right? Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. Are you surrendered to the Spirit and waiting on His perfect timing (Galatians 5:22)? Finally, be at peace (2nd Thessalonians 3:16). We are never alone, Jesus is not far off, He can see you (Mark 6:48) and He is for you (Romans 8:31) so hang in there.
He told me to tell you that.
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