SLEEP IN THE STORM

• DAY 117
• FEAR FILES: THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS
• SCRIPTURE: Matthew 8:23-27, Mark 4:38-41

“On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!””

mark 4:35-41

The longer I live, the more I notice that I am not as judgmental as I used to be. Before, when I looked at scriptures like this, I used to feel like I would have reacted differently or better. I would imagine how they should have done this or that. But now, I realize how immature I was.

For example, the disciples in our text today. The first time I read this scripture, I thought to myself, “Why were these people worried?” I mean, if I was with Jesus in that storm, I wouldn’t have been afraid. In fact, I’d probably take a pillow and go to sleep with Him. Because, no matter how it turns out it’s a win. Either we arrive safely or we will be with him in paradise. I mean, heaven is the goal, right? So why are you guys being overly dramatic? You could have calmly said Jesus, master, come help us, we need you. Instead of accusing Him for not caring. 

But then, life made me realize that although I have Jesus, the Holy Spirit and victory in the death and resurrection of Christ, which they didn’t have at this time, I still got very dramatic when I faced a storm. I blamed Jesus for not coming to help me. I said things like, “Don’t you care that I’m about to die?” I doubted His love and care about my life. Even though I have seen Him perform countless  miracles, just like these disciples had seen. And yet they still told Jesus, Carest thou not that we perish? Because somehow His inactivity in that moment translated to them as lack of care. 

But Jesus responded to their question and their accusation, (because these people literally accused Jesus of being nonchalant and uncaring) Jesus responded with a question of His own?

Why Are You So Fearful?

How is it that you have no faith? Remember when we started this study we said that fear is not only terror. That it manifests in various ways and it is the opposite of faith? This is one of the scriptures that informed that statement. We see Jesus identify a kind of a manifestation of fear. Their fear didn’t make sense to Jesus. Clearly, they didn’t trust His presence in the boat. They didn’t trust the Messiah that was with them in the same situation. They didn’t look at His reaction as a sign that they already had victory over what was confronting them. They didn’t consider that the storm and the turbulence could just be a side attraction or a distraction. That paying attention to the storm was taking their sleep and peace away.

Kind of like how we don’t realize that the anxieties we face are taking away our peace on purpose. The enemy is using our anxiety as a distraction. And we get lost trying to fix the problem and not in trusting that God already has the problem fixed. 

We get focused on blaming God for His inactivity in the situation instead of seeing that He is actually at rest because He has already given us the victory. God calls this type of reaction an act of little faith aka fear. 

Full Faith

Having “full” faith would mean that you trust that God is working even when you think He’s asleep. Having faith would mean that you don’t focus on trying to get the water out of your boat or trouble yourself about the storm, but that you rest in your Father. If my father is not saying anything, it might mean that; that thing is already done.

Having faith will mean trusting that God’s silent does not mean that He’s not working or that He’s not helping you. Having faith is trusting God in the midst of the storm and going to sleep knowing He’s got you.

Beloved, trust God, even in the midst of the storm. Trust that He has you covered. Trust that even in the midst of danger, though He might seem asleep, He has the power to say to the storm, Be still, and it Obeys!

Be Still

He’s speaking to every storm in your life right now. He’s speaking to that thing that has you worried, Be still. He’s saying to everything that has come to take your sleep and your peace, be still. He’s saying you can’t hurt him anymore, you can’t disturb this heir of GOD anymore. Be still.

I speak stillness over your spirit. I pray that you will see that God is working even in the midst of every storm that might be challenging you right now. In Jesus name. Amen.

Shalom