Mark 4:35-41
On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?“
I’ve been thinking about the story of Jesus calming the storm quite a lot this week. There’s a lot of storms going on in my life and the lives of people I know, and my anxiety level over the uncertainty of it all is building up to an uncomfortable level. I wonder which is harder for Jesus to do: nature miracles like calming a literal storm, or calming storms in the human heart?
I wrote the post below in 2017, when the lectionary reading used Matthew’s account of Jesus calming a storm. It’s always interesting to go back and read what I’ve previously thought about a particular passage. I’m still on board with what I wrote then. The particular storms I mentioned then may have passed, but there will always be new ones. It’s also interesting that today’s lectionary reading pairs this story with the story of David slaying Goliath. The stories are similar in that they both tell us that “nothing is impossible with God.”
I haven’t personally witnessed too many nature miracles, or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention, but I have had experience with the second kind of storm-calming. It’s not something I can call upon on demand…it just happens sometimes.
I think that’s called grace.
(Since I shared a song to go with the previous post, here’s the one that came to mind this time:
Standing on the promises of Christ, my King,
Through eternal ages let his praises ring;
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
Standing on the promises of God.
Refrain:
Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God, my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.
2 Standing on the promises that cannot fail.
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God. [Refrain]
3 Standing on the promises of Christ, the Lord,
Bound to him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God. [Refrain]
4 Standing on the promises I cannot fall,
List’ning ev’ry moment to the Spirit’s call,
Resting in my Savior as my all in all,
Standing on the promises of God. [Refrain]
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