Week 34: Day 3
“Silence, be still.” Join Esther as she reflects on the impact these three words have when we face storms in life.
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 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.
He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Intro: Hi I’m Esther - we're going to be reading from Mark 4, starting at verse 35.
Bible: As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”
Thought: In this story, where we meet Jesus and the disciples, they are NOT caught in a little drizzle- far from it, they are caught in a raging storm that goes on all through the night. The rain is coming down, the boat is filling up and they are absolutely terrified.
Let’s face the reality - sometimes life is full storms that can leave us feeling vulnerable. It strikes me that there are parallels here to places around the world where storms rage constantly.
Sometimes storms we face in our own lives - struggles we face that leave us feeling vulnerable, relationship break downs, lies that we have believed about ourselves, struggles in the lives of people we love…
Sometimes storms in our communities - there will be houses and streets not far from where you are right now, where the circumstances of people living there, the storms of life, have left them vulnerable. Communities close by, where the storms of life have hit them hard…
Around the world, you’ll know the names of countries where storms are raging and the people are vulnerable. You see it in the papers, online, you see them on the news: storms of violence, storms of oppression, storms of poverty, injustice, war. Around the world, people are living and the storm is raging, and they are left vulnerable - you don’t need me to tell you that.
When faced with a storm (understandably so!), the disciples are afraid. They are vulnerable. This wasn’t what they signed up for - this is not how being with Jesus was meant to be. But yet, in the middle of the fear and frantic panic, even as the disciples are afraid and vulnerable, Jesus is present and he is WITH THEM.
And the good news? He isn’t fazed. No, he speaks with supernatural authority.
To the wind and the waves: “Silence, be still”
What I like, is that in these three words, he covers it all. I like to think of him speaking to the wind, as him speaking to the things that you can’t see, and when he speaks to the waves, he speaks to the things you can see. He has authority over them all. In an instant, the very place where once they had been left feeling so vulnerable and so afraid is now a place of safety. There's a powerful reminder here: the safest place in the middle of the storm, is in the presence of Jesus.
Challenge: At IJM, we begin the first 30 mins of every day in stillness, recognising that the safest place to be, in the face of a storm of injustice, is in the presence of Jesus. What does it look like to hear Jesus’ invitation to YOU, to be quiet, and to be still? In the middle of your busy day, can you set aside 5 minutes to ‘be still’. Set an alarm on your phone, shut the door, don’t look at social media… and actually be silent. What does it look like to hear his invitation to You to be still?
Prayer: Jesus, thank you so much that in the middle of chaos, in the middle of storms, in the middle of things that leave us feeling afraid and confused and perhaps very vulnerable, thank you that you're not worried and that you're there. And today we want to recognise your voice say "Silence, be still" over the storms that are raging. Will you help me to find stillness with you. Amen.