Jesus Calms The Storm – By Ritchie Way

Jesus Calms the Storm – by Ritchie Way

Sep 9, 2015 10158

That evening, Jesus said to his followers, “Let’s go across the lake. ” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him in the boat just as he was. There were also other boats with them.

A very strong wind came up on the lake. The waves came over the sides and into the boat so that it was already full of water.

Jesus was at the back of the boat, sleeping with his head on a cushion. His followers woke him and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are drowning!”

Jesus stood up and commanded the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind stopped, and it became completely calm.

Jesus said to his followers, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The followers were very afraid and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:37-41 NCV).

It had been a very busy Sabbath day for Jesus, teaching on the mountainside and healing the sick. After the Sabbath was over many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he healed them. When Jesus saw the growing crowd he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. At that point two men came to him, declaring that they wished to be his disciples, but when Jesus saw that he wasn’t their number-one priority, he dismissed them both (Matt. 8: 18-22). Because they didn’t put Jesus first in their lives they missed out on one of his most incredible miracles—the calming of the storm.

Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat when the storm struck. The cold air from the mountains swept down to the lake and whipped it into a fury of wave and wind. The boat that Jesus was in shipped so much water it was in danger of sinking; yet Jesus slept on.

Just so, in most of our life’s storms, it appears that Jesus is asleep, unaware of our predicament. But we are safe as long as we maintain our trust in him.

I was once caught in a night-time storm in the Papuan Gulf that was so fierce both I and the crew doubted that we would survive till morning. The waves were so big our mission ship literally fell off the top of every third one, down into the trough with such force the caulking was punched out of the planks in the bow, allowing the sea-water to squirt into the engine room with the power of a fire hose. Tons of water in the engine room and aft hold would surge from one side to other with each roll of the ship. The electric pump, being under water, fused out, so we had to bail the water out by hand using a bucket chain. Because the ship was pitching, rolling, and yawing in the tempest we had to hang on tightly with one hand and do our best to pass the bucket of sea-water up the ladder with the other.

When we set out that morning we anticipated arriving at Yule Island by 6pm. We didn’t get there until 2am next day. On that trip it seemed to us that the Lord was asleep, but he brought us safely to our destination because we were on his business.

Jesus’ disciples experienced an incredible event that dark and stormy night on Galilee. To prove that he was Lord of all, Jesus stood and commanded the wind and the waves to be quiet. Immediately the words left his lips the wind dropped and the waves subsided.

Jesus wants us to know that there is nothing he cannot do to stop our ‘storm’, should he find that necessary. But even if he does appear to be asleep, our ‘boat’ is filling with water and seems about to sink, we must trust him to bring us through safely.

– Ritchie Way

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