God of the Storm

Scripture:
Mark 4:39 — “And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Hush, be still.’ And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.” 

Observation:
I see two things in this verse. First, the preceding verses leading up to this crisis of belief in the disciples was following Jesus’ illustration of mustard seed faith. It makes the disciples so human for me. I know in my own life, Jesus has to repeatedly teach me the same truth in different ways.  I also noticed that it was Jesus who suggested crossing the lake. The disciples were not out of God’s will when they got caught in the storm. I know that many times we confuse hard times and storms to with being out of God’s will and I see that this is simply not true. And lastly, the calming of the storm didn’t seem to rely on the amount of faith the disciples had (for that was little) it had to do with God’s will to calm the storm. 

Application:
I must learn to live my life knowing that God’s will for me is to follow Him and trust Him completely, even if my obedience leads me into storms. And to realize that not all storms are an indication of being out of His will. I need to open my eyes in the midst of the storm and see what things God may be trying to teach or show me. It may be those lessons that He has tried to teach me in other ways (such as with the disciples). 

Prayer:
God, help me to first walk in Your will daily and have faith that wherever that path leads, You are in control. Provide me with opportunities to grow my faith in You. And when those opportunities arise, give me the strength and the wisdom to handle them. Thank you for your unfailing protection and guidance. You are God of all storms!

— Crystal Stringer, high school minister