I stepped out one afternoon last week for my daily walk. It had been raining all morning, but now the sun was shining. Everything looked fine.
Just as I reached the half-way point, clouds appeared out of nowhere and the skies opened up once again, loud and torrential. I made it home in record time.
Just another reminder of how storms can come so quickly.
The disciples knew something about this. Mark tells the story in Chapter Four. One moment, they’re all sailing merrily across the lake. The next, they’re fighting for their lives, facing what he describes as a “furious squall.”
Of course, Jesus was there with them the whole time. But they weren’t exactly sure that he would — or even could — do anything about it. In fact, while they were hanging on for dear life, he was asleep in the stern. Sleeping on a cushion, Mark says — an interesting detail to include.
When the disciples woke him up, he spoke three powerful words, words that the storm had no choice but to obey: “Peace! Be still!” (Mark 4:39) The disciples were in awe. Maybe they learned something that day.
Today it’s most often the other kind of storm we face. The kind that shakes us from the inside out. You know these storms. You’ve faced them yourself.
When the storms of life are raging, and it seems that God is unaware, you can do what the disciples did. You can cry out. You can express your desperation. You can ask for his help.
And you can be sure he’ll speak these words. First, he speaks to your heart: “Peace, be still.” That means you can let go of your fear, put your trust in him, and find rest in his presence. He is not as absent or unaware as you might have imagined.
And then, in time, he’ll speak these same words to the wind and waves around you: “Peace, be still.” And they will certainly obey.
We know about the calm before the storm. And we wait for the calm after the storm.
But don’t forget you can experience the calm during the storm. He is there with you, the whole time. Let him be your strength.
“Peace, be still.”
© 2003, 2025. Today’s post was adapted from Steve’s sermon When the Storms of Life are Raging.
