Finding Peace in the Storm

Led by: Rev. Magdalena Marais

Scripture: Psalm 46, Mark 4: 35-41 and Romans 8: 31-39 

I’m sure we all smiled a little hearing the reference to Whac-A-Mole today.  But perhaps the adults recognised something even deeper.  Sometimes life really does feel like that.  One problem after another.  One phone call after another.  One more fire to put out.  One more difficult decision to make.  We had quite the game of Whac-A-Mole the last two years.  Just as we solved one problem or got one set of documents the next mole jumped out. 

I’m sure we all get the Whac-A-Mole feeling sometimes.  Just when one problem is solved another one appears.  Just when work settles down something happens at home.  Just when our finances improve our health lets us down.  Just when we think life is becoming manageable another storm appears.  It feels like life has become one long exercise in damage control.

Our passage in Mark start with Jesus that said, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.”  They simply obeyed Him.  And then the storm came.  Sometimes following Jesus leads us into places we would never have chosen ourselves.  Sometimes the path of faith leads through uncertainty, illness, grief, disappointment and change.  And that raises a difficult question.  If Jesus is with us why do storms still come?

1. The storm was real

Mark does not try to make the storm sound smaller than it was.  It was a violent storm.  In South Africa we had severe and terrifying thunderstorms. But I think the storm Mark tells us about is next level.  Several of the disciples were experienced fishermen.  They knew this lake.  If they were afraid, this was no ordinary storm.

The waves were crashing into the boat.  Water was filling it.  And suddenly these experienced men believed they were going to die.  Most of us know what storms feel like especially in our daily lives.  Our storms come as a difficult diagnosis, the loss of someone we love, financial uncertainty, broken relationships and other challenges.

Storms come in many forms.  Sometimes they arrive without warning.  Sometimes they stay much longer than we expected.  Sometimes it feels as though life has become one long game of Whac-A-Mole.  No wonder the disciples panicked.

2. We become so focused on the storm that we forget who is in the boat

Then Mark tells us something remarkable.  While everyone else was panicking Jesus was asleep.  Imagine the contrast.  The disciples are shouting. The wind is howling.  The waves are crashing.  And Jesus is sleeping.  Finally, they wake Him.

And listen carefully to what they ask.  “Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to die?” If we are honest many of us have asked the same question. Lord don’t You see what I’m going through?  Don’t You care?  Why aren’t You doing something?

Perhaps we have never spoken those words aloud.  But maybe we have whispered them in our hearts. 

That is what fear does.  When we spend all our energy reacting to one crisis after another, we begin to believe the storm is bigger than the Saviour.  The disciples could see the wind.  They could see the waves, hear the wind, feel the rain and for a moment they forgot who was sitting in the boat with them.

3. Jesus is never in damage-control mode

Jesus stands up.  He simply says, “Be quiet! Be still!” Immediately the wind stops.

The sea becomes completely calm.  Notice how different Jesus is from the disciples.

They are in survival mode.  Jesus is not.  They are trying to manage the crisis. Jesus simply speaks.  What feels like complete chaos to the disciples is never outside His authority.  Jesus is never caught by surprise.  He is never overwhelmed and never forced into damage control.  Because He is Lord.  Not only over the storm but over all creation.

That is why Mark ends with the most important question.  “Who is this man? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” That is the question Mark wants every one of us to answer. Who is Jesus?  He is more than a teacher or a miracle worker.  He is the Son of God.  The Creator whom even creation obeys.

4. Peace is not the absence of storms

Sometimes we hope following Jesus means He will remove every storm from our lives.  That it will be smooth sailing for us.  Sometimes He does.  He heals, provide, change our circumstances – calms the storm in our lives.  But sometimes the storm continues.  The New Testament never promises a storm-free life.  But it reminds us that Jesus is in the boat with us.  The greatest miracle in this story is not simply that the storm became calm.  The greatest miracle is that Jesus was in the boat, in the storm with the disciples. 

Conclusion

Last Sunday we prayed David’s prayer: “Show me Your ways, Lord.”  This week we discover something just as important.  Sometimes God’s way leads through storms, and life feels like one long game of Whac-A-Mole.  And somewhere along the way we stop looking at Jesus.  We become so busy watching the waves that we forget who is in the boat.  The good news of the Gospel is this: Jesus is not doing damage control.  He is Lord.  He was Lord before the storm began.  He was Lord in the middle of the storm.  And He will still be Lord when the storm has passed.  So whatever storm you may be facing today look beyond the waves, wind and rain.  Remember who is in the boat.  Because the One who commands the wind and the sea still walks with His people.  And He will lead us safely to the other side.  Amen.