When you hear the word peace, what comes to mind? A beach? A cabin in the mountains? Here’s one that probably wouldn’t make the list—a life-threatening storm. But this scene sets the stage for one of Jesus’ most well-known life lectures on peace.
The setting is powerful, because while the beach might be a nice vacation, most of life happens in the chaos. It occurs while paying bills, taking orders from a boss, and parenting kids. Because Jesus knows chaos is unavoidable, His solution isn’t a week away from it all. It’s peace amidst it all!
Mark 4:37-41 proves this. Here, we find the disciples stuck in that terrible storm: “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!’”
In this passage, Jesus basically speaks “be quiet!” in two ways. In my mind, He groggily wakes up from His nap, stretches and says, “Shut up! Hush!” The Greek word He uses means to muzzle. This tells us that to have true peace, we first have to know what to silence.
Our enemy will whisper chaotic lies to anyone who will listen. At some point, the holiest thing we could say to them is, “Shut up! Hush!”—rebuking Satan’s words and replacing them with the words of God.
We must also trust God’s strength. Human beings are never as defenseless as they are against elements of nature. But in this story, Jesus stilled what we could never stop. Even the waves, which usually take time to subside, ceased instantly.
If we want true peace, we must understand how powerful our God is. What intimidates us doesn’t even faze Him. I don’t say this to minimize your problems, but to encourage your rest. God’s got you!
Then we must believe God cares. The end of our passage tells us Jesus rebuked the disciples. It’s important to realize, though, that Jesus did not rebuke them for what they did; He rebuked them for what they doubted. Verse 38 tells us they doubted not whether Jesus could calm the storm, but whether He cared enough to do so. Friends, until we know God cares about us, we’ll never believe He’ll take care of us.
Whatever life-storm you may be in today, I hope you’ll learn from the disciples. Rest. Silence the enemy’s words, and trust in both God’s hand and heart. With God, we can have peace amidst any storm!
