Peace
"On that day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was. And other boats were with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that they boat was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you no faith?" And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?" (Mark 4: 35 - 41, ESV)
I've mentioned before that the women's Bible study I'm in is working through the book, The Miracles of Jesus. This past week we were studying the miracles that occurred on the Sea of Galilee... Jesus calming the storm and Jesus walking on water were the main ones. Tonight the woman who was doing the teaching portion spent some time showing us exactly how big (or small as the case may be) the boat probably was that Jesus and His disciples were in. It was not very large, but what struck me was how little boat was sticking up out of the water. It was only a little over four feet high, so allowing for how much boat was below the water line, there was precious little boat to protect the men inside.
This got me thinking about P. last year on her ship as she sailed around the Atlantic. It was a far bigger ship which afforded a lot more protection, but still, in heavy seas, they all had to wear safety harnesses and clip in when they were on deck. The risk of being knocked overboard was very real. And whenever I do think about that, my heart does a little flip at having sent my daughter out there on the ocean. It makes all this waves, water, and boats feel just a bit more personal.
Our teacher also shared that on the Sea of Galilee, storms can develop extremely fast with little warning and that waves can grow to be between ten and twenty feet high. That's a lot of waves crashing down onto a very little boat which contains no harnesses and no safety lines to clip into. What was everyone doing? The disciples were rightly terrified. Yet Jesus was asleep.
Now, I will admit that I've always been just a touch annoyed at Jesus sleeping there in the boat. My personal explanations went from, "Well, it just shows how tired He was," to "It was probably just to teach those block headed disciples yet another lesson which they won't understand." But really, my explanations were not terribly satisfying, and maybe I felt annoyance because it felt just a little bit as though Jesus let me down, if even for a moment. Of course, when He is woken up, He gets straight to work and makes everything okay, but still...
Before I continue, I also need to explain that this particular story always feels more than a little personal. I've had years when, due to the extreme hurt that some of my children experienced, life felt just one wave away of going under. Here I had set out on this boat with Jesus, following Him because, well, it's Jesus, but I didn't expect to nearly drown in the process. And there were moments where it felt like drowning. Drowning in fear and panic and hurt that I had no idea how to fix or even if it could be fixed. Why the heck would Jesus dare to go to sleep? Didn't He care about me? Didn't He love me? Those years became a real crisis of faith on many levels.
But back to the boat. Tonight, as I listened to the lecture, something the speaker said triggered a completely different thought in my head. Jesus was asleep because He had total peace. He knew He didn't need to be worried about the storm. He knew that it was all under control. He knew because He was divine as well as human. This right here is a beautiful picture of what God's peace looks like. This horrible storm is raging all around this little bitty boat, yet Jesus could sleep. It wasn't that Jesus did sleep, but that Jesus could sleep. Only God's peace could provide for that type of rest.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (John 14:27, ESV)
It's another familiar verse, but I know I underrate exactly the depth of peace Jesus is talking about here. Not to be overly worried about things is usually how it gets understood in my head. It actually feels a little bland once I stop to really think about it. But think back to that boat where Jesus was asleep as if he was curled up in a nice warm bed in a dry and unrocking room. That is the peace Jesus wants us to experience. Jesus wants to give us such supernatural peace that even if we are in the most outrageous storm of our life, we could fall asleep without any trace of worry or fear. What better way to demonstrate the peace He was talking about than to fall asleep in a sinking boat in the middle of a storm?
It seems outrageous that we could experience a sense of peace like this, but this is what Jesus says is on offer. The price? Giving Jesus total control of our lives. It is far easier said than done because it is so easy to take back the control we imagine ourselves to have. So easy, so difficult.
I've mentioned before that the women's Bible study I'm in is working through the book, The Miracles of Jesus. This past week we were studying the miracles that occurred on the Sea of Galilee... Jesus calming the storm and Jesus walking on water were the main ones. Tonight the woman who was doing the teaching portion spent some time showing us exactly how big (or small as the case may be) the boat probably was that Jesus and His disciples were in. It was not very large, but what struck me was how little boat was sticking up out of the water. It was only a little over four feet high, so allowing for how much boat was below the water line, there was precious little boat to protect the men inside.
This got me thinking about P. last year on her ship as she sailed around the Atlantic. It was a far bigger ship which afforded a lot more protection, but still, in heavy seas, they all had to wear safety harnesses and clip in when they were on deck. The risk of being knocked overboard was very real. And whenever I do think about that, my heart does a little flip at having sent my daughter out there on the ocean. It makes all this waves, water, and boats feel just a bit more personal.
Our teacher also shared that on the Sea of Galilee, storms can develop extremely fast with little warning and that waves can grow to be between ten and twenty feet high. That's a lot of waves crashing down onto a very little boat which contains no harnesses and no safety lines to clip into. What was everyone doing? The disciples were rightly terrified. Yet Jesus was asleep.
Now, I will admit that I've always been just a touch annoyed at Jesus sleeping there in the boat. My personal explanations went from, "Well, it just shows how tired He was," to "It was probably just to teach those block headed disciples yet another lesson which they won't understand." But really, my explanations were not terribly satisfying, and maybe I felt annoyance because it felt just a little bit as though Jesus let me down, if even for a moment. Of course, when He is woken up, He gets straight to work and makes everything okay, but still...
Before I continue, I also need to explain that this particular story always feels more than a little personal. I've had years when, due to the extreme hurt that some of my children experienced, life felt just one wave away of going under. Here I had set out on this boat with Jesus, following Him because, well, it's Jesus, but I didn't expect to nearly drown in the process. And there were moments where it felt like drowning. Drowning in fear and panic and hurt that I had no idea how to fix or even if it could be fixed. Why the heck would Jesus dare to go to sleep? Didn't He care about me? Didn't He love me? Those years became a real crisis of faith on many levels.
But back to the boat. Tonight, as I listened to the lecture, something the speaker said triggered a completely different thought in my head. Jesus was asleep because He had total peace. He knew He didn't need to be worried about the storm. He knew that it was all under control. He knew because He was divine as well as human. This right here is a beautiful picture of what God's peace looks like. This horrible storm is raging all around this little bitty boat, yet Jesus could sleep. It wasn't that Jesus did sleep, but that Jesus could sleep. Only God's peace could provide for that type of rest.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." (John 14:27, ESV)
It's another familiar verse, but I know I underrate exactly the depth of peace Jesus is talking about here. Not to be overly worried about things is usually how it gets understood in my head. It actually feels a little bland once I stop to really think about it. But think back to that boat where Jesus was asleep as if he was curled up in a nice warm bed in a dry and unrocking room. That is the peace Jesus wants us to experience. Jesus wants to give us such supernatural peace that even if we are in the most outrageous storm of our life, we could fall asleep without any trace of worry or fear. What better way to demonstrate the peace He was talking about than to fall asleep in a sinking boat in the middle of a storm?
It seems outrageous that we could experience a sense of peace like this, but this is what Jesus says is on offer. The price? Giving Jesus total control of our lives. It is far easier said than done because it is so easy to take back the control we imagine ourselves to have. So easy, so difficult.
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