(Part 3 of 3)
“Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?””-Mark 4:39-40
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Jesus isn’t going to deliver you out of every storm. He isn’t going to step in and rebuke the wind and waves each time you face difficult conditions. Instead, he showed us that we don’t have to let the storm on the outside create a storm on the inside of us.
What if that is the real miracle of the passage. It wouldn’t be the first time that Jesus used a powerful external miracle to convey a deeper spiritual one. Take some time to read the story of the paralytic brought in on a mat by his friends in Luke 5:17-26. Jesus used his healing to confirm His ability to forgive sins.
When Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the waves, he turned to His disciples and asked them “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” I don’t think he was questioning why they didn’t just believe for him to stand up and rebuke the wind. Let’s be honest, we serve a shallow God if we believe that He is only interested in improving our external conditions. No, I think he was questioning why they allowed the storm around them to become the storm inside of them, instead of allowing the calm in Him to become the calm in them.
They missed it because they were amazed that the wind and waves obeyed him but not amazed that Jesus was able to remain calm when it seemed the whole world was crashing around them. The problem that most of us face is that we are more moved by our conditions than we want to admit.
The disciples had Jesus with them in the boat, but their response for awhile was to act like he wasn’t even there, which led them into believing that He wasn’t even concerned about them. They misread Him (not the situation). Truth is, He was there with them the whole time. He promised to never leave us nor forsake us. He is our ever-present help in times of trouble. He’s in the boat.
Hebrews 12:2 instructs us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, not our conditions. The atmosphere inside of you is created by what you fix your eyes on. Peter walked on water when he had his eyes fixed on Jesus, but sank at the sight of the wind and waves.
We’ve misread miracles because we have believed that the way to be more like Jesus is to rebuke the wind and waves around us. Sometimes that is the answer. However, if the wind doesn’t die down. Sometimes being like Jesus is resting in who He is and trusting that if He isn’t panicked neither will I be.
Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church
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