It seemed to come out of nowhere! Yesterday afternoon, sitting in my office on the lower level of the church, the sky got eerily dark. I checked the weather app and saw a line of orange with a lot of green behind it heading our way. Seeing that it was close to our house in Brownsburg, I called my wife. They were saying winds up to 70 mph. She answered with a frantic, “I am outside.” She had gotten caught during her afternoon walk. It seemed to come out of nowhere! I waited it out for a while at the church and then headed home. Tree branches scattered along my route. Wind is an amazing and powerful thing. And storms with high winds can be scary. And even in the beauty of a lightning filled sky, there is usually damage and debris in its path.

The disciples experienced a storm that seemed to come out of nowhere. Early in his ministry, shortly after choosing the twelve men that would accompany him for the next 3+ years. Jesus had a long day of teaching the crowds and as evening approached he told the Twelve to set sail to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Leaving the sailing to the fishermen in the boat Jesus found a cushion and headed to the back of the boat and fell asleep. It seemed to come out of nowhere! A storm! Mark called it a ‘furious squall.’ Waves breaking over the top of the boat.  The disciples, even the seasoned sailors, feared for their life. Jesus? He was still sleeping in the back of the boat.
Mark says, “The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Hush! Be still! Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” (Mark 4:35-41)
He then asked the disciples why they were so afraid. Didn’t they have faith? Now they were really terrified! Who is this guy that controls the weather?

Yesterday was a thunderstorm. And maybe you are trying today to clean up the aftereffects in your yard. I know of one whose car took the brunt of a fallen tree. (He wasn’t hurt.) But what about life’s other kind of storms. Relational storms! Emotional Storms! Physical Storms! Spiritual Storms! It seemed to come out of nowhere! A furious squall of life’s worst circumstances and deepest hurts crashing over your soul. And where is God?  At times he feels distant. Or silent. We feel that he isn’t interested in the storm we are going through. Maybe the storm isn’t big enough for him to concern himself with? Maybe I am not good enough for him to concern himself with? When the truth of the matter is, he is concerned! He cares about every detail of our lives. Peter tells us to “Cast all of our cares (our anxieties, fears, concerns, worries) on him. For HE CARES FOR YOU! (emphasis mine). Cast all your cares – never too small, never unimportant!

I read those verses again but this time I read Jesus’ rebuke to the waves as if he said those words to the disciples and to me. That way also makes sense. When we are in the middle of one of life’s storms, Jesus could just as likely say to us, “Hush, Be still.” There is no reason for us to fret or worry.

The one who created the wind, controls the wind and will carry us through the storm.
What is your storm today? What winds are you facing? What is crashing over the bow of you boat? Take a moment right now and take it to Jesus. Be completely honest!

“Hush! Be Still!”