This story, that follows, is something I wrote after imagining what it was like for the disciples when Jesus calmed the storm in Mark 4:35-41.
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It was just another day. The sun was warming their faces as they walked together talking. The dirt from the path kicked up in their faces as the wind carried it from the multitude of people walking around them. The sound of children could be heard as they laughed while chasing each other, adults asking questions- pondering about life, and a man in the center talking and sharing wisdom.
As the day was ending the chatter lessened and the crowd slowly thinned.
"What shall we do now Lord? Should we stay here for the night?" asked Peter.
With a side nod, the man with the kind eyes and beard answered, "Let us go over to the other side."
Leaving the crowd behind, the twelve gathered a boat and pushed off shore. The sky was starting to close in and become an eerie dark black/blue while the moon shown on the clouds above. The taste of salt from the water in the air was all around them and the smell of fish fill their noses from the dinner left behind. All that could be heard was the water lapping the sides of the boat.
"it is going to be a good night. Things seem calm," mentioned a man sitting on the rail of the boat.
The twelve worked together keeping the boat going across the sea as the man with the kind eyes crawled up by the stern of the boat and fell asleep.
As they were well along in their journey, the wind started to pick up. With side glances, the men started to gather their belongings to a safe spot on the boat and then they started to prepare for what might be in store for them with the wind howling threats at them. At first the waves were timid, just swaying the boat enough to gather the attention of the men. But it didn't stop there. They grew in size and in force. The waves slammed into the sides of the boat causing the men to loose their balance and hold tightly to the railing.
As they fought with all of their strength, nothing was helping. The waves appeared to have the upper hand. They would crash into the side of the boat and make the men slide to the other side as if they were rag dolls instead of strong fishermen. Water was starting to fill the boat even though the men were using all of their energy to bail it out. As they scrambled from one side of the boat to the other, throwing water out as they went, it rushed in as if it had an agenda of it's own.
"We can't hold it back! We are going to drown! These waves are overtaking us!" A man screamed in fear as he clutched to the slippery railing.
"How is Jesus sleeping through all of this?! Hurry! Wake Him up!"
As a man crawled to the other side of the boat he yelled, "Lord, save us! We are going to drown!"
With that single cry for help, Jesus got up from where he was laying and rebuked the wind and waves.
With a voice of power and authority He yelled, "Quiet! Be still!" and immediately the sea was calm. If someone would have dropped a rock at the side of the boat at that moment, the ripples would have been seen going for miles. There was no longer a trace of fear and anxiety that was there a moment ago.
"You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" He said, eyes full of compassion. "With me, you have no need to worry."
After seeing the sea stop it's chaos, the men looked around and asked one another, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"
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I was thinking about this story because it related to my life today. I had a storm come up, and my first response was to worry about the situation and the outcome, but after thinking about this story in the Bible I was reminded that we don't need to be afraid. Things will come, but we don't have to just take it and be beat down. We can stand up and rebuke the situation. We can praise God that He is always with us. That He has given us power to fight situations in our life because He gave us His power when He died for us and rose again. We can fight for our own situations and we can also fight for those around us who might not be able to fight for the fear overtaking them. We can talk to God about it and then praise Him that it is taken care of. 🙂 I am just so happy that God has given us His power and authority to us, to fight the battles in our lives or families lives, so we don't need to worry. 🙂
