Over the last few weeks, there have been natural storms and spiritual storms. We live in a world where there is war close by. It is important that we know Jesus, the giver of peace at this time.

“As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.”

So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). 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?”

Mark 4:35-42 (NLT)

The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”

Storms come

Sadly there is no way around this. Storms come! Each and every one of us has experienced storms in our life. Whether they be health challenges, relationship issues, financial struggles etc. we know that we will all, at some point, find ourselves in a storm.

The disciples (some of whom were fishermen) will have known this. The Sea of Galilee is in a valley and, as such, is prone to sudden storms. They are not irregular.

Often we assume that storms come because we have done something, made some wrong decisions, disobeyed God or sinned in some way. This is true, but it is also true that storms can come when you are right in the middle of God’s will – the disciples were traveling across the sea at Jesus’ command.

The good news of the gospel doesn’t promise an easy life. Jesus says that storms will come. So it is important we know what to do when they do come.

Jesus can calm the storm

We believe in a God and a saviour who can instantly calm a storm. He is above all things, even the wind and the waves obey him.

The bible is full of numerous stories of instant miracles and transformation, and many of us have our own stories of instant, sudden miracles when there seemed to be no hope.

And so as a community we pray for God to move. We pray for healing, we pray for miraculous provision, we pray for freedom from addiction. We pray for peace in our world, knowing that in history there have been times when God has stepped in and men have laid down their arms.

We pray with faith, 100% convinced that God can do it!

But also knowing that sometimes it doesn’t happen in an instant but

Jesus is in the boat!

At this point in the story, the disciples have spent days listening to Jesus’ teaching on the sermon on the mount. They’ve watched him speak with authority and move in miraculous power but trusting in Jesus in all circumstances is very different.

In the midst of the storm

“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?”

He gets up, calms the storm and then asks:

“Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

I wonder if this statement is not actually about their faith in Jesus to calm the storm immediately, but is more about their daily walking and trusting in him.

Jesus was in the boat! He wasn’t observing from the sidelines. He was right there, in the midst of them – of course he cared!

And sometimes we’re in the midst of a storm and Jesus’ answer to our cries at that point isn’t to calm the storm but to say “come and rest in the stern of the boat with me.”

We don’t know why storms come but we need to trust and have faith that Jesus is in the boat with us. Sometimes peace isn’t the storm stopping, it’s just being with Jesus through the storm.

Jesus wants to be with you in the storm, he wants to be the giver of peace, the peacemaker in our storms. And…

He calls us to be peacemakers

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

Matthew 5:9 (NIV)

Or to flip it around….

The children of God are peacemakers.

We don’t need to have all the answers, we don’t have to fix all the problems.

But we can bring peace to people’s lives.

By standing with people, upholding them in prayer, and partnering with Jesus. By being a “faithful presence”

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony”

Revelation 12:11

Perhaps the word of our testimony isn’t just about the big miracles and storms that have suddenly stopped. But about a Jesus who, through it all, has been there and brought peace to us and those around us.

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