Mark 5:40 NLT
"The he asked them, 'Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
If you read chapter 5 of the book of Mark in the New Testament than you'll find that Jesus is asking the question above after he has just calmed a storm. Now what we may not take the time to realize is that the storm that he calmed was not just a little rain shower. He and his disciples were out in the middle of a lake and the wind and the waves were so bad that the disciples were afraid that the boat was going to be sunk and they would all drown.
While this huge storm was overtaking the boat the story says that Jesus slept in the bottom of the boat. The disciples run up to Jesus freaking out that they're going to die and they don't know what to do. I would have loved to have been there to see Jesus' face when they woke him up. (I don't wake well when I've been asleep so I would have liked to have seen how Jesus handled that)
Jesus gets up and calms the storm with one simple sentence "SILENCE, BE STILL!!!!" After that he turns to his disciples and asks the question in verse 40 of chapter 5. He is basically asking them do you guys not get who you are with right now? That a simple storm is not going to keep me from fulfilling my Father's plan. He is reminding them that no storm is more powerful than the power of God.
The disciples needed to be reminded that when they decided to follow Jesus that they are walking with someone who says that nothing and no one is going to stand against them. I believe when he said to the wind and waves "SILENCE, BE STILL!!" he was saying that to the disciples at the same time. He wanted their hearts to find comfort and peace in the fact that they were on the boat with their protector and their shield.
In the book of Psalms in the 46th chapter, tenth verse it says "Be still and know that I am God..." How often do we fear what is going to happen us? How often do we try to figure out the future before we even realize that when we decided to follow Jesus that we decided to get on the boat with our protector and our shield. How often do we let the wind and the waves of what is happening around us distract us from the fact that Jesus is with us? How often do the winds and waves keep us from being still and know he is GOD???
Jesus wants us to realize that he is for us and with us. He wants us to have faith that he is for us and not against us. He doesn't want the winds and waves of life to distract us from him. He wants to draw us closer and closer to him.
This doesn't mean that if you follow Jesus that your life is going to be perfect and never experience winds and waves again, but it does mean that when the winds and waves of our lives hit the decks of our boats we shouldn't be distracted because Jesus is along for the ride. We follow a God that is not just for us, but that is with us. He calms storms because he is our shield and our protector.
Thought question: What distracts you from the fact that Jesus has your back? When is the last time you felt Jesus saying to you "Silence, be still and know that I am God"?
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