Meet Me in the Trunk

All Aboard

“On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, ‘Let us crossover to the other side’. Now when they had left the multitude they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’
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 Chapter 4:35-41 NKJV)
I have read this story in the Bible numerous times. It was good but it never had a great impact on me. I was in awe that the wind and the sea obeyed Jesus. I am sure that the apostles were, too. I focused on the power of Jesus so much that I overlooked a beautiful nugget.
When I was faced with a storm in my life, this passage was an anchor for me. What struck me more than the power of Jesus to calm the storms was the fact that Jesus knew the storm was out there. He knew, yet He asked the disciples to take Him to the other side. Do you think for one minute that the storm caught Jesus by surprise? I truly believe one nugget in this passage is the apostles going to Jesus and asking for help. You see, Jesus knows that we are going to have storms in our life. There are many promises in the Bible.
“My Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience” (James 1:2 NKJV)
More that the raging waters, the roaring winds, more than the commands to the elements to be calm and peaceful, the act of seeking Jesus in the midst of the storm is powerful. Over the past decade I have taken comfort in this passage. I take comfort and receive great strength from it. Storms are a “given”. But do not stop there. Jesus is also a “Given”. His great love for us is a given. Our safety and peace and calm are all bought and paid for. Sometimes we just have to ask for it.
Believe me when I say that there is no storm so powerful that Jesus cannot navigate it. Sometimes He will calm the seas but more often than not He will take control of the helm and guide me through to the other side. Whatever the case, I seek Him and find peace in the midst of turmoil. Keep a pillow in the stern of your boat for Jesus and you will be fine.
Not only does Jesus know there will be storms in our lives, He also knows the purposes of those storms. When I continued reading the passage in Mark, I read about a man who was on the other side of the once raging, now calm waters.
“And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying out and cutting himself with stones.” (Mark 5:2-5 NKJV)
The Bible went on to tell us how Jesus rid the man of the evil spirits. I realized that certainly if Jesus knew there was going to be a storm, He also knew what was on the other side of it. Restoration! Peace! Calm! Life!
The storms in my life are just preparing me for the blessings to come. My storms will usually benefit others. By that I mean the things I learn in my storms, the strength I obtain in my storms, the amount of growth that occurs during a storm are things that I can share with someone who is in a storm. I can honestly say that storms have made me stronger when I do not give up but ride them out.
This lesson came full circle for me recently. On Mother’s Day 2011, I was at church listening to my youngest son preach. No big deal because he is a preacher, right. It was a very big deal to me. You see, that same youngest son was the cause of one of the most horrendous storms in my life. I was watching him slowly kill himself with his drug addiction. He was going down and taking a lot of people who loved him with him. I can remember being so weary that I prayed that if he was going to die, if that was what was in the cards for him, that God would take him quickly. I could not continue to live like I was living. I was tired. If that happened, I determined I would grieve and mourn and slowly begin to put the pieces of my life back together. Then I went to the stern of the boat and woke up my sleeping passenger. I began to pray that my son would live and be sober. That would be fantastic. Alive! Sober! When that prayer was answered I stayed in the boat and Jesus let me experience the miracle on the other side. You see, I would have settled for alive and sober BUT GOD had other plans. My youngest son is now impacting the kingdom and that was something I did not even pray for.