Mark 4:35-41 by Seth Dunn

On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.”Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” 

Mark 4:35 - 41

In the month of February 2013, tornadoes devastated Adairsville, GA, just north of my home in Cartersville.  Unfortunately, this is not all unusual in the part of the country in which I live.  Later that same month, a tornado destroyed significant parts of Hattiesburg, MS.  A friend of mine captured that foreboding storm on video and it was broadcast nationally on the Weather Channel.  In both locations, people watched helplessly as the forces of nature destroyed life and property.  After the storms had passed, the best people could do was to gather together to clean-up and rebuild.  This pattern has repeated itself down through the centuries.  Despite mankind’s great technical and societal progress, there is little it can do to stand against the powerful forms of nature.  Storms, earthquakes, tidal waves, hurricanes, and tornadoes continue to wreak havoc upon mankind.  Sometimes these events bring out the best in human nature; sometimes they bring out the worst.

The gospels recount a story of bad weather bringing out the worst in Jesus’ disciples, exposing their crippling lack of faith.  Even in the presence of God incarnate, they still feared the weather.  Jesus, the divine ruler of the universe, calmed the weather simply by telling the wind and Sea, “Hush, be still.”  After doing so he reprimanded his disciples saying, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

This led the disciples to ask one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”  This question is still pertinent today.  As we are tossed about by the storms of life, both tangible and metaphorical, we must consider Jesus.  Who is Jesus that even the wind and sea obey Him?  He is the Lord of the universe, so much greater than we.

When the storms of life are raging
Stand by me
When the storms of life are raging
Stand by me
When the world is tossing me
Like a ship out on the sea
Thou who rulest wind and water
Stand by me