Mark 4:37-39 “a great windstorm arose, and the waves splashed into the boat, so that it was now filling the boat. He(Jesus) was in the stern asleep on a pillow. They woke Him and said, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing.” He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace be still.” Then the wind ceased and there was a great calm.”
I would like you to notice something in this short passage: First - the wind arose, the result was that it caused great waves to come into the boat, panic followed. Secondly, faith started to wane, the disciples call Jesus “Teacher.” The third notable event is that Jesus arose, rebuked the wind, not the waves and told the sea to be still. Result: a great calm brought perspective back to the hearts of the disciples. The disciples responded by saying “what kind of Man is He, that even the wind and the sea obey Him.”
The world is in a storm today and has been for several weeks. Isn’t it true that all of us are trying to fight this storm by ourselves. That’s noble and we need to listen to those in authority over us. But here’s my point: We have the oars in our hands, pulling hard as this virus seems to have the upper edge. These disciples didn’t wake Jesus as the waves grew higher, they didn’t wake him when the water covered their feet. They waited until they were depleted of strength, fear set in, now they were sure they would drown before they woke Jesus up. They thought they could
save themselves.
So many people today want to be strong and self sufficient, like we got this, we can rescue ourselves. Folks, the world is in a storm, there is great speculation and precious time being spent on who caused this to happen. What is really at work in this pandemic is Silence – the masses are trying to control the spread while buying time to come up with an antidote. “Silence” – maybe its time to humble ourselves, break the silence and call upon God to stay this disease, His people need to cry out. As well, our Pride is also an issue as we try to use our training, experience and influence to address the problem. It is imperative that we use every available resource to bring finality to this disease. We understand that, but “Pride” stands in the way of our seeking God to intervene. Lastly, our Self- sufficiency is prolonging and deepening human suffering. We listen very closely to the media, we depend on earthly remedies everyday. The problem with all these updates is that it depletes our hope, it takes our strength that is needed to keep going, we need to be directed to our Source of Strength. I believe that God is getting the attention of many during this time. We are shut up in our homes, restricted movement, many people are not working, Spirit of fear is trying to undermine and replace our foundational faith in Christ. He is our only answer.
I close with this: when we keep silent, our bones waste away, (Ps. 32) we begin to groan. Maybe its time for us to break the silence, admit to our pride, repent and ask God to restore the joy of our salvation Then I believe we will be in a favoured place with God to teach transgressors His ways Lets make a commitment to God to do that and turn from our wicked ways. Let God arise, what God is about to do through this perceived devastation will shock you and the world. If we will allow God to have our heart and attention, this will be our greatest season to see souls added to His Kingdom.
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in Jesus’ name. Amen D.B.