Obeying Into a Storm

On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. 37And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Mark 4:35-37 NASB

After one of the greatest teachings of Christ in the Sower of the Seeds, Jesus calls His disciples to get into a boat with Him and head to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. As they are obeying this simple request of Jesus, they find themselves in a life-threatening storm. Jesus, being all-knowing, has just led His disciples into an extremely dangerous situation. To make matters even more perplexing, we find out in verse 38 that Jesus is actually asleep in the midst of this storm! Get the picture, they obeyed and followed Jesus, and then suddenly, without warning, found themselves facing an impossible, fearful situation. How could this have happened? Why would Jesus lead His disciples who had obeyed His command into this situation? 

One of the reasons for the storms of life is so we can see the mighty hand of God at work. To see a miracle take place is one of the greatest experiences that God uses of opening up our eyes to see Him rightly in all of His majesty. This is why the ministry and life of Jesus was marked by miraculous signs. But for a miracle to occur, something must go wrong or go against the natural order of things. If our desire is to have everything go perfect in our life and for us to never face any storms or trials, we are not only delusional but we are also asking for a life in which we will never see God move. These disciples (some who were fishermen) are about to experience something that they have never seen. Jesus is going to get up from sleeping and with these three words “Hush, be still” the powerful storm will cease. Without the storm, they would have never experienced this amazing revelation of Jesus as the Son of God who had authority over even the wind and waves. 
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They had obeyed Christ to get into the boat; Jesus led them into the storm which revealed the grip that fear had on them; but there was no safer place to be on earth than in the boat with Christ in the midst of a stormy sea. I am certain that those same disciples would have chosen to go through a thousand storms to have that same experience of seeing the power of Jesus once again. This is the joy of obeying Jesus and abiding in the boat of life with Him, we consistently gain new revelations of the power and love of Jesus; and we are never the same. 

Questions to Consider:

1. Have you ever experienced a legitimate miracle in your life? Will you comment or share here your experience? 

2. Are you facing some sort of storm in your life right now that you feel has come upon you out of nowhere? What is God trying to show you about Himself through that storm?