Perspective: Peace amid the Storms

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Peace amid the Storms

Don't be anxious about anything; rather, bring up all of your requests to God in your prayers and petitions, along with giving thanks.  Then the peace of God that exceeds all understanding will keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 (CEB)

Things were crashing loudly

Happening all around me

But Your still small voice

Was all that I could hear

"I am here

I'm holding you

You'll make it through this

I am here; I am here"

From "Beautiful History" by Plumb

One day, while the Disciples were aboard a boat with Jesus, crossing the Sea of Galilee, they suddenly found themselves caught in a violent storm.  As the wind and the waves battered the boat, the Disciples started to panic.  Jesus, on the other hand, was sleeping through the storm.  The Disciples woke Him up and said, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  Jesus, perhaps still a bit groggy, said to them, "Why are you afraid, you of little faith?"  He got up and rebuked the wind, and the storm ceased as suddenly as it started.  The Disciples were awestruck.¹

For the people of Jesus' day, the sea was a scary place.  The topography of the region made the Sea of Galilee prone to sudden violent storms like the one that struck while Jesus and the Disciples were crossing.²  The sea, in general, also happened to be a symbol of darkness, evil, and chaos.³  When Jesus calmed the sea, He demonstrated not only His mastery over the forces of nature but also His dominion over the forces of evil.  Interestingly, the Greek word the Gospel writers use to describe Jesus' silencing the sea - translated as rebuke - is the same word they use to describe His subduing demons elsewhere in the story.⁴

Personally, I wish I had the peace that allowed Jesus to sleep through the storm.  Amid the figurative storms of life, I have much more in common with the panicking Disciples.  I think I actually believe that everything will be fine once the storm is over.  It's the storm itself I tend to dread.  I've been around long enough to know that things tend to work out in the end or will at least get better eventually, but I know it can hurt like hell in the meantime, and that pain is what scares me.

We have a tendency to think that Jesus had some advantages that the rest of us simply don't have.  I think that His peace in the midst of the storm is something that is available to all of us, if we seek it.  Otherwise, He would have been totally out of line to chastise the Disciples for being afraid.

On another occasion, the Disciples board a boat and head across the Sea of Galilee, while Jesus takes some time to himself to pray.  Once again, the they find themselves in the midst of a violent storm.  As they struggle against the wind and the waves, they see what appears to be the form of a person standing on the water.  They cry out in fear, thinking they are seeing a ghost.  A familiar voice calls out to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid."  Not only can Jesus command the wind to stop blowing, He can also walk on top of a raging sea.⁵

Christian doctrine teaches us that Jesus is both fully God and fully human.  This means that, in Jesus, we can see what God is like and what humans are capable of becoming.  I once heard a friend of mine say that, though we have no hope of ever becoming divine like Jesus, we can always aspire to be a human like Jesus.  I don't believe we will ever be able to take command of the weather or walk on top of liquid water, no matter how close to God we become; I do, however, believe that we have access to a peace that allows us to either rest easy amid the storms of life or stand tall in defiance of them.

So how can we find this peace in the midst of the storm?  As I hinted earlier, I am not an expert in this matter.  I suspect that finding this peace is a skill we have to learn over time.  I think that there are at least a couple of things we need to put into practice.

First of all, we need to trust in God.  One of Jesus' names, Emmanuel, means "God is with us."⁶  In Jesus, God was with the Disciples in the boat as they faced the first storm, and God was with the Disciples on the sea as they faced the second storm.  Likewise, God is with us in the midst of the storms we face in life.  We are not alone, for the one who "works all things together for good"⁷ is always with us.

Secondly, as we put our trust in God, we also need to believe in ourselves.  While Jesus was still standing on the water, the disciple Peter said, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."  Jesus invited Peter to join Him, and Peter got out of the boat and started walking on top of the water toward Jesus.  When he felt the strong wind blowing against him, he became afraid, and he started to sink.  Jesus caught him and said, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"⁸

Peter managed to walk on top of the water for a little while, but, when he doubted himself, he started to sink.  Typically we think that Peter doubted Jesus, but Peter had no reason to doubt Jesus, because Jesus wasn't sinking.⁹  Jesus invites each of us to follow Him, and He would not extend this invitation to us if He did not believe that we were up to the task.  Trust in God, and believe in yourself.

When Jesus calmed the first storm, the Disciples asked each other, "What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"¹⁰  When Jesus joined the Disciples in the boat in the midst of the second storm, having walked on top of the water toward them, the wind died down once again.  The Disciples said, "Truly you are the Son of God."¹¹  They found the answer to their question, and their wonder turned to worship.

Whatever storms of life you are facing at the moment, remember that God is with you in the midst of it all.  Also, believe in yourself, for you are stronger than you realize.


Notes:

1. Matthew 8:23-27 (NRSV)
2. William Barclay.  The New Daily Study Bible: The Gospel of Matthew, Volume One.  2001, Saint Andrew Press.  p. 365
3. N.T. Wright.  Matthew for Everyone, Part 1.  2004, Westminster John Knox Press.  p. 89
4. Blue Letter Bible: "epitimaō"
5. Matthew 14:22-27 (NRSV)
6. Matthew 1:20-23 (NRSV)
7. Romans 8:28 (CEB)
8. Matthew 14:28-31 (NRSV)
9. Rob Bell.  Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith.  2005, Zondervan.  p. 133
10. Matthew 8:27 (NRSV)
11. Matthew 14:32-33 (NRSV)

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee was painted by Rembrandt in the 1600s.  Christ Walking on the Sea was painted by Amédée Varint in the 1800s.