On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he 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 awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Mark 4:35-41 ESV
Been spending days reading and thinking about this familiar piece of history. I learned more and more about seasons of uncertainty, to the point of what feels like death, even after obeying Jesus.
- It was Jesus who told the disciples to cross to the other side.
“Let us go across to the other side,” said Jesus, and they followed His instruction. - A storm came despite obeying and being with Jesus.
A life of obedience and relationship with Jesus does not mean being free from storms. When we count the cost of obeying Jesus, a lot of times it’s counting what sacrifices we have to make. Following Jesus also means going through storms and at the very least a metaphorical death—daily dying to self, being less of us and being more like Christ. - Jesus had them cross the lake as a group. He didn’t have only one person do it with Him.
When Jesus calls us, it’s always with other people, whether we like it (or them) or not. There will be storms in our life of following Jesus, and we need brothers and sisters in Christ to weather these storms of life. - Jesus was with them in the storm.
He could have stayed (at the instruction point) or met them on the other side (when things get better), but He went with them. He is with us in the journey, even during the storms. - Even moments of no faith can calm storms when we call on Jesus.
“Have you still no faith?” They called on Jesus out of fear and not out of faith, but Jesus still calmed the storm for them. In this story, the faith of the disciples didn’t matter. What mattered was that Jesus was with them. Before He left earth, Jesus said He will never leave us nor forsake us. At times we may lose faith (being sure of what we hope for and certain of things we do not yet see), but we will not lose Jesus. - Fear of God comes with following Jesus.
From fearing the storm, the disciples’ fear shifted toward Jesus because of the authority and power He displayed. If there’s one thing to fear that would bear good fruit, it’s fear of the Lord. - They arrived where Jesus intended them to.
What Jesus said will come to pass. We just need to obey, have faith (even no faith, but we know Who to call onto), and be with friends during the wait and the storms. We will get to the other side. Things will eventually get better.
What a timely reminder today as we celebrate what would have been Brei’s 10th birthday. We are now “on the other side” of this piece of our story where we get to love and hug our four boys. We thank and remember all our friends who were with us in the boat during that storm.
If you want to know more of how God moved in our story of child loss, we share it in When God Could’ve, But He Didn’t.
