The elements of a perfect storm were gathering. First, Jesus was utterly exhausted (Mark 4:38). Second, the disciples, too, were tired and emotionally befuddled by their extraordinary experiences with Jesus. Third, it was already nighttime—late to be setting out to cross the sea. Fourth, a small flotilla of eager followers was trailing them, meaning that when they landed, rest would remain elusive.
Then there was the sea itself. The Sea of Galilee is like a bowl of water nestled nearly seven hundred feet below sea level. It is both fed and drained by the Jordan River, which enters at the northern end and exits from the southern end. Mountains flank nearly every side, forming valleys and gullies that set the stage for howling winds. When the cool air from the mountains swoops through the valleys and collides with the warm, moist air hovering over the sea, violent storms can erupt in a matter of minutes.
And that is just what happened. “A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling” (Mark 4:37). Mark uses a Greek word for windstorm that can be translated “furious squall” or “hurricane.” Matthew describes the storm as a “great seismos,” or earthquake—as if the sea were being shaken by the winds (Matthew 8:24).
Fatigue. Confusion. Darkness. Tempest. The perfect storm had arrived. It was as if all their fears had combined and crystallized. As fishermen, they had a deep, fearful respect for the turbulent water. As men, they had a deep but relatively untested respect for Jesus. But now this Jesus—the One they had left everything to follow—had led them right into the storm. To make matters worse, He had dozed off, having no apparent concern for their safety or the disaster that now seemed inevitable. They must have wondered whether they had taken the right step in following Him. There was a lot they still didn’t know about this man. Could He even deliver them from the disaster that now seemed inevitable?
Just as sudden storms are inevitable on the Sea of Galilee, sudden storms can descend upon our lives as well. When this happens, the disciples’ predicament becomes ours: How is it possible to place your hope in a God who allows perfect storms to assail us?
The Paradox of Storms in Our Lives
The disciples were following Jesus wherever He went, assisting Him in all His ministries. They were listening to His Word and helping Him preach the Gospel, yet they found themselves being tossed up and down by a storm and in real danger of drowning. The disciples were learning a difficult lesson—one every believer must learn: we can find ourselves in the middle of God’s perfect will and in the middle of a perfect storm at the same time!
That day by the Sea of Galilee, God’s will couldn’t have been clearer to the disciples: Jesus had said, “Let’s go!” They didn’t call a meeting to deliberate; they didn’t pray; they didn’t seek counsel from others. God’s will had been right there in front of them, so without hesitation, they got into the boat. And now the thing that loomed right in front of them was death.
This unexpected peril was something new for the disciples. So far, following Jesus hadn’t been overly costly—little more than quitting their jobs and getting a bit of carping and criticism from local religious leaders (Mark 3:22). But they had faced nothing life threatening. In fact, it had been just the opposite; they were close associates of the most popular person in Galilee. They’d been welcomed in small towns as heroes. This movement of God was working, and all systems were go.
Then came the perfect storm. It certainly raised some questions.
Many people believe faith is some kind of insurance against high blood pressure and heartache. Trust God and you’ll have no worries. But a great paradox of Christianity is that trusting Christ doesn’t keep the storms away. In fact, sometimes it pushes us into deep and turbulent waters.
Jesus faced a perfect storm when He rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey. He knew what He was about to face—unthinkable torture and death—and He dreaded it. In the garden He cried out, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). He was fully aware of the storm He was heading into.
The disciples in their tossing boat weren’t cognizant of these underlying spiritual issues. Fear gripped them, pushing aside all concerns about being in the will of God. But they were about to learn a priceless lesson: there is security in the heart of God’s will. Storms are not punishment for lack of obedience; oftentimes they are the result of obedience! Those men were in that storm because they had jumped in the boat when Jesus said, “Let’s go!”
You will follow Jesus into a storm someday. And you will learn that, although it may be overwhelming, it’s the safest of all harbors.
The Presence in the Storms of Our Lives
He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
MARK 4:38
Juan Carlos Ortiz is a well-known preacher, evangelist, and author originally from Argentina. He once related a conversation he had with a circus trapeze artist about the security a safety net provides. The performer said yes, the net does the obvious—it keeps performers from being injured should they fall. But it does much more. “Imagine there is no net,” he said. “We would be so nervous that we would be more likely to miss and fall. If there was not a net, we would not dare to do some of the things we do. But because there’s a net, we dare to make two turns, and once I made three turns—thanks to the net!”
Ortiz saw an application for Christians: “We have security in God. When we are sure in His arms, we dare to attempt big things for God. We dare to be holy. We dare to be obedient. We dare, because we know the eternal arms of God will hold us if we fall.”[2]
The disciples had yet to learn the nature of their “net.” If they’d realized the full power and authority Jesus held, they would have laughed and shouted at the wind, “Bring it on!” Facing a storm is exhilarating when we are protected by something even more powerful.
Our degree of fear is a gauge of our degree of faith. When we’ve trusted Jesus and come through the storm, we become more fearless. If we’ve never really done that, the storm will reduce us to quivering jelly, as it did those disciples.
Some people do believe in the power of God, but they’re not sure about His presence. That’s a significant deficiency in one’s faith. Will He really be there when I’m in a crisis? Does He care about me? We can believe in a powerful God who can create a universe, but if He is absent when needed, how does that belief make a difference? Isn’t His absence basically the same as if He didn’t exist at all?
This was the crisis the disciples faced. They knew that Jesus was there, but apparently they didn’t realize He was God. This meant they were unaware of God’s presence. Thus, they didn’t know what Jesus could and would do. As I witness the fearful lives of many Christians, I’m convinced that the disciples aren’t the only ones in that boat, so to speak.
John Paton was a nineteenth-century Scottish missionary who labored for a lifetime among murderous natives of the New Hebrides Islands. He often faced danger as various tribesmen sought to kill him. He wrote, “Without that abiding consciousness of the presence and power of my dear Lord and Saviour, nothing else in all the world could have preserved me from losing my reason and perishing miserably.”[3]
He said that it was in those most dangerous of moments, when he faced the weapons of men, that he saw the face of Christ most clearly.
On one occasion Paton hid within the branches of a tree as the men below searched for him. He heard their murderous threats, yet he knew he was safe in the arms of Jesus. “Alone, yet not alone!” he recalled. “My comfort and joy sprang from the promise, ‘Lo, I am with you always.’”[4]
On the Sea of Galilee, an exhausted Jesus slept on a cushion in the rear of the boat with the waves crashing all about Him. The image is striking. How did the disciples view Him? Apparently, they saw Him as a man much like themselves, even though He possessed the supernatural power to heal the sick and feed the hungr
y, and—as they would soon find out—the power to calm the wind and the waves.
The Peace in the Storms of Our Lives
He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
MARK 4:39
The disciples must have wondered how Jesus could possibly nap with the waves crashing and the wind howling. They shook Him, yelling for Him to wake up: “‘Do You not care that we are perishing?’ Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:38-39). The crisis was at an end. No doubt one could hear the pounding heartbeats of twelve shocked men.
The passage tells us that Jesus rebuked the wind, just as a parent would rebuke an unruly child. He dealt with demons in the same way—He rebuked them (Luke 4:35). And the wind obeyed Him just as demons did. He had power over both the natural and the supernatural.
This enormous display of miraculous power should have quelled any remaining doubts in the minds of the disciples as to who Jesus was. Only God has such authority. The Old Testament tells us that He has power over nature: “He calms the storm, so that its waves are still” (Psalm 107:29; see also Psalm 89:9; 93:4). Before His disciples’ eyes, Jesus demonstrated that He possessed power that could emanate only from God. Apparently they hadn’t grasped this fact until they saw Him halt a storm in its tracks. Some things must be seen to be believed.
During their three years of following Jesus, these men witnessed ever-greater displays of God’s power through Him. They believed, not because they were taught, but because they were shown. The disciples were like newborn spiritual babes whose eyes were slowly opening to the true identity of this Man they followed.
God is committed to developing our spiritual sight as well. And He often uses the storms of life to show us that we can put our hope in Him—His power, love, and wisdom.
Joni Eareckson Tada illustrates how drawing on the power and peace of Jesus transforms her life:
“O God,” I often pray in the morning, “God, I cannot do this. I cannot do this thing called quadriplegia. I have no resources for this. I have no strength for this—but you do. You’ve got resources. You’ve got strength. I can’t do quadriplegia, but I can do all things through you as you strengthen me [Phil. 4:13]. I have no smile for this woman who’s going to walk into my bedroom in a moment. She could be having coffee with another friend, but she’s chosen to come here to help me get up. Oh, God, please may I borrow your smile?”[5]
Our loving heavenly Father is kind and patient with us when the storms of life overwhelm us and fill us with anxiety. He is gracious to show us His power even when we are beginning to wonder if He is asleep or absent, even when our cries to Him for help are permeated with doubt. But we can face whatever circumstances await us with courage if we just reflect on God’s faithfulness and place our confidence in His great power and loving purpose for our lives.
The Purpose of Storms in Our Lives
Did Jesus bring about this storm simply so He could calm it and build His disciples’ faith? The Bible gives no direct answer, but I’m inclined to say no. He had no need to create new storms to demonstrate His true nature, because this fallen world stirs up more than enough trouble on its own. He builds our faith by using the storms that are already there. So I see no reason to believe that Jesus went to sleep for any other purpose than to catch some much-needed rest. Yet He was quick to use the storm as a teachable moment. The storm brought Him their full attention, and the lesson would never be forgotten.
Since you are a human being, I think I’m safe in saying you have no shortage of storms in your life. As someone has said, we’re always in one of three places: heading into a storm, in a storm, or emerging from a storm. Because we live in a fallen world, trouble of some kind is woven into the fabric of life. Until these storms hit, we live with “delusions of adequacy,” as someone put it. We think we have it all under control—until suddenly we don’t. Storms cut us down to size and cause us to fear what we cannot control.
Although God does not create the storms in our life, He does what Jesus did that night on the Sea of Galilee. He uses the churning seas to demonstrate His power and strengthen our faith in Him.
C. S. Lewis explains it like this:
God, who has made us, knows what we are and that our happiness lies in Him. Yet we will not seek it in Him as long as He leaves us any other resort where it can even plausibly be looked for. While what we call “our own life” remains agreeable, we will not surrender it to Him. What then can God do in our interests but make “our own life” less agreeable to us, and take away the plausible source of false happiness?[6]
God knows we need Him, and He knows we forget how much we do. Sometimes He allows the storms to rage so they will send us scurrying to Him, as did those disciples in that tossing boat.
David, the psalmist, discovered the value of the storms God allowed him to go through:
It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.
PSALM 119:71
Jesus allowed the winds to rage in order that His disciples would learn to trust Him. Through the storms of life, our Lord teaches us many precious lessons. He reminds us of our own emptiness and our total dependence on Him. He teaches us to fear God with astonished reverence and not to fear the storms.
The Product of Storms in Our Lives
[Jesus] said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
MARK 4:40-41
Jesus was gentler with His disciples than He was with the wind. While He rebuked the wind, He only asked His disciples two questions: “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” (Mark 4:40). With these questions, Jesus reveals a key spiritual truth: the opposite of faith is not unbelief; the opposite of faith is fear. Belief breeds confidence, while unbelief breeds fear. Essentially, Jesus was saying, “Why are you afraid? Do you not yet trust God, whose power is present in Me?”
The disciples apparently assumed that Jesus was indifferent to their plight. They cried, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Elijah’s suggestion that Baal might have been asleep is precisely the complaint the disciples leveled at Jesus: “You’re sleeping while we’re drowning! Wake up!”
Maybe there’s a specific fear claiming your attention today. Whatever that fear is, it will only be amplified by failure to place our hope in God. He is not sleeping. He is here; He knows every thought in your mind, every feeling in your heart. While you stare with apprehension or even terror at the dark skies, He focuses on the person He is forming you to be. He sees those storms as growing pains—part of the formation process. He knows that a storm may be the very thing that awakens you to deep faith in Him.
What really intrigues me about this account is that Jesus replaced their fear with more fear! After gaping in awe at the suddenly calm and windless sea, “they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, ‘Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!’” (Mark 4:41). Several Bible translations say, “They were terrified.” They suddenly realized they were in the presence of a power they had never imagined—a power residing in a Person mightier than the violence of a stormy sea.
At this point, the disciples were still learning the extraordinary truth the apostle Paul later expressed in Colossians 1:16: “By Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth.” It never entered the disciples’ heads that Jesus actually created the Sea of Galilee, that the winds and waters are His. The disciples in that boat-shaped classroom were beginning to recognize that Jesus was greater—and more fearsome—than anything or anyone they could imagine.
The disciples’ fear made a critical transition from being self-centered to being Christ-centered. They no longer worried about drowning; now they were in awe of Jesus and
felt a new sense of security in Him. Debilitating fears were being replaced with the empowering fear of God, whom they dimly began to realize was present in the Man before them.
Jesus wants us to be overcome with awe and wonder at His power so we’re never deeply frightened again. If He has to use every storm that tears at our sails, He will do it because He’s determined to bring us to maturity.
The Promises for the Storms in Our Lives
Before the disciples set out on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus said, “Let us cross over to the other side” (Mark 4:35). If Jesus named a destination, it was certain they would reach it. Could there be a storm? Certainly. Would it be a comfortable voyage? No assurance of that. The disciples could have worried about seasickness, but they didn’t need to worry about drowning. Jesus had told them where they were going.
It’s really no different for us. From our point of view, the days ahead are uncertain. We don’t know their content or their count. But we know our destination. We’ve been told that Jesus has gone ahead to prepare a place for us (John 14:1-3). The Word of God is filled with such promises, and to grasp them is to have the cure for fear.
God’s Word Assures Us of a Safe Landing
Notice what Jesus said to the disciples as they began their journey: “On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, ‘Let us cross over to the other side’” (Mark 4:35, emphasis added). Now consider what the text says about the end of the journey: “Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes” (Mark 5:1, emphasis added).
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