Mark 4: 35-41
“That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!’”
We may have never encountered the same type of intense and frightening storm waves as the ones Jesus and the disciples experienced in the passage we read from Mark 4. It was an evening when Jesus invited his disciples to join Him for a boat ride to “go to the other side.” Very soon a storm arose with waves crashing in, swamping the boat with water. The disciples became fearful, and there was Jesus, sleeping in the stern. “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” They asked. “Hush, be still!” Jesus said, and the wind and waters calmed.
I have wondered if maybe He was also saying “Hush, be still” to the disciples! He then said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” What did Jesus say at the beginning of their journey? “Let us go to the other side.” He had already told them—assured them—that they would get to the other side. And, even today, He promises to be with us in the midst of any storm we may encounter—even the ongoing effects of a pandemic—and He will get us to the other side.
Do you fear crashing waves in your future? A sinking ship? Or is your attention fixed on Jesus who still rests in the boat? Fear for you might be imagining a future in which God will not be present. Even in a “worst-case scenario,” Jesus always shows up! No matter what occurs in this life, He always has a way of transforming the impossible to the possible, the chaos to peace, the crisis to calm, fear to hope. The God who has authority over pandemics, storms, trials, political turmoil, violence, finances, illnesses, broken relationships, and fear—and has conquered death itself—promises to get us to the other side.
Next Sunday marks the beginning of Advent, a time of preparing our hearts for the Christmas season. One of my favorite Christmas carols is “O Little Town of Bethlehem” by Phillip Brooks:
“O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
the everlasting light;
the hopes and fears of all the years
are met in thee tonight.”
So often we sing carols not taking the time to think about the deep meaning of the lyrics. When I first began writing devotions for Advent, the phrase, “the hopes and fears of all the years” struck me in a more profound way than ever before. For four hundred years prior to the birth of Christ, God’s people never heard a word from Him. Despite the years of quiet, He had assured them long before with the promise that His lovingkindness was from everlasting to everlasting. But their hearts became void of hope and full of fear.
Until the hope and fear of all the years were met in Jesus that night.
Let us never allow our fears to rob us of our hope in Christ. This is a time for us to turn our unfounded fear into founded hope.
Heavenly Father, sovereign Lord over all that we encounter in life, we praise You for Your Holy Spirit that calms the storms in our lives that would cause us to take our eyes off of You. Forgive us, once again, for our lack of faith in the hope that stands guard over our hearts, securing the peace that You have promised us. Remind us that Your hope never disappoints. May that hope be found forever in You. In the name of Jesus, who is our Hope. Amen.
~ painting by Rembrandt Van Rijn
