Mensa Otabil - The Storm Is Over
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Welcome to day number 15 of our 40 days of power. Luke chapter 8, verses 23 and 24. But as they sailed, he fell asleep, and a windstorm came down on the lake. They were filling with water and were in jeopardy. They came to him and awoke him, saying, «Master, Master, we are perishing.» Then he arose and rebuked the wind and the raging water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.
This is Jesus with his disciples on the sea, the Sea of Galilee. There is a windstorm, a raging storm, and Jesus stills the storm. The miracles of Jesus also show us what is possible for us as believers. We may not go out on the sea. I don’t think that most of us will be in a boat in a raging storm in our lifetime. But we have issues to deal with. From this passage, we can learn how to command situations to be still as we take authority. The first thing we see in the story is the raging storm. The storm is big. It comes against the disciples of Jesus. They are moving from one end of the sea to the other end of the sea, and in the middle, the storm occurs.
A storm can come in different forms. For many of us, it may not be a storm in a boat on the sea, but it could be an attack that comes in the form of criticism or gossip or a financial challenge or betrayal or a health challenge, something that just hits you. So that’s the first thing we see: a storm comes our way, and the storm knew that Jesus was in the boat, yet it still hit. The disciples were in the boat, and it still hit. That means that your spiritual credentials may not stop you from experiencing a storm. But that’s not the end of the story.
The second thing we see is what I call the sleeping Savior. Jesus was asleep. In fact, he went to sleep very early when they got into the boat. And when the storm arose, he was still asleep. He was not perturbed; he was not disturbed. But the disciples felt that their lives were in jeopardy. Jesus was there, but he seemed to be inactive. Sometimes in a storm, it may seem as if God is inactive, that God is not working for us, that God has ignored us, that God is silent to our cries, and maybe we are just isolated and alone, but we are not alone. He’s with us.
The fact that he’s not working does not mean that he’s not with us, and it doesn’t mean he’s not aware. God is aware. His silence does not mean his isolation or abandonment. There is a time to be silent and a time to act. The disciples went to wake Jesus up and said, «Lord, we’re in trouble.» He woke up and spoke to the storm, saying, «Peace, be still.»
The storm was still-the raging storm, the sleeping Savior, and the still storm. This same Savior is in your boat; he is in your life. For us, he’s not just in a boat with us; he’s not just in the church with us. He lives inside of us; he lives in our hearts, and he’s able to still every storm in your life. He’s able to bring every storm into calmness. I don’t know what you’re battling with in life today. Let there be stillness in your life. By the authority of this same Jesus and by the invocation of his name, we command every storm to be still in Jesus' mighty name. Amen and amen.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, you rule over the storms of life. At your command, every attack against me is silenced in Jesus' name.» Amen and amen.