Scripture Reading:
Psalm 107:23-32
[Jesus] rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
Mark 4:39
When I was a youngster, my dad was in the Coast Guard. He was often at sea for a month at a time. But he never talked about it. Reading Psalm 107 makes me wonder, “What did my dad and his shipmates go through when towering waves tossed their ship about like a toy?”
We blame ocean storms on the movement of weather systems. This psalm, on the other hand, blames those storms on God. It pictures God stirring up the wind and the waves with nothing more than a word. The point of that picture is that God is in control. Various forces may combine to create storms. But none of it happens outside of God’s command and control. That’s a basic biblical perspective on what it means for God to be God.
The fishermen among Jesus’ disciples knew all about violent storms on the Sea of Galilee. During one of those storms, they were beside themselves with fear (see Mark 4:37-38). Imagine how stunned they were when Jesus, with nothing more than a word, calmed the wind and settled the sea. If God speaks to stir up the sea, who else but God would speak to quiet the sea?
The point? When Jesus speaks, it is the voice of God. We ought to listen to him, especially when life gets stormy.
Lord Jesus, whenever storms terrify us, calm us with your presence. And when the time is right, just say the word, and the storm will be over. Amen.
