“Silence! Be still!”
Look at your schedule. What’s that? You’re saying it’s full? Too full?
If you are blessed with less (or almost nothing to do) on a to do list for even a day or two, consider how your time is spent. Is it peaceful? If you’re rushing about, how is your agitation level on a “normal” day?
You know the “normal” day. It’s the day when the vacuum cleaner inhaled a mystery item and now doesn’t work well or doesn’t work at all. Perhaps it’s the day your vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly decides to be the biggest paperweight anyone could imagine there in your driveway when the catch-miss-this event starts in 30 minutes.
Or maybe there’s that boss, coworker, neighbor, longstanding friend, or family member who is making life very challenging.
Yes, all this. Or even just a small part of this.
Now imagine someone with hutzpah saying to you, “Peace! Be still! Stop running toward or away from something you shouldn’t be running toward or away from because the very thought of your being quiet and yes, motionless, is as likely to happen as your entering a competition to see if your vehicle could actually be a paperweight.
If any or nearly all of the above is true or could be true at any given moment, the following words from Jesus are for you: “Silence! Be still!”
When Jesus says these words, He isn’t talking to a person or a group of people; He is actually talking to powerful winds and pounding waves.
It’s time for more detail about the powerful and the pounding. One evening Jesus and His disciples are sailing across the Sea of Galilee in, you guessed it, a boat.
The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) all share that they set sail in the evening. During their voyage, a sudden, great windstorm creates dangerous waves. The boat fills with water. The disciples, most of whom are experienced at sea, are in danger. They try to save the boat and their lives. Their efforts fail. The likelihood of going down is real.
Jesus remains in the back of the boat. He’s asleep on a pillow—a very, very soggy pillow. The frightened crew wakes him. “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
From His deep and necessary sleep, Jesus rouses. He rebukes the wind and sea. “Silence! Be still!”
Immediately the wind stops. The waves quiet. A surprising calm follows.
Other boats are on the water that evening (Mark 4:36). This storm is not a problem for only Jesus and His disciples. An unspecified number of others are at risk. If Jesus’ relatively large boat is in danger of sinking in the storm, smaller vessels are more in danger of sinking or being damaged. Therefore, when Jesus calms the storm, He brings deliverance to His disciples and to others who would have perished in the storm.
Jesus is about saving us, too. When we feel we are in stressful situations, I invite you to hear the voice of a gentle and sometimes stern Son of God inviting us to silence our own thoughts that are rocking our boats with frustration or fear.
Imagine this. Someone is telling you to stop. Even more so, this someone—your Savior—asks you to be still.
Well, whoa. Being silent? Being still? What does THIS do when your schedule is packed? How can THIS help when you’re sinking, strapped, stressed, sore, steaming mad or feeling sorry for yourself?
The answer is it saves you. Just as the disciples are in danger, you are in a kind of danger, too. Your danger may not be life threatening, at least immediately. But allowing more silence and more stillness into your life carries not just physical health benefits. Mental and spiritual gains are there as well.
I want to be clear. I am going to say again that when Jesus says, “Silence! Be still!” He is, in fact, talking to the wind and the waves.
But let Jesus talk with you, too. His message of being silent and still isn’t just nice. It’s needed. And it can be shared.
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