Peace! Be Still!

It was in the evening and the disciples were out on the sea…a storm rose up and they were afraid…

You’re living life when a storm comes up, you’re being tossed around like a boat in the middle of a hurricane out on life’s sea…

You can rebuke your storm just like Jesus and say, “Peace! Be still!”

The winds cease, the waters calmly rest and the sky turns from darkness to a bright, calm starlit night…

When you are in the midst of the storm you can’t see the moon shine or the stars…all you can see is fear and the imminent destruction that is upon you…

But Jesus slept through the storm without any concern. Why?

Because, He is peace! And because He wants us to recognize we have the very same peace inside of us, if we will just stop looking at the tempest and focus on Him, the Prince of Peace, and say to the storm, “PEACE!” “BE STILL!”

After many years of reading those words in Mark 4:39, the words seem to run together, peace be still. This morning when I read them they jumped out at me and I saw them differently…Peace, Jesus our peace, The Shalom; our Healer, our Rescuer, Deliverer, Wind and Sea Commander, the one who lives inside of us, giving us the authority to say, PEACE! And all becomes still and calm.

Get this, it is evening, Jesus is sleeping peaceably in the boat as it is being tossed about in the rain and the wind, and it is dark… He is not afraid, he is not weary or frightened, no, he is sleeping.

To have that kind of resolve with complete assurance that nothing, not even a hurricane can touch his sweet sleep…understand you have the Prince of Peace IN YOU. You have that complete assurance and you too can sleep. You can rise up and rebuke the wind and the sea, and it must obey…Peace…be still…

The thing is, Jesus got a little irritated at his disciples because they had the peace with them the whole time…but they were afraid of the wind and the storm. They didn’t recognize they had the power to also speak to the wind and the waves and they would have obeyed them too!

Don’t be afraid when the storms in life rock your world (easy for me to say, but I’m learning this too)…Jesus is inside of you and with you in the storm…you don’t have to yell, “Jesus wake up, don’t you know we are about to perish?” Instead, speak His Words…”Peace! Be still!” And the same peace that he spoke to the wind and the waves that night, will obey, because Jesus’ Spirit is in you and he has given you and me the same power when we use it in faith!

Jesus is not sleeping, He arose, and when you truly understand this; Your spirit will rise up and take courage, you will speak to your storm, PEACE, be still! And the storm will lie down…the waves will cease and be calm, your thoughts will be light and unafraid…and in the center of the turmoil, the tossing will turn to steadfast assurance…and there will be a great calm.

Storm, I rebuke you right now…Peace! Be still! The wind and the waves obey in Jesus name. And there is a great calm. Amen!

On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But 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?” 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: 35-39 NKJV

–Marla Shaw O’Neill May 12, 2017