There Is Purpose in the Storm

 

On that day, when evening had come, he [Jesus] said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:35-41 ESV).

 

Today we return to the passage at the end of chapter four to understand the purpose God has for us in the midst of the storm. Read this passage again closely. Jesus asks the disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Those two questions feel incoherent. Imagine Jesus’ disciples on the open water, rowing feverishly to keep their boat afloat—no small task when everything is pitching like a rodeo bull; and, Jesus asks them why they are afraid! I’ve been in a few “life-storms” that seemed as bad as this one. I have felt paralyzed with the fear of the moment.

 

Let’s look closer. Mark indicates that this trip was Jesus’ idea in the first place. He’d suggested it; then he had curled up and gone to sleep. Why would Jesus lead his disciples into a crisis like that? Well, it was not happenstance. Jesus was purposeful with His direction into the impending storm. While the disciples were following Jesus in his teaching ministry, Jesus was a step ahead, preparing them for continuing his work later. They could not have imagined Jesus’ death and resurrection and ascension (cf. Mark 15-16; Acts 1), or the coming of his Holy Spirit, who would lead them to bring the gospel across the Roman Empire (cf. Acts 2-28). No, at this point they just wanted to survive the storm and see their families again.

 

Jesus’ followers had a lot to learn: the kinds of things they could discover only in storms. What seemed at first to be just a bad night was actually an opportunity to experience something about Christ that no one could have explained with mere words. Jesus led them into a storm so that they could truly see Him like never before. Trust Him!