18/04/12

Silence the storm and still the waves

Mark 4:38, 39
And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.


In today's message we have a scene before us - Jesus is crossing the Sea of Galilee (also called the Lake of Gennesaret) in a small ship. This was not a row boat like we see in illustrations but was a little larger than a boat and had a sail. Along with this small ship were other small ships filled with His disciples. Jesus is asleep on the stern which is the hinder part of the ship and also the part from which the ship is guided. As they are crossing the sea a sudden great storm arises and starts to create great waves.

Mark does an excellent job in reporting this event. He gives finer details of the event unlike as recorded in Matthew and Luke. Now as recorded in the Gospels the waves caused by the storm start to fill up the small ship in which Jesus is asleep (they do not state the situation on the other ships).

As the water fills the ship the disciples wake Jesus. Their words to Him were 'Master, carest thou not that we perish?' They knew Jesus has the power to bring them out of this situation but they did not know how.

When Jesus woke up He did not ask them what happened but He immediately rebuked the wind and also the waves and they obey. The words that He used were 'silence, be still'. The wind became silent and the waves stood still. It was not that the wind stood still for the wind was needed to take them across the other side, it came under control. We see after that Jesus rebukes the disciples for having little faith. We also see the disciples were amazed at the authority which Jesus had over the wind and the sea.

Jesus later rebuked His disciples for having little faith because they did not realize the power to give life and take away life was with God and without His permission nothing can happen. Second even if they did not know their purpose in life they had Jesus with them Who had shared with them His mission and without His mission been complete nothing could happen to Him.

We need to understand faith will not calm your troubled sea. It will neither silence the storm nor stop the waves but it keep you going even in the troubled sea. Had the disciples had faith they would not have woken up Jesus but they also would not have silenced the storm or stopped the waves. To silence the storm and still the waves, one needs more than faith, one needs authority. Faith will tell us the purpose and keep us going but authority tells us our role in that purpose. Jesus told us to have faith but He came to give us authority. He by His Spirit enlightened us of the role the Lord has put us in His Purpose for mankind. Unless we do not know our Purpose we will not have the authority. Thus authority comes as we start to carry or Cross or Purpose in Christ's redemption plan for mankind.

The wind is the situations in our lives. We need to understand situations are needed because it is situations that take us to our destinations. If there were no situations then we would be standard in our spiritual lives. But when situations quicken and have an overhand over our lives they start to talk to us and shake our faith. Also when situation come at great speed they cause people to come against us like waves and these people take over our lives to cause our lives to be drowned. That is the time if we know our purpose in God Plan we can command the situations to be silent. It is authority that lets us command the waves to be still. Scriptures state when we walk in righteousness the Lord causes even our enemies to have favour over us. We should remember that the Lord is at the stirring part of our lives. Even if we do not see Him active let us not be fooled but let us remember God never sleeps.

Most people make wrong prayers by telling the storm to be still. They do not want situations to come. God said in the Bible, we like it or not situations will come against us and that they are put by the Lord in His story of creation. But He never said they will destroy us. They do only because we do not have faith, we do not have Him at our stirring or have authority.

These situations destroy us only because we do not carry our Cross. And since we do not carry our Cross we do not grow in authority. So let us not just have faith but have authority, the power to command our situations to be silent and power to still the people who come against us.


[ Prayer Starter ]
Lord, it is by faith we are saved but it is by authority we become Sons. Lord Jesus, You came to make Sons of us. You gave us your Spirit to help us become Sons. Holy Spirit, Father work in us and help us know our Purpose in the Kingdom of God. Help us carry our Cross which becomes every light when You are with us. Let not the situations move us or talk to us but help us grow such that we be over our situations and have power to silence it...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[ Reference Scriptures ]
Mark 4:35-41
35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
36 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships.
37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?
41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Psalms 107:23-31
23 They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
24 These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
25 For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
29 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
30 Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
31 Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!


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