Devotional from Mike Smith
This week we focus on Mark 4:35-41.
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving
the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with
him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t
you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it
was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
In a boat tossed by fear, Jesus sleeps. The disciples panic, their cries swallowed by the storm. His calm
amidst chaos is a rebuke, not to their fear, but to their limited vision. They see only crashing waves,
unaware of the One holding all creation in His hand. So too, life’s storms can blind us to His presence.
Jobs lost, dreams shattered, illness strikes – we cry out, “Don’t you care?” He does. Though He may
seem asleep, He’s just a whisper away. A single word from His lips can still the fiercest tempests.
In Matthew 14, as Peter was walking on the water, we read “30 But when he saw the wind, he was
afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and
caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” That is a prayer I’ve cried out many
times. “Lord Save Me!” And as we learn here, the response begins with “Immediately.”
Trust the one who can quiet the seas. His silence isn’t apathy, but preparation. When He speaks, it’s not
just to calm the storm, but to reveal Himself – the One who walks on water, the Master of wind and
wave. And in that moment, fear gives way to awe, the question echoing, “Who is this?” Not just a
teacher, but our God, whispering in the storm, “It is I. Be not afraid.”
So next time fear grips your heart, remember the boat on the Sea of Galilee. Look beyond the waves,
and see the One who sleeps with power to wake, with love to calm, with a word to say, “Peace. Be still.”