Storms of Life
Scripture to read: Mark 4:35-41
How do we handle the storms of life? This past month has brought us some wintery storms of wind, ice and snow. They brought to mind all the recommendations we hear on how to prepare for a long power outage or being housebound for a while. Many of us do as one of our first actions is to search the grocery stores for the one of the last gallons of milk and loaves of bread.
Most of us can turn on the TV or radio, or get those weather alerts on our smartphones or tablets for the updates on the impending storm. But that is not always the case for one of “life’s storms”. When we get a devastating diagnosis of a health issue, a sudden loss of a job, a death of someone very close to us or the catastrophic loss caused by a natural storm like a tornado or hurricane. We can feel hopeless or even angry. So how do we handle these life changing storms in our lives that can happen any moment?
Let’s look closer at Mark 4: 35-41. Jesus had been teaching somewhere by the Sea of Galilee to go with his disciples on a boat ride to the other side. Some of these men were seasoned fishermen and had much experience on the open water. They had not sailed very far on this sea voyage when “there arose a fierce gale of wind and of waves that were breaking over their boat so much so that the boat was filling up”. Mark 4:37. This weather event was so powerful and sudden that the boat was in danger of being swamped and would sink.
Our first lesson from this scripture is that even when we closely follow Jesus it does not insulate us from the storms of life. These disciples had been with Jesus and seen Him do all kinds of miracles. Maybe they thought that just being close to Him would keep them from danger or any stressful situations. All would be “smooth sailing and fair weather for their life’s journey. Do we sometimes believe Jesus will guarantee a life without difficulty?
Next week we will continue with the lesson we can learn from Mark 4:35-41… for now a few songs….