And [Jesus] awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39

While the storm was raging, Jesus was in the back of the boat. The twelve were frantic, thinking that at any given moment all would be lost. Finally, overcome by fear they call out to Jesus; “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Hearing this, Jesus stood up, rebuked the storm and delivered them from chaos. In that one moment, upon the calm waters the disciples experienced peace.

How much are we like the twelve? How often are we overcome with doubt and fear and forget that our Lord is with us? As the people of God face each day, we do so living in the midst of disappointment and uncertainty about the future. We are confronted with broken relationships, hurt by the actions of others or hurting those whom we love through ours. People in all walks of life must deal with sickness, addiction, loneliness and depression. We can safely say the waters of the storm are raging all around us and our boat is in peril. If we allow our daily strife to prevail, we will drown in the turbulent waters of the storm and peace will elude us. But Jesus is with us.

Remembering the life of our Lord and Savior, we also recall that he is the one who heals the sick, brings comfort to those who are hurting and restores relationships broken by the power of sin. In the midst of the storm, Jesus stands with us and says, “Peace! Be still.” When we call upon the Lord we realize the power of his love. When we realize the power of his love, the raging storm loses its power and the peace of Christ prevails.

Jesus said, “Peace! Be still.” And the people of God said, “Amen!”