The Busyness Addiction - 7 Day Devotional (Day 6)

The Jesus Pace is Resolute

"And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.  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.  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.  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.  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?  And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

 - Mark 4:35‭-‬41

I’m reading in the book of Mark, chapter 4. After a full day of teaching, Jesus, along with his disciples, is on a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee toward the eastern shore. Evidently, without warning, a huge storm erupts, causing waves to pour into the boat and causing the disciples to think they will sink. This happens to make sense to me: if I was on a flight that was going down, I would pray, and if I was on a boat that started to pitch and roll, I would start planning my own funeral too.

So, the storm is surging all around, the disciples are scared out of their minds, and there is Jesus, asleep in the stern. His otherwise happy followers are infuriated. “Is it nothing to you that we’re going down?” (v. 38) they scream as Jesus snoozes away.

Finally, he wakes up and surmises the situation and, without any pomp and circumstance, shouts, “Quiet! Settle down!” (v. 39).

He was talking not to the disciples but, astonishingly, to the wind and the waves. More astonishing still: the wind and the waves complied. Mark 4:39 says, “The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass.”

Wow.

Such confidence. Such resoluteness. Such an awareness of “kingdom come.”

Here’s the thing we tend to miss: When Jesus declared peace and quiet, he wasn’t declaring it over a single storm; he was declaring it over an entire kingdom. He was saying, in effect, “Peace and quiet will one day reign—everywhere, at all times. At some point, the lion will lie down with the lamb; predator and prey will live at peace.”

What Jesus was saying is that, yes, this is normal and natural for now, but a new normal is on its way in. When my kingdom settles in, all things will be at rest.

What’s more, by accusing the disciples of being cowards, he was indicating to them that an unyielding, unwavering confidence could be theirs instead—that they could enjoy that state of rest whenever they chose. This is something they didn’t know, and something we have a hard time believing still today. Peace is ours for the taking! It’s always knocking on the door; we simply have to open the door and invite it in. We have to be open for business, remember? This is such a fantastic goal. I was starting to understand why Jesus chose to live the way he did. Pace matters. The right pace matters. Perhaps there is hope for me yet.

Scripture Readings:

Mark 4:35-41