Encountering the God Able to Calm Our Fiercest Storms - The Crosswalk Devotional - October 23
Encountering the God Able to Calm Our Fiercest Storms
By: Jennifer Slattery
Bible Reading:
They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” - Mark 4:41
Often, when difficulties hit, I want immediate rescue. In the past, when God didn’t respond as I’d hoped, I tended to feel frustrated or abandoned. At times, I even accused Him of ignoring me when I most needed Him. Yet, looking back on our history, I’m able to see how often He used my most challenging circumstances for my good: to liberate me from a harmful behavior, heal a wound, or deepen my faith.
While I occasionally still slip into old, panicked responses, this after-event realization strengthens my soul. I’m better able to pause and reflect on all the times He’s rescued me from past storms and what this reveals regarding His power, nature, and heart. I increasingly go from, “Who is this God, who commands even the winds and waves,” to, “This is the One who holds all of Creation, myself included, in His hands.”
In the passage surrounding today’s verse, Jesus was teaching the disciples this same truth. This was relatively early in His earthly ministry, and therefore early in His relationship with these men who chose to abandon whatever dreams and goals they held previously because they believed He offered something better.
Although they didn’t yet understand what that meant, and in fact, were operating on false assumptions that kept them from knowing and therefore trusting in Christ’s true nature. They’d accepted Him as the long-promised Messiah, yet their comprehension of what that meant, and what He came to do, remained far too small. They wanted temporary solutions and comfort and freedom from circumstantial oppression (largely, at the hands of the Romans and the religious elite).
But Jesus was doing a much deeper work that would anchor them through all of life’s hardships. And He used the storm recorded in Mark 4 to do so by first making them aware of their need and the fear this evoked.
Consider, He timed His rescue intentionally, with His loving gaze focused on the work He was doing in their souls. He allowed them to feel the full weight of the situation, not out of callousness or rebuke, but rather to allow the doubts and lies lurking in their souls to rise to their awareness.
Imagine if your doctor knew how to give you medication without you realizing it for an illness you didn’t know you had. This would affect you physically, in preventing whatever distress you might experience as your disease progressed, but it wouldn’t deepen your trust in his care. If anything, that might convince you that you didn’t need his intervention. In contrast, your confidence in him is likely to significantly increase if the successful treatment comes after you’ve felt the full weight of your condition and your longing for relief.
Jesus could’ve easily prevented the storm recorded in Mark 4. He could’ve had the disciples wait to enter that boat until after it passed, or never asked them to cross the lake in the first place.
But then, they never would’ve reached the place where they exclaimed, with awestruck amazement, “Who is this Man who holds authority over even the wind and waves?!”
Again, they knew, before climbing into the boat, that He was the long-promised Messiah. They didn’t realize, however, how insufficient their view of Him in that role was. He was providing an expanded and much more faith-anchoring perspective. To stand strong for all that lay ahead, they needed to recognize Him as more than the Father’s chosen servant or yet another divinely empowered prophet. They needed to see Him as He truly was, and is, God the Son, Co-Creator, in human form.
Through the storm, He also forced them to confront a core need for safety, which only He could fully meet. In this, He was teaching them to rely on Him, rather than themselves, which ultimately positioned them for strength.
Notice, also, His rescue didn’t arrive a moment too late. When all hope seemed lost, and all their fighting against the external chaos left them physically and emotionally spent, He arose and brought enduring, supernatural calm.
This helped develop their endurance and inner grit. The next time they landed in a terrifying situation, they could look back on how He’d carried them through that frightening night and trust that He could, and would, do so again.
Intersecting Life & Faith:
God doesn’t change. The same Savior who remained with the disciples in their fear remains with us in ours as well. The same Messiah who knew precisely when to calm the winds and waves understands when our rescue will impact us most as well. His delays might feel frustrating, and at times, deeply unsettling, and that’s okay. He understands our overwhelm, and He longs to comfort us in today’s challenges. But He does so with His gaze fixed on building a faith that, progressively, brings lasting peace.
We reach that place, in part, by turning to Him in crisis, asking for the help we need, but also reminding ourselves of the heart and ways of the One providing it. Because of that, not circumstantial relief is how we develop the rock-solid faith that allows us to thrive, regardless of what life throws at us.
This is a topic with which I’m highly passionate, because it has provided me more relief in my anxiety than temporary “rescue” ever has. And, to build these important truths into my soul, I spent much of August discussing some of God’s most comforting divine attributes. I invite you to peruse my Instagram page to glean from some of those reels and posts. Just Google my name, Jennifer Slattery, to find me and more of my faith-building content.
Go Deeper: Daring to Trust God When We’re Waiting
What if the waiting season is not withholding, but one of the clearest ways God is shaping you? In this week's episode, I chatted with author and mama Kaci Harlow to unpack why the ache of waiting can become the very place where identity, healing, and purpose are revealed! Like what you hear? Follow Bought + Beloved with Kirby Kelly on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
Join the conversation! Share how today’s devotional encouraged or challenged you in your walk with Christ.
Photo Credit: Unsplash/Torsten Dederichs
Jennifer Slattery is a writer and speaker who co-hosts the Faith Over Fear podcast and, along with a team of 6, the Your Daily Bible Verse podcast. She’s addressed women’s groups, Bible studies, and taught at writers conferences across the nation. She’s the author of Building a Family and numerous other titles and maintains a devotional blog at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLou
She’s passionate about helping people experience Christ’s freedom in all areas of their lives. Visit her online to learn more about her speaking or to book her for your next women’s event, and sign up for her free quarterly newsletter HERE and make sure to connect with her on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and GodTube.
Check out fantastic resources on Faith, Family, and Fun at Crosswalk.com!
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You were created to live a life of impact.
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