Peace Be Still
“Then He arose 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 NKJV
Recently while I was getting ready for the day the smell of rain came in through my window. While I’m not yet old enough to predict the weather with my joints, I have lived long enough to smell a storm on the horizon. Now maybe I’m an anomaly but I kinda like rainy days so when I detected the coming storm I got excited.
See I didn’t have any plans or anywhere I needed to be that would have been hindered by the storm. I could just sit in my bedroom and watch the rain from my window. It was nice. But that’s subjective is it not? Had I had plans to take my girls to the pool or do yard work that rain storm would have been an irritation rather than a comfort. That’s the thing about storms, they tend to change our plans, but oh how badly we need the rain!
“For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.”
- Matthew 5:45 NLT
Just like a field of wheat, we don’t grow unless we get rained on. Matthew 5:45 says that God sends rain on the just and the unjust. Storms are just a part of life, they happen to everyone but in the midst of them, we can grow. I mean let’s get honest for a second, how many valuable lessons have you learned when everything was going right? Yeah, me either.
“And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
- Romans 5:3-4 NKJV
I’m sure if you know me you have heard me talk about this verse many times before, and I know that I’ve written about it many times in the past. But guess what…I’m probably going to write about it many times in the future as well. This verse is my verse, you may have it too if you so wish but it’s mine. This verse changed everything for me. This verse helped me walk through the storms.
Tribulations are going to happen, it’s what we do with them that matters. It’s going to rain, either you try to hide away and wait it out, or you glory in it and you grow. Yes, your plans are probably going to change, but glory in the tribulation. Yes, it’s going to hurt, but glory in the tribulation. Yes, there are going to be days where you just want to quit, but glory in the tribulation. Because in the end, you will grow—in the end, you will have hope and that is worth the rain.
We serve a God that even the wind and the waves obey. Which should be comforting but what do we do with that knowledge when the wind and the waves keep coming? Even when we’ve prayed—even when we’ve called upon His name? What happens when Jesus stays asleep in our boat?
It’s easy for me to sit here on my couch in my comfortable house and say the tired Christian platitude that we’ve probably all heard a time or two in the past…“Just lay down beside Him and go to sleep.” I know I’ve said that before. That’s the goal, right? To sleep through our storms beside our Savior?
But can I level with you for a second? Sometimes I’m not very good at the sleeping part when the wind and the waves are crashing into the side of my boat and I’m aware of the very real danger that is all around me. Sometimes I feel like I’m desperately shaking my sleeping Savior questioning why He’s leaving me here, why He hasn’t commanded the weather to be still.
But then I remember…glory in tribulation. I’ve learned in my life that sometimes when Jesus says “peace be still” it’s not to the storm but instead to my heart.
Peace be still and wait on My timing.
Peace be still and know that I am God.
Peace be still and trust in Me, even here, even in this.
Peace be still daughter, I’ve got this.
Sometimes, beloved, He’s not going to stop the storm but that doesn’t mean that He isn’t present—that doesn’t mean that He doesn’t care. There is a purpose in the rain. Trust in Him even here and hear the whisper of peace to your heart and grow!
Written by Amanda Strauser