PEACE IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORM

PEACE IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORM

Mark 4:38 "Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm."

It was a nice cloudy day. The sun was rising and the thunderstorms had died from the evening before. My heart was happy to see the sun. The night before had been a horrible night. We were visiting my grandmother who was working on a farm about a hundred and fifty miles away. Her home for the summer was in the middle of a large plantation. There were about four or five little homes that formed an island in the midst of what looked like thousands of acres of cotton. One afternoon as we were playing, our happy day was interrupted by a clash of thunder. I looked into the sky and a conglomeration of black clouds quickly moved into our area. Our parents yelled for us to come in as the wind started to pick up and start blowing stuff in the air.

With each streak of lightning came the deafening sound of the thunder. I could feel the little house start to tremble. I, along with my brothers and sisters and little cousins started screaming and running for whichever arm of comfort we could find. The brighter the lightning strike the harder the little house trembled. The electricity had gone out so all we had was candlelight as darkness came and we were left vulnerable to whatever was hitting all around us. In the middle of the storm my grandmother gathered all the children to her and said to us, "Don't worry, Jesus will take care of us." For the next few hours as we screamed and trembled after each lightning strike, she prayed. She kept assuring her grandchildren that Jesus would take care of us. I wonder if this is the way the disciples felt when they were in the middle of the sea, being battered by a severe storm. As water entered the boat someone woke Jesus up and yelled at him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm." What peace we felt as the last earthshaking lightning strike hit. Remember, no matter what the storms of life bring our way, our God and Creator, Jesus Christ will take care of you.

Robert Soto, Lipan Apache and pastor