Wooden Boat on the Sea of Galilee – Tiberias, Israel
“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 KJV
I remember my Grandmother reading this story to me with such drama. It had become my favorite Bible story while I was a young boy in North Carolina; and today…it still is my favorite Bible story. Why is that, I asked myself? What is it about this particular story that I have been drawn to since I was so young? What about this story brings me such peace when I read it? Why is the simplicity of this story still ringing in my ears? Is it because of quaint sentimentality or because of something deeper, something that Abba has used from an early age to connect the dots of my future calling?
Whatever the reason of my fondness for this one glimpse in the life of Messiah on earth, I have learned something very valuable and personal from it – He arose and calmed the storm.
In our many storms throughout life (and we are promised storms), it is in our actions of helplessness, crying out to Him, that causes Him to arise. Read Psalm 18 and understand that King David had his own ‘peace be still’ story.
I recently asked myself, what is the balance between crying out to Him out of fear and using our faith to calm the storm? When our crying out to Him, originating from the fear of losing His presence, becomes greater than the fear of circumstances, then we will have all the faith necessary to calm any storm.
The disciples had good reason to greatly fear. They were experienced fishermen and I am sure had endured many storms on Lake Kinneret (The Sea of Galilee). However, this one particular storm must of been a dilly to cause such a reaction from them! Though I have spent many times in Tiberias, I have not seen a great squall on the lake. My mom tells me she has witnessed such a thing. Evidently, great storms, from time to time, arise up on the lake and the winds are so violent that one can barely stand up. The winds whip around like a whirlwind causing severe limited sight. Her description comes from her own experience on land. Can you imagine what it was like to be in the middle of it…on the lake?
The disciples cried out to Him out of fear of circumstances rather than fear of losing His presence – for the Author of Life Himself, was merely a few feet away from them. Sometimes we think He doesn’t care if we drown or not. Though His presence is with us, we interpret His inactivity in our lives as Him sleeping on the job. However, it is what He said at the beginning of the journey that counts the most – let us go to the other side! Yahushua rested in what He declared and was not concerned about the squall.
Sometimes, the Master steps back and takes a pillow to rest to see what we will do when utter chaos begins to swirl around us. Will our faith to command the storm arise within us knowing that He has never left us, or will we stare at the massive waves sweeping up the side of the boat, filling it up – crying out in terror?
Sometimes we need to hear the roar of the wind and waves to remind us that we need to listen to Him more closely during the calm.
The still small voice, sleeping in the rear of the boat, is still every bit in control, because He set in motion, by the words of His mouth – the confession on His lips – “let us go to the other side”.
Fear paralyzes. It anchors a person to the ground, never being able to move.
Faith is action. Faith moves. Faith moves mountains. Faith is in motion, always moving forward. Being anchored in fear forces us to look around and see the turmoil that is trying to overwhelm us and fill our boats until they sink. Faith is the determination to arrive at the other side…come any storm…I will arrive!
His boat will always arrive but we have to be in it to arrive with Him. If we believe Him enough to get into the boat with Him, we must continue that belief through our actions (what we do to prove that we wholeheartedly trust in the truth of arriving at the other side – because He said it).
In the case of a locomotive, faith is always pushing full steam ahead because it isn’t limited by doubts. It is by our own actions in believing we will arrive, that we stoke the boiler with “proclamations of arrival”.
Messiah the Engineer has kicked His locomotive into high gear. If we are ever to board this moving train, our actions must be the evidence we are both actively moving and actively waiting. For those who are not aboard the train yet, by your actions to believe you will arrive at your destination – the Kingdom of Elohim – you must be moving forward along side the train, but you must also wait for the exact timing to leap aboard. We must listen for the Engineer to say.. NOW! JUMP!
Those who do not hear cannot arrive for they will always be chasing the train.
There is only one spark, that one second in time, that one moment we have to leap that we must wait for. In the case of the disciples, they had already boarded the train, yet that is only the beginning. If we forget Who the Engineer is driving the train, panic most certainly will derail our belief in ever believing we will arrive. On Messiah’s train or boat, His passengers will always arrive if they continue to believe that the promise to go to the other side, is more real than the obstacles along the way.
The other side never gets shipwrecked…
The other side IS our guarantee that we will always arrive safely because the other side (Yahushua) never moves. If our eyes are upon the destination rather than the intermediate, our determination to arrive becomes greater anchored in the truth of His words.
We must remember that it is by our actions that we prove to Him that we are with Him all the way across the lake. And the first action we must take is to simply ensure that THE ‘Peace be still’ is in the boat with us – for in taking this action, it is our guarantee, though the winds and waves arise, that we now have the faith necessary to calm any storm.
This is the progression of a true disciple’s walk of faith – when we no longer fear the circumstances, because we fear losing His presence more. This becomes our confidence that we can speak against any storm, knowing that He is right there to back our words.
If we stick with Him, we will always arrive…’to the other side’