Day Forty-Six
35 As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” 36 So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). 37 But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.
38 Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
39 When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
I want to continue with this familiar passage of scripture.
Do you remember the first time that you stepped into a busy store or airport? Maybe you have fought your way through crowds at a concert or a parade route? And very quickly you find your heart beating a little quicker, blood pressure is rising, maybe you’re getting anxious or irritated. You didn’t start that way, but all of a sudden you have gone from zero to one hundred in a matter of seconds. Why? Because you allowed the environment AROUND you to become the environment IN you.
This is exactly what we see in this story of Jesus sleeping in the middle of a storm. It wasn’t like Jesus was in the middle of the exact same storm that gripped the disciples with fear, the difference was that He knew that what was inside of Him was a greater force than the trouble around Him. As we would read in scripture:
…greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.
I’ve heard it asked this way: are you a thermometer or a thermostat? Do you reflect the temperature of a room, or do you set the atmosphere? Boldness activated in our lives comes from a confidence that no matter the storm breaking out around me, I won’t allow that to get in me, because inside of me is already something greater. Receive that peace, that confidence, that reminder today.
Blessings,
Ryan Rolls