God’s Peace | crustybread

…But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ Mark 4:35-41 It never fails! Finally a moment of rest, you lay down and let the movement of the ship lull you to sleep and suddenly the alarm goes off. Of course it’s only a drill but since you are required to participate you get up to find masses of people rushing to the predetermined deck for further instruction in case of a real emergency. I can only image what the real emergency would feel like however, I would hope that I had enough faith to be calm and allow God’s peace to guide my actions. Traveling 680 feet below sea level and surrounded by hills, some as high as 2000 feet; the Sea of Galilee is naturally subject to quickly rising storms because of the different temperature and pressure changes. Figuratively, we too can find our selves in the midst of these kinds of storms, the ones that rise without warning and which we had no contribution. Take heart and know that with Christ, we are in the eye of that storm , the center in which rest can be found and peace be still.

A story called “Ninety-Three” written by Victor Hugo tells of a ship caught in a dangerous storm on the high seas. At the height of the storm, the frightened sailors heard a terrible crashing noise below the deck. They knew at once that this new noise came from a cannon, part of the ship’s cargo, that had broken loose. It was moving back and forth with the swaying of the ship, crashing into the side of the ship with terrible impact. Knowing that it could cause the ship to sink, two brave sailors volunteered to make the dangerous attempt to retie the loose cannon. They knew the danger of a shipwreck from a loose cannon was greater than the fury of the storm. Storms of life may blow about us, but it is not the exterior storms such as the one that rose upon the disciples while Christ was sleeping in the stern that pose the gravest danger. It is our faith, which has loosened and ultimately broken away from the gift of the spirit within us that leaves us vulnerable. Instead we become attached to doubt, fear, distraction and disillusionment which seem to engulf our lives in Christ. Although furious storms outside may be raging, what is going on inside can pose the greater threat to our lives. Much like the sailors, at times we must be willing to take the risk of saving acts in faith continually in this journey because our hope lies in regaining and holding fast to that which keeps us reconciled in God’s peace as we wait out the storm.