HIS WORDS

“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.”  Mark 4:39

Hurricane

HIS EXAMPLE TO US

Jesus can calm the wind and the waves.

MY STORY

My brother is ten years younger than I, and I’ve always felt protective over him. When he moved over 3,000 miles away to Naples, Florida, six months ago, it took all of my self-control to let him go with any grace at all. With a lot of prayer, I swallowed my big sister control complex, made him a road trip care package, warned him about the dangers of alligators, and tearfully watched him drive away in a mustard yellow moving truck. But that control complex came back with full force when a storm started brewing deep in the Atlantic Ocean.  

This storm was so big and powerful that forecasters said that there had never been a storm like it before. She was over 400 miles wide with winds of over 170 mph. Her name was Hurricane Irma and she was barreling straight toward Naples. My brother was in imminent, life threatening danger, and there wasn’t a single thing I could do to help him. The waves of helplessness and fear that washed over me filled my heart with dread and anxiety.

MY RESPONSE

As I prayed to Jesus in my anxiety and uncertainty, He gently reminded me of the verse above. Jesus has always had full dominion over all of the elements on earth, including water and wind, but He also has the ability to calm the human heart, even the heart of a sister who was abruptly faced with the reminder that she wasn’t nearly as in control of things as she wanted to be. 

The truth of the matter is that my hands are small; even if I lived right next door to my brother, there’s very little that I would have been able to do to help him. But when I fold these two small hands in prayer to Jesus, they become powerful in the One who can rebuke the wind and rain with a word. As I began to lift my brother, Hurricane Irma, and the entire state of Florida up to Jesus, my anxiety was replaced by peace. None of the circumstance of our distance or the magnitude of the storm had changed, but Jesus had changed me.  

After the storm hit Naples head on, my brother drove for 15 miles to get a call out to let us know that the wind and rain had died down and he was safe. That night I lifted my hands once again in prayer and thanksgiving to Jesus.

MY PRAYER

“Jesus, I thank You that Your voice is strong enough to stop a hurricane, yet gentle enough to whisper to my anxious heart. Forgive me when I let the circumstances around me drown out the peace that You freely give. Thank You for quieting Hurricane Irma; please continue to comfort, restore, and reveal Yourself to all of those who were affected by the storm. In the mighty Name of Jesus, Amen.”