“When Jesus woke up, He rebuked the windandsaid to the waves, ‘Silence! Be still!’ Suddenly the windstopped, andthere was a great calm.” Mark 4:39 NLT
The Wind and the Waves
My husband and I recently went over to the coast for a night. For those of you familiar with Clam Beach, you know it’s typically very windy (picture vertical sand blasting your legs!) This time it was completely calm and I was able to walk there from Moonstone Beach and soak up the beauty of the day. At another of our favorite places, even though the low tide wasn’t particularly low, it seemed as if the Lord kept the waves at bay (Job 38:8,10-11), so I could find agates and my husband could see a pod of dolphins offshore. It was stunning.
Fast forward a few weeks when the winds here were blowing pretty hard and they blew a fair number of leaves off the huge tree in our front yard up against our house, garage and fence. It was as if God swept them together for me to easily pick up rather than having to rake them into piles myself. He is well aware my husband is unable to do much of the outside yard work this year due to continued healing from surgery, and He used the gift of wind to help me do it more efficiently. This left me with enough energy to rake my elderly neighbor’s yard, and when another neighbor came to help me, the wind sparked more conversation than we’ve had in the several years they’ve lived there.
I don’t know where you are or what the wind and waves mean to you. They could mean pleasant things as above, but perhaps they mean darkness, or you’re in a financial, spiritual or relational storm, frightened and feeling like it’ll all go upside down at any moment and be lost. The disciples in Mark 4 woke Jesus who was sleeping in the bow of the boat, asking Him if He cared that they were perishing (Mark 4:37-38). Once Jesus calmed the wind and the waves, however, “they were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey Him!’” (Mark 4:41 NIV). The wind and the waves were forgotten in light of the power of the One who created them.
I thought of the song “It is Well”:
“Through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
And it is well, It is well
So let go my soul and trust in Him
The waves and wind still know His name”*
Father God, thank You for the gifts of the wind and the waves in my life in recent days. Help us trust that You’re still in charge of them when storms in our lives seem like they’ll overcome us. Help us keep our eyes on You. Amen.
That’s awesome.
Beautiful. Thank you.