Jesus, the Devil, and the Storm 

Beautiful People,
By God’s grace, we made it to the end of the semester. So much has happened and continues to happen around us; however, our Provider and Hero, Jesus Christ if faithful. Mark 4:35 depicts an exciting narrative of faith. Here, Jesus says to His disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” On their journey to the other side, a “furious squall came up.”  As an experienced fisherman, the disciples were accustomed to storms; however, this storm was sinister. Ellen G. White says that the devil was in this furious squall. The beautiful and strange part of this whole story is Jesus’ reaction to this furious squall. Fear is a natural response to a threatening circumstance, so the disciple’s response to fear was understandable; however, Mark 4:35-41 provides another reaction to threatening situations—faith.

Unlike the disciples, Jesus rested in the assurance of His Father’s goodness. Jesus acknowledged their fear, fear rooted in unbelief in the goodness of God. I’m sure that in the past year, you have questioned God’s goodness in the presence of life’s furious squalls. I have to. Fear and unfaithfulness don’t have to be our natural responses to life’s hardships. We can have faith in the One who said, “let us go over to the other side.” What I love about this story is that Jesus promised to get the disciples to the other side regardless of how furious the storm was. Greater is He, Jesus, in you than he, the devil, that is in the storms of life. By faith, you will get to the other side, friend.