March Madness | The Madness of Chaos | Avoiding Chaos

He rebuked the wind and said… “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39

Half the disciples were seasoned sailors. They’d weathered waves, lightening, and damaging winds, but this storm scared even them. They’d done everything they knew to do, but it kept getting worse. Fear replaced confidence and all they could see was disaster ahead. This storm was bigger than their abilities, bigger than their experience. So they called Jesus. And they were mad when they did. Where had He been? Why was the storm so bad? Why wasn’t He helping?

The timing of this event in scripture is significant. The disciples had already seen Jesus do some amazing things, miraculous things. They’d been there when He performed miracles for other people; yet, when the chaos was theirs, they relied on their own abilities. Calling Jesus was their last resort rather than their first response. But would things have gone differently if they had called on Him at the first sign of trouble? What if involving Jesus in every aspect of this trip would have kept them from experiencing such a storm? What about your storm? We like to handle things ourselves until they get of control. Then we’re angry when we finally call on Jesus. “Where have you been? Why weren’t you helping? Why did you let it get this bad?”

Jesus brought calm to the situation, but His question for the disciples—and us—is this: “Why did YOU let it get this bad?”

Final Thought:  When we invite Jesus into every aspect of our lives, we can avoid a lot of chaos.

Prayer: Father, I want to learn from the disciples’ mistakes. I want to retrain myself to run to you first, before the storm gets bad. You can say to it, “Peace. Be still,” and I don’t have to be afraid. Help me remember that. In Jesus’ name, Amen.