There is Peace IN the Storm

"Where is peace in the storm?"

That was my cry to God. And in the silence after my outburst, it came. 

A story....

They'd come to the lakeshore, this group of men, following their teacher as he spoke and ministered to the crowds. All day he'd been there, teaching, healing. And when evening approached, he looked at them and said, "Let's cross over to the other side of the lake." So they got a boat, a stout vessel, and piled in. But no sooner were they surrounded by water than a storm came out of nowhere. It was as fierce as it was sudden, and before they could act, water surged around them, slamming the boat side to side, flowing over the edge. The men huddled together, and as they looked at each other, they knew... 

They were about to die. To drown in the angry, dark waters assaulting them.

They turned to their teacher, then stared, open-mouthed. He was asleep! With the rain pelting him, the storm tossing them like a dog with a ragdoll, he was lying there. Eyes closed. 

Sleeping.  

They cried out! "Wake up! Save us!" 

And when he opened his eyes, there was no fear there. No despair. Only confidence. And calm. 

He stood and did something none of them expected. He spoke. Three words:  

"Peace. Be still."

Peace. 

        Be still.

Three words that whispered through me as they whispered into that storm, and like the raging waves around that boat, my troubled, aching heart eased. Calmed. 

Three words. Spoken by the One who made the seas. Who made everything in them. Who made everything that lives and breathes, and everything that doesn't. Master Creator. Holy God. 

Where is peace in the storm? Right here. With us. Beside us. Within us. If we'll just open our hearts. If we'll just listen.

Peace. Be still. 

He spoke it then, and the storm ended. He speaks it now, and the storm is defeated. 

All we need to do is listen. For that Voice above all others. For that Voice speaks truth and blessing and safety and peace. 

That Voice calms the waters. For all of us.