Good morning. It’s Sunday, September 20th!

🥳 Congratulations on starting today with God, and thank you for letting us be a part of it.

— Mark 4:38

It’s hard to sleep through a storm, metaphorically and literally.

We all go through storms in life. Things get hard, scary, or completely out of our control, and usually we just want them to be over.

But Jesus once slept through a literal storm. And we’re not talking about a little thunder here.

Mark says “a furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped” (Mark 4:37).

And here’s what really puts that into perspective: several of the disciples were experienced fishermen. These were guys who knew boats and knew what dangerous water looked like.

And they thought they were going to die.

Meanwhile, Jesus was “in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.”

Think about that contrast. Experienced fishermen are terrified, the boat is filling with water, and Jesus is sound asleep.

It can be tempting to make the lesson simply, Look how fearless Jesus was. But what happens next tells us there’s much more going on.

The disciples wake Him and ask, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

Jesus gets up, rebukes the wind and says to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!”

And they listen.

“Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.”

Jesus asks them, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” But then something interesting happens. Mark says the disciples were “terrified” and asked, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

The storm was scary. But now they’re trying to figure out who exactly is sitting in the boat with them.

And here’s where we can nerd out a little.

Psalm 107 describes sailors caught in a terrible storm. They cry out to the Lord, and “He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed.”

Sound familiar?

This story isn’t just about being fearless. It’s showing us something about who Jesus is and the authority He has.

And that brings us right back to the metaphor.

We’re going to face storms too. Things will scare us. Things will happen that we can’t control. The disciples were scared too, but when they were, they turned to Jesus.

Jesus then pointed them from fear toward faith: “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

We can’t always tell the storms in our lives, “Quiet! Be still!”

But when the storm is outside our control, we can turn to the One who isn’t.

When you’re not sure how to pray, A.C.T.S. gives you a simple path to follow: Adore, Confess, Thank, and Ask.

Adoration: Jesus, even the wind and waves obey You.

Confession: Forgive us when fear outweighs our faith.

Thanksgiving: Thank You for being with us through every storm.

Supplication: Help us turn to You and fight fear with faith.

In Jesus’ name, Amen

“I Need Help” by Connor Price, Maverick City Music, & Taylor Hill

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See you tomorrow,

Zach | Start With God