Quiet! Be Still!

Gospel MK 4:35-41

On that day, as evening drew on, Jesus said to his disciples:
“Let us cross to the other side.”
Leaving the crowd, they took Jesus with them in the boat just as he was.
And other boats were with him.
A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat,
so that it was already filling up.
Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion.
They woke him and said to him,
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
He woke up,
rebuked the wind, 
and said to the sea, “Quiet! Be still!”
The wind ceased and there was great calm.
Then he asked them, “Why are you terrified?
Do you not yet have faith?”
They were filled with great awe and said to one another,
“Who then is this whom even wind and sea obey?”

Life isn't always smooth sailing.  Sometimes we are overwhelmed by crushing circumstances - a divorce, an illness, the death of a loved one, the loss of a job - the list goes on.  For my mom, the death of her son (my older brother Larry) was too much for a mother to bear and yet somehow she did.  It's during these storms of life that Jesus advises us to be "Quiet! Be still."  In other words, have faith that God is bigger than any storm I might face.  If He can cause the wind and sea to obey, then He can certainly help me weather the fiercest storm I might face.  As I reflect back on the low p0ints in my life, I can see that this is true - even during those times when it took me a while for me to turn to God in faith.