Calming wind and waves

Mark 4: 35 - 41

"Why are you afraid?"

This passage made me ask: does God/Jesus actually meddle with natural laws today? Have storms at sea or elsewhere been diverted or calmed at a mere rebuke? I have been reading a book on prayer where the author asks many such questions. The book by Philip Yancey is entitled : "Prayer: does it make a difference?" Indeed he explores many facets of prayer that we sometimes take for granted, or we fail to question because we are so used to one practice, until one day a crisis happens close to home and raises the questions.

In the book Yancey suggests that such miracles are not the norm, indeed God's obvious 'miraculous' interventions cannot be predicted in any way. We all agree that God is capable of such actions, but we also know of many instances where He does not demonstrate power in this manner.

Sometimes, when I read about such miracles in the gospels, I try to move away from one level of meaning to other possible ways of understanding. In this case, Jesus was in the boat with the disciples through the whole ordeal - he was physically 'asleep' but nevertheless present.. Perhaps it is helpful to remember that our Lord is ever present at every moment and of course amidst the storms in our lives. It is we who grow faint hearted when we focus on the 'storms' of adversity and sorrow rather than on his abiding presence. Maybe this is the constant challenge of following Christ - to remain focused on Him, rather than on the turmoil around us. Easier said than done much of the time- yet it only takes one small movement of heart to turn from facing the shadows to facing the light. Facing Him, such that in the light the darkness has less of a hold on us. Facing Him such that inner peace returns to our troubled hearts. These days, His words "Peace; be still" are words of grace to turn our attention back to Him who is ever present in our storm tossed boats.