Mondays with Megan: On Chaos

Are you familiar with the story in in Scripture where Jesus calms a super big, scary storm? If you are or if you aren’t, check it out:  Mark 4:35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Asleep.  How could Jesus be asleep? 

Terrified, his boys wake up him and ask if he even cares that they might be killed. Jesus gets up, tells the wind and the waves to calm down, and then asks the disciples why they are so afraid.  Naturally, they’re full of wonder – or completely freaked out -I’m not sure which. 

I’m not sure if this is Biblically accurate so don’t come for me – but I actually picture this whole thing super casual. I envision Jesus, fully human, being awakened by chaos, groggy eyed, and not this big powerful “QUIET BE STILL!” coming from His mouth but rather a more… “Can you not?” to the wind and the waves.  

I like to believe that He was completely unimpressed with this storm that was shaking the faith of the disciples. When the storm was raging and Jesus was sleeping the Disciples were like, “You need to wake up to what is going on!”  Jesus gets up and is like “You need to wake up to who I am!” 

I wonder how many times we do the same. 
Let Jesus know about the storms and chaos in our lives. 

I find and incredibly compelling truth in the story that follows this story, actually. Can you hang around and hear it for a minute? Check this out: 

When they do finally arrive on the other side, they are immediately met by a man possessed by many demons. He was so strong that even chains could not hold him, and everyone was afraid to pass by that way. This man was aggressive and violent. Not only that, he lived among the tombs, and was therefore constantly in touch with death—the ultimate defilement in Jewish law. Both inside and out, this man was as corrupted as he could be.

Jesus comes to this man, the one no one else dares approach.  He is no longer casual. Now we see Jesus relentlessly pursuing the demons that afflict this poor soul (Mark 5:8).  He is on the offensive. 

Earlier, when Jesus says to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side” (v. 35), he isn’t just making an idle suggestion. He moves with purpose, knowing that the other side of the lake is a battleground. He will go and confront the servants of his enemy, and he will be victorious. So while they are crossing, no matter the ferocity of the wind or the size of the waves, Jesus is unconcerned. He is not confronting the enemy in the storm, rather, the enemy lies on the other side of it. There is nothing to fear on the water.

Upon arriving, they come upon the most disturbed man there ever was living in a cemetery. This guy’s possessed by a demonic heavyweight, who breaks bonds and cries out night and day.   He bows down before Jesus, since he knows that Jesus is “Son of the Most High God” (NRSV), and begs Jesus not to go too hard on him.

Jesus tells the demon to get out. It turns out that a whole army of demons inhabits this poor guy. Jesus expels the demons into a herd of two-thousand pigs, which rush off a cliff into the sea and drown. That’s visible proof of Jesus’s power.

Don’t miss this —

The storm is not the point.
They had to go through the storm to get to the other side, where the real purpose of the journey was.

Storms threaten to sink our faith.  I’m not talking about every day inconveniences like a flat tire, or a hassle at work.  I’m talking about the difficulties that cause us to question God’s goodness. Maybe it’s prolonged illness, the death of a loved one, this whole pandamania situation we’re currently living in, a marriage destroyed, financial hardship – and it feels like God is asleep. If He really cared, then maybe He’d stop this from happening, we might think. We pray for healing, for relief, for opportunity, for reconciliation, for anything that will make the storm pass. 

What I see in this story, however, is that the storm is actually not the whole point. The storm is real and terrifying–the disciples believe that they will not survive—but the point is not about surviving the storm. The point is about who is in the boat with them. Yes, Jesus can calm the storms of our lives. But Jesus didn’t come to calm storms, he came to save souls. Jesus didn’t come to give me a comfortable life, he came to defeat death.

I am not trying to diminish anyone’s suffering, nor would I ever ever ever suggest that you cannot cry out to Jesus about the storms in your life. He does, after all, get up and calm the storm in this story.

It’s not that Jesus doesn’t care about our problems, He for sure does – A LOT – it’s just that our problems aren’t going to sink the boat while He’s in it.

The storm is not where you face the enemy.
The storm is where you meet your God. 

Storms are frightening, I know. I know what it is to think I cannot survive, that God doesn’t care, that death would be preferable—then at least it would be over. I know what it is to feel useless, helpless, and hopeless. And if that’s how you are feeling right now, know that He knows and is present with you and loves you. 

But hear me clearly today: there is greater purpose on the other side of the storm.

I know there are a lot of people in chaos-like storms right now. 
You’re navigating a life full of questions; specifically ones about the future. 
Will I have a job? Will my kid go to school? Will I go back to college? Will my sports season be cancelled? What will this all look like? What is right? Is this really happening? How am I going to pay my bills? How am I going to do this? What is safe? Who is safe? How am I supposed to make this decision? 

May I suggest taking our eyes off of the storm and onto Who is in the boat with us? 
May I ask us to consider that there is purpose on the other side of the storm? 
If we’re so hyper-focused on the storm and the chaos, we can’t be focused on the Giver of Peace and the Calmer of Storms and the Filler of all Purpose. 

There are a lot of people walking around right now in absolute fear – fear of the storm, fear of the future, fear of the unknown, fear of the consequence of a decision you need to make for your family, yourself, or those you love.  My guess is that if we can take our focus off of the storm and the chaos, and shift it to seeking the intended purpose on the other side of the storm – or better yet; Who is in our boat, our hearts, minds, and souls would be brought to a more peaceful place. 

Where do you need to create a shift today? 
…off of chaos and onto purpose. 
If the disciples could see the purpose on the other side of the storm, my guess is that they wouldn’t have freaked out in the middle of it. 

Where do you need to make a conscious, waking choice, to see past the storm and into purpose?

Peace, be still. 
He is with you.