CALM OUR FEARS?

"He [Jesus] got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm." Mark 4:39

"Peace! Be still!" Jesus' calm voice and brief commands reflect his authority over the elements, an authority that gets results. The wind ceases and there is a dead calm. The great storm is replaced by a great calm. The calming of the sea takes on added meaning in the recognition that the sea symbolizes throughout the Old Testament a place of chaos. When Jesus calms the storm, it is not merely a brute demonstration of power over nature; but a redemptive act in which the chaotic forces of the sea are rebuked.

In December, 1958, Helmar Heckel boarded a ship in Bremerhaven, Germany, to come to the United States. Bremerhaven is on the northern coast of Germany -- on the North Sea. The North Sea in December is a fearsome place. Heckel tells of huge waves buffeting the ship. He says that every day seemed the same as they proceeded from the North Sea into the North Atlantic. Every day they saw only water -- to the north, the south, the east, and the west.

But five days later, that changed. There was still water to the east and to the south, but in the west they could see the Statue of Liberty gleaming in the sun -- beckoning them home. Heckel says:

"Walking by faith is like this.

Waves of opposition battle us,

with no change in sight.

In all directions there seems to be nothing,

with the Lord seemingly asleep.

Until a special day arrives,

revealing that we have been moving according to plan."

When Heckel says, "moving according to plan," he means God's plan. Just as there was a helmsman guiding Heckel's ship, so also God was guiding Heckel's life. His life has not always been smooth sailing, but God has always seen him through to a place where the sun was shining.

Holy Lord, let your power be present within us today. May your compassion, that caused you to still the storms upon the Sea of Galilee to allay the fears of the disciples, calm our fears that we may meet the challenges you have set before us, and become a living witness to your power. With praise and thanksgiving we come before you. Amen.

Charlotte Austin McCary's Chapel United Methodist Church