Ruth Graham (Fear Not Tomorrow) offers her insights on Mark’s account of Jesus Stilling the Storm (Mark 6: 45-51) in Chapter 5- “Encounter His Power”. She calls attention to the fact that the disciples turned to Jesus only after they had exhausted their own efforts to keep the boat afloat. Ruth adds that Jesus didn’t silence the storm in response to the disciples’ lack of faith, but rather to demonstrate His power and to show that He ultimately is in control.
The disciples are not alone in turning to Jesus as a last recourse. All too often we do the same in the midst of our storms. The author offers 3 suggestions to eliminate self-reliance and fear as our default responses:
1. Make a list of significant life experiences in which God has been with you or demonstrated His power and meditate on how He worked in those circumstances.
2. Memorizing Scripture- while this is something many of us have grown up with as part of our educational experience, recalling familiar and favorite Bible verses feeds our minds with God’s truth.
3. Listening to quality praise music.
Ruth concludes with this quote by Brennan Manning from his book Ruthless Trust: “Unwavering trust is a rare and precious thing because it often demands a degree of courage that borders on the heroic.”
