Skip to main content

Peace Be Still


“
One day he got into a boat with his disciples, 

and he said to them, “Let us go across to the

other side of the lake.” So they set out, and 

as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm

came down on the lake, and they were filling 

with water and were in danger. And they went

and woke him, saying, 

“Master, Master, we are perishing!” 

And he awoke and rebuked the

wind and the raging waves, and they ceased,

and there was a calm. He said to them, 

“Where is your faith?” And they were afraid,

 and they marveled, saying to one another, 

“Who then is this, that he commands even winds 

and water, and they obey him?” 

( Luke 8:22–25 ESV).

 

A testimony always comes after the storm, right? Well, I was a category 5 yesterday. My emotions raged, and every thought that I had, created a catastrophe leaving me depleted, in deep sadness, and isolated. I functioned through internal chaos, but God remained at the door knocking, awake, and ready to calm the storm. 

Triggers cause the brain to set off an alarm that impacts the chemicals in your body, causing your emotions to scream as loud as they can, alerting you that a storm is happening. The storm can be stopped, but you must take the proper precautions to allow yourself to simply remember that Jesus stood in the midst of raging water and said, “Peace Be Still” (Mark 4:39).

The story of Jesus in that boat is so vital to the building blocks of our faith that it is told 3 times in the New Testament. Jesus rebukes storms. He does not allow them to impact His sleep. He didn’t even feel the effects of the storm because He, Himself, was at peace.

Jesus had things going on. He had the world on His shoulders, literally, but was able to calm the storm on behalf of those around them. His words still work, “ Peace Be Still!” 

“Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?”             (Matthew 8:26b)

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. ( Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV).

 

I spent hours in a storm, affected, drenched, and emotionally drained. Kleenex filled my trashcan until I sat down and positioned myself to hear the voice of God, opening the door for Him to instruct me on me. 

What is important here is that we go back to our creator so that we can function properly. He rewires what storms disrupt, and He perfects us in His image when we trust Him with the broken pieces of ourselves .

 

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you”         ( Peter 5:7).

 

Lord, I choose to trust you with all my heart and to not lean on my understanding. I choose to have faith and to know that you are in the boat with me and that the boat has a great destination despite the storm. Help me to choose my words and what I focus on through your divine filter. 

Help me to rest in knowing that I can cast my cares upon you because you care about me. 

Thank you for the word ‘care’. I accept the peace of God, and I tell every storm to BE STILL, in the name of Jesus. 

Thank you for calming my nervous system. 

Thank you for rewiring my brain and for creating new neural path ways. In Jesus name, amen.

 

My prayer for you today, the reader, is that you choose one word mentioned above and dissect it in Jesus. Sit with it and hear the word of the Lord.

 My chosen word is ‘care’. God cares for me. He does not discard me or leave me to drown. He stands beside me and commands boisterous winds to BE STILL. 

 

Boisterous- turbulent, stormy, or violent.

 

Recommended Reading:


Matthew 8:23–27

Mark 4:36–41

Luke 8:22–25

“We break down every thought and proud thing that puts itself up against the wisdom of God. We take hold of every thought and make it obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NLV).

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

You are Seen

“Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the LORD, who had spoken to her. She said, ‘You are the God who sees me.’ ” (Genesis 16:13) Hagar was unexpected. She was an Egyptian maid who turned into a baby mama, given to a man so that his wife could bear a son before her time of blessing had come. and she was a track star. My girl was a track star too. She got out of the house of Abram so fast when she became mistreated. Hagar never asked to be placed in the position to become a wife while still being called a maid. Her yes impacted her greatly and a ‘beef’ was the result.  Hagar knew the house rules, “We serve the big G and not the little g’s over here.” She saw Abram praying and observed him meeting with God, but then it happened. Sari commissioned her, and she was given to a man. Hager was never really asked, she was never really considered a wife and was more lik...

You are Not Lost in the Crowd. God Sees You!

Someone asked the question Why do we sing? When we lift our hands to Jesus What do we really mean ~Kirk Franklin “Why we sing?” It’s very very easy to get lost in the realm of religion or to get caught up in the hype of “church”. God has blessed so many of his people with gifts and talents that range from writing and composing, to worshiping, preaching and dancing. At my church, it seems like every one has some sort of gift and I must admit that I feel lost in the shuffle, but that brings me to point of asking myself questions such as ,“who am I going to church for?” and “whose attention am I aiming for?” Everyone wants to be noticed. We want to be praised and we want to be the favorite child, but at what cost? What are we paying to be number one in the congregation’s eyes? and do we even care if God is pleased with us right where we are? I’m the queen of being offended and I often compare myself, my progression in Christ, and my life to others. This should not be so and...

Beauty for Ashes: Release the Urn

  “ The Spirit of the Sovereign  Lord  is on me,    because the  Lord  has anointed me  to proclaim good news to the poor.   He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,  to proclaim freedom for the captives   and release from darkness for the prisoners,   to proclaim the year of the  Lord ’s favor ,  and the day of vengeance of our God,  to comfort all who mourn,   and provide for those who grieve in Zion ,  to bestow on them a crown of beauty     instead of ashes,   the oil of joy   instead of mourning,   and a garment of praise   instead of a spirit of despair .  They will be called oaks of righteousness,  a planting of the  Lord   for the display of his splendor. ” - Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV   A vessel of God told me to write the real story. The one that was uncut, raw, and honest. I was to write the TR...

Be Still and Know

“Be still, and know that I am God”- Psalm 46:10a KJV Today as I was driving to work, anxious, knowing that I needed Jesus, I saw “In God I trust”, and “ Be still and know” on two separate cars, one after the other. I needed both things, and that is what I am clinging to. The past can make you feel as if you are in a track meet running from it. It seems faster and more advance within the race, but God says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Being still in a world full of thoughts is its own task, but the command of God is bigger than that. “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words.”                      -John 14:23a Above anything, God’s word is the answer. It is what halts the past and brings stillness instead of constant worrying. I considered Moses today. This man, who literally ran from his past, was asked to lead others to a future that God...

Who Are You Married To?

“Jesus said to her,  “Go, call your husband, and come here.”   The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”   Jesus said to her,  “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’   for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly”                         (John 4:17-18 NKJV). Over the last few days, I’ve missed someone. You may wonder why I would even start things off in this way, but this type of stuff has to be confronted because it’s how people get caught up and entangled in what God loosed them from already.  As I was thinking what I was thinking, each time I heard, “What part of toxic do you miss?” I can’t argue with the question. The situation was beyond toxic, but with this being so, what causes me to miss something that left me so shattered? The answer: the familiarity.   Being familiar with a thing will cause you to run ...

The Process of Faithing It: Trusting Jesus with Your Faith

  “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your affliction” (Mark 5:34 NKJV). Can you imagine Jesus in a crowd? Everyone has a need, but His target in that moment is to go and build the faith of a little girl’s family at the request of her father because they think that she will die. The father is scared, but Jesus was on the way until He felt something. This feeling was different, but powerful. Jesus turns around looking, asking questions, but finds his answer in the form of a woman, standing and looking amazed at what just happened to her. After 13 years of anemia, tiredness, dizzy spells, soiled clothing, and impacted relationships, she is healed.  This woman with an issue of blood had spent all of her money, but decided to trust Jesus with her faith, which was all that she had left. Jesus was not too busy to stop and ask, “Who touched me?”. The disciples reminded Jesus of all the people that were around them, but this touch was different. Some...

Waiting for the Promise vs. Moving in Impatience

“Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child? ” And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him”   ( Genesis 17: 17-19 NKJV). Isaac was desired, but Ismael was birthed out of impatience. If God told you that you were going to birth something beautiful, no matter what your season may look like, bank on the Lord’s promises. Your Ishmael does not have to be a man, your Ishmael can be an opportunity. Don’t walk into just any ole thing because you got tired of waiting on God. If God promised you something in 2016 and you didn’t see it in 2017, that does not mean that He forgot about what He promised you. Isaac had a set season and ...

Will You Marry Me?

I’m not obsessed, but I’ve been thinking about marriage a lot more lately. As a Christian, I’ve learned where I went wrong concerning my standards of dating before I knew Jesus. I have been looking at the profile pages of exes to see if, perhaps, I was missing something. I’m happy to report that I am not. I more so found myself thanking God for what He didn’t allow. Even though I’m thankful for every failed relationship, I find myself encountering the hurt that still remains as a result of my insecurities. There is so much that I have not let go of. In a way,I’m afraid to let go of the hurt that I am carrying because that vacant spot could potentially attract more pain in its place. I want to trust people, but the fear of them knowing who I intimately am always gets in my way.                 I so badly desire God and everything that He has for me, but the past is a hinderance. I feel as if I should finally forgive those that misused me, ...

Refreshment for the Journey

You cannot tell everybody your dreams because your dreams might be bigger than their expectation of you. You will do things for God that  man did not see coming. Learn to lean on the opinions of Jesus instead of allowing yourself to become esteemed by the opinions of man. Those folks do not know you or the potential that God has placed on the inside of you. Some of you even have family members that don’t know the real you. Think of yourself as a plan that God has up His sleeve. You are unexpected, but powerful through His grace. Nobody saw Joseph coming. His own brothers did not even know who he was to God. People don’t always treat you like the One who created you. That is why you have to learn to see yourself the way that God sees you and have no bitterness in your heart toward man. Forgive those people who talk about you and use you. Joseph had to forgive his brothers because God was going to use him to protect them. People have no idea that you may be the one that God is...

The Importance of Knowing How to Pray

No matter what mental state you are in, where you are in life, or who you have around you, prayer will always be the heartbeat of your survival. You need to know how to pray during both the mountain top experiences and the valley experiences. If no one ever taught me anything, I learned how to express myself to God through prayer. Prayer isn’t always about asking God for things, but you can actually sit with Him and tell Him how you feel. There have been moments in my life where I felt like the Lord was the only one that I could talk to about what was going on in my life. You have to get into a place where you begin to communicate with God as you would with anyone else. There are times when I speak out loud to God because I know that He is around me. God’s presence is peace, it changes the atmosphere, and it will shift your entire mood. Once you’ve talked to the Father, you know that everything will be ok just because He is around you. I pray that for anyone that needs it. I p...