“Be still, and know that I am God.”
This verse from Psalm 46:10 is usually accompanied by a stock photo depicting serenity—a sky bursting with an array of stars, a bouquet of beautiful flowers, or a person’s silhouette staring off into a distant mountain range. With many people riding the edge of burnout as a new ministry season is already underway, the reality of what this verse implies may seem unrealistic. How can I ‘be still’, with the litany of things to do, people to counsel, and needs to care for? I barely have time to take care of myself!
The man who slept through the storm
To be caught in the middle of a raging storm while on a boat out at sea is a terrifying experience. The knowledge that one strike of lightning could end everything is a haunting thought. Cities can be fortified to withstand certain natural disasters, but to contain a hurricane is a humanly impossible task.
Jesus is often known for his divine power—restoring sight, turning water into wine, and healing those who touched him. While indeed impressive and miraculous, so too is his humanity. He is likely the only man in history to have remained soundly asleep on a boat which retched back and forth in a violent storm1. The jerking movement of the boat, the disciples shouting in chaos, and the rain inevitably seeping through to where he slept did not disturb him. Until his disciples came and physically woke him, Jesus stayed soundly asleep on a cushion, a posture reflective of his divine knowledge that there was still time left for his ministry on earth.
“Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
As we inhabit chaotic worlds and complicated life situations, our immediate instinct may be patterned after that of the disciples. In our moments of most dire need, we may seek to wake Jesus from his seeming slumber and urgently remind him of our precarious misery. Jesus, don’t you care at all that I feel like I’m going to die?
The disciples must have felt hurt, seeing a groggy Jesus wipe the sleep from his eyes while they all had been fighting tooth and nail for a chance at survival, and confused because Jesus was the one who initially suggested that they cross over to the other side of the sea (Mark 4:35). Instead of answering their question in that moment, Jesus instead stepped out into the danger they and the other boats around them faced and calmed the life-threatening storm with just a few commands— ‘Peace! Be still!’ (Mark 4:39).
Maybe it was only much later that the disciples finally heard the echo of the rest of Psalm 46:10 —and know that I am God. For some, it might have been at the sight of the empty tomb. For others, it may have been touching the holes in Jesus’s hands and feet. Whenever that moment actually occurred, the only appropriate response would have been to fall prostrate in worship as they realized that he was the I AM—the one who had revealed himself centuries earlier to Moses in the burning bush, the one who had rescued his people out of Egypt. For even then, it was the I AM who was a refuge and strength when Israel had been held captive, and only the I AM who commanded the Red Sea to part so his people could have safe passage to the other side—for their good, and for him to be exalted among the nations (Psalm 46:10b).
When the disciples fled the scene as Jesus hung bleeding on the cross, he finally answered their question from the boat. Yes, I do care. Just look at me. On the cross, Jesus saved the disciples in the same manner he saved them from the storm—he arose from his rest, stepped out to face an all-consuming danger, and decisively overpowered the sting of death with just a few words—it is finished.
“It is finished.”
This is the same answer we need today as we enter seasons of life that will be filled with familiar haunts and new struggles. Our individual sufferings, though weighty, cannot overpower the eternal power of the cross. Like the disciples, we have access to that same power enabling Jesus to sleep peacefully through the storm and in the very next moment, have all of nature bow at his feet. He has already answered us when we ask if he cares for us, yet bids us all the same to run to him and ask him to do what only he can and has promised to do. To be still and take in the weight of the I AM should not be reserved for quiet Saturday mornings, coffee and journal in hand, or for the retreat weekend at a secluded location. No, it is in the midst of chaos and confusion, when we can barely make sense of what’s going on that we must be still, and know that I am God.
- This article explores the reasons for which Jesus may have been asleep on the boat.