BIBLE READING

Mark 4: 39-41

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’

They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’

Revelation 1: 12-18

I turned round to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash round his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

REFLECTION

Look at what Jesus says to the disciples:

“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (v. 40)

I know he often says that to me.

Why are you so afraid?

Why are you so anxious about the future?

Why are you so worried about this thing?

Do you still have no faith?

He would say to both you and I today: "In what you have seen and experienced of me up until now, do you still not get it? I will look after you. I will protect you. I will provide for you. I’ll make sure you get to the other side. I’ll not let you drown. Have I ever failed you up until now? So trust me for all that lies ahead."

Look at verse 41:

“They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

I think this is funny. It says that as they watch Jesus speak to the storm and it calming down, they are absolutely terrified. They thought they were scared before, by the wind and the waves. At least that was outside the boat. Now they’re terrified of Jesus, and he’s in here beside them. But it’s a different sort of fear they have now. This fear is one of reverence, of awe, of respect, of worship.

They thought they had seen it all where Jesus was concerned. They’d witnessed the miracles, water into wine, the healing, blind eyes opened, people getting off stretchers, deliverance, people set free from demons. They thought they knew Jesus, that they had experienced all of him it was possible to experience. They had gotten familiar with him and his ways. And now here suddenly, in the middle of this lake, they realise that He is so much more than they thought he was.

Jesus is so much more powerful, He has so much more authority, He is so much greater and bigger and awesome than they could ever have imagined. And their only response is fear, and awe, and reverence.

We can all get over-familiar with Jesus at times. We start to talk about him so casually, we sing half-heartedly, we pray indifferently, we think we’ve seen and experienced all of him there is to experience and we become a bit lukewarm and lacking in passion and zeal.

When that happens what we need is a new revelation of Jesus, we need to see him afresh as He really is, we need to say: 'Jesus forgive me for my small thinking about you – show me your glory, open my eyes to see you as you are.'

Worship helps us do that. The Bible talks about when we worship we are magnifying the Lord. When you magnify something what happens? It doesn’t get bigger – it just appears bigger because we see it more clearly and more closely.

When we worship God, He doesn’t get bigger, but we see Him as He is – in all His power and might and awesomeness and authority and beauty and majesty and magnificence and holiness. And when we see Him as He is, the storm suddenly gets smaller, the problem gets put into its proper perspective, the thing which we fear most becomes puny when set beside our giant God. In worship we get a fresh revelation of Jesus.

But one of the other main ways Jesus reveals himself to us afresh, in greater measure, is when we’re in the storm.

If we will hold on to Jesus through the storm, if we will keep trusting Him even when the waves are overwhelming us, even when we think we’re going under – if we will remain focused on Him – when we come out the other side of the storm we’ll discover we’re not the same person as we were when we went into it.

We’ll have grown, our faith will be deeper, our courage will be stronger, our compassion will be greater, and we will have a vision, a picture of Jesus which is so much bigger and richer and fuller than we ever had before.

May the Holy Spirit give us a fresh revelation of Jesus today, that we would see Him as He is and see everything else in relation to how awesome, majestic, powerful and holy He is.