Peace be STILL…AND THE WIND CEASED

God laid the following verse upon my heart when I first woke up this morning. I believe that God wants to calm some storms today in your life.

And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And He [Jesus] arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:37,39

I would like to share something that I read from Rick Renner's "Sparkling Gems from the Greek" concerning this verse.

Anytime you are on the front lines of battle doing something significant for the Kingdom of God, the enemy's attacks against your life will escalate. I'm not telling you this to scare you, but to mentally equip you. That way when the attacks come, you won't be taken by surprise!

Being mentally prepared for a spiritual attack is very important. If you are familiar with the devil's tactics, his assaults won't take you off guard or by surprise when they intensify against you. You'll be able to recognize and resist every demonic attack, rejoicing in the Lord because you know what's happening.

Jesus came under this kind of intense attack when He was crossing the Sea of Galilee with His disciples on His way to cast a legion of demons out of the demoniac of Gadara. This demon-possessed man was an important weapon in Satan's arsenal. Through the actions of the demoniac of Gadara, the devil had held the countryside hostage with fear for a very long time. The demoniac was so legendary that people throughout the entire coastland region knew of him.

The devil knew that if Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee that night and reached the other side, He would cast the demons out of that man. When that happened, Satan would lose the weapon he had long used to terrorize the whole countryside.

So as Jesus and His disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee that night, violent and destructive winds seemed to come from out of nowhere to capsize Jesus' boat and drown Him and His disciples in the middle of the sea. Mark 4:37 says, "And there arose a great storm of wind."

The phrase "there arose" is taken from the Greek word ginomai, which in this case describes something that happens unexpectedly or something that catches one off-guard. This plainly tells us that Jesus and His disciples did not expect bad weather that night. The Greek word ginomai emphatically means that this event completely took the disciples by surprise.

To let us know the size of this storm, Mark uses the Greek word mega, which denotes something of massive proportions. It is where we get the idea of mega-bills, mega-work, and megaphone. Because Mark uses the word mega, it alerts us to the fact that this was a mega-storm with mega-winds!

The word "wind" is the Greek word lalaipsi, which means this was a turbulent or terribly violent wind. This word can also be translated hurricane, cyclone, tempest, gale, windstorm, a furious tempest, or a fierce squall. Therefore, we know the storm that came against Jesus that night was no small breeze. It was a formidable, crushing, overpowering type of storm.

One very important fact must be pointed out: This was a windstorm. There is no mention of rain at all because this was a storm of wind. Jesus and His disciples could feel its effects as the wind blew against them and their boat. They could see the raging waves that were tossed to and fro by this violent wind. However, the windstorm that had come to overturn their boat in the middle of Sea of Galilee and to kill them before they reached the other side was invisible.

The Greek words in Mark 4:37 gives this idea: "And suddenly and unexpectantly — as if it came from out of nowhere — there arose a gale of wind. It was a ferocious tempest with winds that were terribly violent, turbulent, and overpowering."

Here was Jesus — on the brink of one of the greatest miracles of His ministry. At the same time, there was the devil, fearing that he was about to lose one of his most highly prized weapons of terrorism. It was at this exact moment that this violent, destructive turbulence came down upon Jesus and His disciples.

The occurrence of the storm at this exact moment was no accident. The devil didn't want Jesus to reclaim one of his most prized captives. This was a preemptive strike of the devil to undo the work of God.

But that night in the midst of the storm, Jesus arose and took authority over the situation. The Bible says that when He exercised His authority over this unseen turbulence, ".the wind ceased, and there was a great calm" (Mark 4:39). In doing this, Jesus demonstrated that He was the Lord of the wind and the waves. This potentially deadly situation provided a great opportunity for the disciples to learn that Jesus Christ is truly Lord over all!

Rest assured — Satan will certainly try to attack you with unexpected turbulence from time to time. His attacks against you will probably escalate whenever you're right on the edge of a breakthrough, as was the case with Jesus that night. But just as that event provided an opportunity for Jesus to demonstrate His power and authority, you need to see each demonic attack against you as an opportunity to rise up, take authority, and demonstrate who you are in Jesus Christ!

Mentally and spiritually prepare yourself to deal with the devil's attacks. Put on the whole armor of God. Rise up and take authority in Jesus' name over the wind and the waves that come against you and your family. Never forget that this is your golden opportunity to see a demonstration of God's power in your life! Blessings!

Pastor Rusty