Peace! Be Still! - January 22
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 31; PM Psalm 35; Isa. 45:18-25; Eph. 6:1-9; Mark 4:35-41
Today’s Reflection
In today’s passage from the prophet Isaiah, we receive a striking description of who God is: God created the heavens and formed the earth, and when God did this, Isaiah tells us, “he established it; he did not create chaos, he formed it to be inhabited.” When God made the world, he made a world that would be livable, a world in which we would be able to find God and have access to him and his truth: “I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in chaos.’ I the LORD speak the truth, I declare what is right” (Isaiah 45: 18-19). In a world in which there are so many conditions that seem out of our control—be they natural disasters, medical emergencies, political conflicts, personal traumas—it is comforting to know that we are not left to navigate these conditions alone in the dark. We have been given a light to show us the way through the chaos and the darkness—we have direct, personal access to God, who gives us light by speaking the truth and declaring what is right.
The Gospel of Mark includes a glimpse of how Jesus embodied this reassuring, peaceful presence amid life’s storms by showing us Jesus out in a boat during an actual storm: “A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’” (Mark 4: 37-40). Here, we see in Jesus a peace that emanates from within—Jesus’ response was not driven by external conditions (the great gale, the beating waves) but rather by his internal spiritual condition of a peacefulness made possible by faith. Jesus as the Son of God knew that, ultimately, God is in control, even when all the external signs—everything we can see and hear in our immediate surroundings—seem to indicate a state of chaos beyond anyone’s control.
Speaking from my own experience, I have to say that I do experience moments in life when it feels like I have been left to fend for myself amidst some strong winds and waves, strong enough to knock me down and overwhelm me. And yet, in the end, they don’t. I am still here, and you are still here—the winds and the waves haven’t overwhelmed us after all. It is comforting to know that our God is one who does not leave us alone to navigate in dark, stormy, and chaotic conditions but instead is a God who we can approach, a God who knows when we are feeling overwhelmed, and who can help us to pray along with Jesus: “Peace! Be still!”
As you go about your life in the days to come and find yourself searching for a way to connect with the reassuring, peaceful presence of Christ as you navigate the chaos of life in this world, I leave you with this Celtic prayer to help center you and surround you with the presence of God:
God to enfold me,
God to surround me,
God in my speaking,
God in my thinking.
God in my sleeping,
God in my waking,
God in my watching,
God in my hoping.
God in my life,
God in my lips,
God in my soul,
God in my heart.
God in my suffering,
God in my slumber,
God in my ever-living soul,
God in mine eternity.
From a collection of prayers from the Hebrides, The Carmina Gadelica, III, 53.
—Becky+
Questions for Self-Reflection
What conditions in life make you feel as if you are set adrift in a small boat in a very stormy sea? In those moments, how have you been able to reconnect with a sense of God’s peace amidst the storm?
Daily Challenge
Listen to or read the lyrics of the song “13 (There is a Light)” and as you do, ask God to bring to mind someone who is going through a difficult time and pray about how God could use you to share some peace with them this day, whether through saying a prayer, sending a note, or making a call.