7. Name the Storm

Peace, be still! –Mark 4: 39

Jesus is in a boat with his disciples taking a nap, and a nasty storm tears at the boat and terrifies the men with Jesus. Jesus sleeps. As it gets worse, they beg him; “Please, help us. Wake up, or we will be destroyed.”

Imagine him in the back of the boat, maybe not even opening his eyes. Then, calmly and without fanfare, he lifts his hand and says, “Peace, be still,” and the storm stops.

The question is “How?” We can’t do what Jesus does. We can’t make the serious illness, financial stress, relationship crisis, and daily burdens go away by simply saying, “Peace, be still.”

Our question is how can we take away the torment from the trouble? The disciples had to ride out the storm, but they made it worse by letting their fear overwhelm them.

The technique that you can use, the same as Jesus saying “Peace, be still,” is to name the storm. Say the thing that is really causing you trouble, look it in the eye, and admit the hold it has over you. There is nothing that love cannot overcome no matter how long it takes and how ugly it looks right now, but the process has to start by being honest that something is wrong. There is wind, rain, and waves and you are scared.

When you name the storm, you are admitting to yourself that there is a core problem in your life that you need to get right. We can’t choose the results of our lives, but we can find peace and be still as we work on the life we choose.

The myth of unlimited production brings war in its train as inevitably as clouds announce a storm.
–Albert Camus


What storm—to which God always says, “Peace, be still”—is terrifying you today?