On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”
Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (Mark 4:35-41 NKJV).
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Jesus wanted the disciples to calm the storm, but they were still more mindful of the natural than of the power of God. Jesus had given them a word to cross over to the other side. He did not tell them to attempt to cross over and drown halfway. I don’t believe Jesus was unaware of the storm; he simply was giving them a chance to stand on the word he had given to them. How many times do we cry out for God to take some problem away when he has empowered us to take authority over it ourselves?
Notice the difference between the one who calmed the storm from the ones who feared the storm. Jesus had total peace, enough to sleep through a raging storm, while the disciples had only fear. True faith will always be accompanied by the peace of heaven.
Jesus said in Luke 6:45, “…For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” When Jesus said, “Peace, be still“, He was speaking out of the abundance of his heart. The disciples, out of the abundance of their heart, said, “…we are perishing.” The disciples could not release peace, because they did not have peace. You can’t give what you don’t have.
What the disciples did have was fear; fear is faith in the enemy. (Note: When I talk about fear in this lesson, I am talking about fear that we cling to. It is natural to be afraid, but it is what you do with it that matters. Any fear that does not draw you towards God is empowering the enemy.) When you release fear into a bad situation you are empowering it to continue. You are in a sense coming into agreement with the enemy that “this” circumstance is going to cause real damage, and there is nothing that can be done about it. The only authority Satan has over a born again believer is the authority they surrender to him. The disciples had more faith in the storm to kill them than they had in the one who kept them.
Bill Johnson once said, “You only have authority over the storm you can sleep through.” Fear is the by-product of faith in the destroyer. Peace is the by-product of faith in your savior.
You can find out really quick where your faith is by measuring your peace.
Another thing Bill Johnson likes to say is, on earth, peace is always the absence of something: war, sound, movement. In the kingdom, peace is the presences of someone. Jesus is the “Prince of Peace”. He carries peace in his nature.
Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way (II Thessalonians 3:16 NKJV).
The more aware we become of the presence of God in our lives, the more our peace is multiplied.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord (II Peter 1:2 NKJV).
The disciples failed to be aware of the presence of the one who is “Peace.”
Becoming more aware of the presence of the one you carry will increase your faith. Mark says,
And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened (Mark 6:51-52 NKJV).
What you consider (what you meditate on), will determine what you are sensitive to. In Mark 6, we see the disciples still struggling with the same fear as two chapters prior because they considered not the miracle of the loaves. They failed to meditate on the supernatural miracles of they had witnessed, and because of that, they still considered the wind and waves more powerful than the one who made the wind and the waves.
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you… (Romans 8:11 NLT).
As temples of the Spirit of God, we must not make the same mistake as the disciples. The truth that you know and are consciously aware of will set you free, but it is possible to carry truth and not reap the benefits. The key is your focus. Your focus, what you meditate on, will determine what you are aware of. If you wait until you are in the storm to try to prepare your mind, you will fail. Just as a soldier must prepare at training camp to be aware of the plan, aware of his ability, and aware of his allies before he ever goes to battle, we must know what we have before we get there. The courage of the unprepared soldier will melt in the heat of battle because he is unaware of the tools around him that can bring victory, because the battle will seem hopeless. Hope is the driving force for victory and we have the greatest hope of all; but the hope we are not aware of will not do us any good. We must be aware of great hope we have living inside of us before we step out onto the battle field.
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil (Hebrews 6:19 NKJV).
Ask Holy Spirit today to reveal his prospective to you. If you are lacking peace, what is your faith in: the enemy’s power to destroy, or your savior’s power to save? If your faith is lacking, what are you most aware of: on the wind and waves, or the one who created the wind and waves and lives in you? If you find yourself more aware of the enemy’s threats than you are of your savior’s presence, what have you been thinking/meditating on: the miraculous power of the one who calls you his own, or the natural world that is here today and gone tomorrow? Let Holy Spirit lead you as you learn to carry his presences and release his peace into the earth!
Heaven Come Now 