August 20, 2026

Serenity

Mark 4:39. – “He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.”

The river was glass that afternoon, barely a ripple disturbing the surface except where sailboats cut through it, white sails catching just enough breeze to glide without hurry. A few rowers moved past in long, practiced strokes, their wake fading behind them almost as quickly as it appeared. Sunlight caught the water in a way that made the whole scene look staged, too calm to be real, the kind of afternoon that made people slow their walk along the bank just to take it in a little longer.

It was hard to imagine that same river during a storm, wind whipping the surface into whitecaps, sailboats scrambling for shore, the water no longer glass but something closer to a threat. Rivers hold both of those realities inside them, calm on one day and dangerous on another, depending entirely on what moves across the surface.

The disciples learned that same truth on a different body of water altogether, caught in a storm violent enough to convince experienced fishermen they were about to drown, while Jesus slept undisturbed in the boat. When they woke Him in a panic, He stood, spoke two words to the wind and the waves, and the sea went from chaos to glass in an instant. That kind of authority does not negotiate with a storm. It commands it, and the storm has no choice but to obey.

Nature can take hours or days to settle a storm back into glass. Christ needed two words.

Today’s Prayer: Lord, in the middle of my storms, remind me that You have authority over every wind and wave in my life. Speak peace over what feels chaotic right now. Amen.

Reflection Question: What storm are you currently facing that you need to bring to Jesus?