Sanctified and Surrendered: A Sea, A Heart, and A Savior

“Now on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, ‘Let us go over to the other side of the lake.’ So they launched out. But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. And He said to them, ‘Where is your faith?’ They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, ‘Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?’”

– Luke 8:22-25

Why is it that we believe with no doubt that Jesus can and did calm the raging sea but we fail to believe that Jesus can and will calm our raging hearts?

Financial struggles, relationship woes, overloaded schedules, demanding tasks, and insecurities of all kinds swarm around us in this world, taking our once childlike hearts and causing a storm to rage within them. Sometimes we get upset with God for this, thinking, “How could He allow it?!” Sometimes we complain to God, lamenting our endless grief with closed ears. Sometimes, like the disciples, we warn God of our struggles as informants. After Jesus calmed the sea the disciples had a “Whoooaaaa!” reaction.

The Scripture says they were fearful and amazed wondering just who this powerful Rabbi was. When they informed Him that the storm was killing them, they didn’t expect Him to tell it to chill out. When He did they were astonished. Knowing this, we still react the same way when our hearts are storming. Where is our confidence in Him? When our hearts begin to rage, why don’t we immediately say to the storm, “My God will still you!” and confidently rely on the Lord to do so?

It is humbling to recognize that the storming seas are more submissive to Christ than my own heart. He is the Lord of the earth and all that is in it. When He tells the oceans to part, they part. When He tells them to be still, they do. When He tells a mountain to move, it does not hesitate. The clouds obey His command to rain and the birds obey His command to fly south for winter.Yet, when He tells me, “Child, be still,” I ask a million questions.

“Why, God?”

“What are you going to do, Jesus?”

“Will I like the results, Savior?”

“How do I be still, Lord?”

My questions go on and on.

When He commands my heart to be calm He is not asking too much of it nor is He asking it to do what it cannot. No, when He commands me to do something He provides the ability to follow through. Like the raging sea, I am to submit to my Lord and allow His good and perfect will to be done in and through me. It is not up to my strength, my ability, my will, or my wants. With His command of me comes His enabling grace to accomplish it. What He commands of me is what I must allow. To do so, I must surrender the rights of my life daily so that He has true Lordship over my life.

"If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me." - Luke 9:23

May our hearts learn from the storming sea. “Where is your faith?” Jesus asked. My faith is in the Lord and He has calmed my heart.

“Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”

– 1 Corinthians 8:6