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

If what Jesus did hadn’t worked, perhaps the disciples would have been concerned about his sanity. Here he is, talking to the storm. It isn’t a person. It has no ears. Jesus isn’t dealing with an unruly teenager whose party got out of control, so now he acts as the stern parent.

It reminds one of the earliest chapters of the Bible. The Maker of the Universe speaks to the world he is making, and things happen. Light, and land, and plants and animals appear. The surface and the skies and the stars get themselves organized.

You see, God’s word is more than an intriguing set of ideas, a collection of timeless truths, a convincing argument in a spiritual debate, or a Jewish take on ancient Middle Eastern history. It is a power. It is a force. It accomplishes what it says.

So we see with the storm. The wind died down. Mark’s Greek pictures something quite dramatic. The winds didn’t blow softer and softer until there was just a gentle breeze. No, the winds stopped dead. One moment you have the kind of driving, damaging winds that get our weathermen to interrupt your regular programming. The next moment there is a dead calm. The air is still. One moment the waves are so high they are breaking over the sides of the boat and filling it with water. The next instant Jesus and his disciples are floating on a sea of glass. This was no natural passing of the storm. This is the power of every word God speaks.

What, then, does this tell us about the man who had been sleeping in the boat? The disciples asked the question, too: “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him.” That can be only one person. This isn’t a great prophet requesting God’s help and getting a miracle, like Moses when the Red Sea parted. This is the one who gives the command directly, “Quiet! Be Still!” The wind and the waves obey him. The one they called their teacher, the one you call your Savior, is the God who controls your world.

He still controls your world. The storm you fear so much, that has you feeling so helpless, that has you wondering whether Jesus cares, no matter what kind of storm it is, is still a storm he can turn off in an instant. He promises, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” He sits at his Father’s right hand in glory. He rules all things for the good of his church. That’s you! Maybe it looks as though everything is out of control. But Jesus still controls every moment you live, every experience you have.

Sometimes the storms will soak you to the bone. You will get a mouth full of sea water in the process. But Jesus is still in control, and he will not let you be lost.