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Jesus: the eternal God who gives peace in even the worst storms

May 18, 2024
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Daily Scripture

Psalm 89:8-9, John 14:27, 16:33

Psalm 89
8 Who is like you, LORD God of heavenly forces?
    Mighty LORD, your faithfulness surrounds you!
9 You rule over the surging sea:
    When its waves rise up,
    it’s you who makes them still.

John 14
27 “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. I give to you not as the world gives. Don’t be troubled or afraid.

John 16
33 I’ve said these things to you so that you will have peace in me. In the world you have distress. But be encouraged! I have conquered the world.”

Daily Reflection & Prayer

We don’t always think of it this way (much religious imagery over centuries has softened it), but Jesus faced the most horrible “storm” possible. The Roman Empire executed him in a degrading, painful, humiliating way (cf. Luke 22:44, Mark 15:16-20, John 19:1-7, Luke 23:35-38). We may know Mark 15:34 said that on the cross, Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1: “Jesus cried out with a loud shout, ‘Eloi, eloi, lama sabachthani,’ which means, ‘My God, my God, why have you left me?’” But that same Psalm 22 ended in triumph: “Future descendants will serve him; generations to come will be told about my Lord. They will proclaim God’s righteousness to those not yet born, telling them what God has done.” On the eve of that awful execution, Jesus said his peace had “conquered the world.” Even in that “storm,” a hardened Roman centurion could see that peace: “When the centurion, who stood facing Jesus, saw how he died, he said, ‘This man was certainly God’s Son’” (Mark 15:39).

  • Madeleine l’Engle said many resist Christianity because it is “too wild and free for the timid. How many of us really want life, life more abundant…. life which does not promise the absence of pain, or love which is not vulnerable and open to hurt?” * Scholar Alister McGrath said in Jesus’ death we see that God doesn’t always stop storms right away yet is still with us: “Many Christians are confused and upset because they do not experience God as present and active in the world. Imagine… the disciples on that first Good Friday…. hoping for a miracle. Yet there seemed to be no trace of God’s presence or activity at Calvary…. Jesus died…. Those around the cross didn’t experience God’s presence, so they concluded he was absent. The resurrection overturned that judgment: God was present in a hidden manner.” ** What are your reasons for choosing a life “which does not promise the absence of pain” but does promise peace even when storms blow?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, your servant Paul wrote about “the peace of God that exceeds all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). Give me that peace even when my understanding cannot process the “storm” I or those I love are facing. Amen.

GPS Insights

Picture of Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson

Robert Johnson serves as Location Pastor for Resurrection's Leawood location. He has served as an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church for 28+ years, has been married to Linda Y. Johnson for 34 years, and he and Linda are blessed with two amazing daughters, Giselle Johnson Morris and Kayla Johnson.

I just celebrated my 58th birthday, and every year, around the time of my birthday, I spend some time thinking about lessons of life that have been confirmed through my own lived experience. This year, one of my major confirmed lessons was this: Jesus doesn’t promise to make his followers exempt from storms. Instead, his promises are 1) to be with us in our storms, and 2) to grow us from the inside-out so that instead of being crushed by storms, we excel in the midst of and in spite of storms. While we often hear and more easily embrace that Jesus will be with us, I believe that Jesus’ ultimate goal is for us to trust him to become like him–people who have the inner wherewithal to turn storms in to wisdom, energy, inspiration, and opportunities to love and serve others.

This ultimate goal that Jesus has for us may be why he seemed to love taking his disciples into storms, and in the storms, he kept trying to grow their faith. 

It’s not an accident that in John 14:27 and in John 16:33, Jesus speaks of GIVING his follower a peace that as Paul describes it, “surpasses all understanding.” It is not a peace based upon circumstances. It is a peace given to us by Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, that alters our inner being and gives us the capacity to not only survive storms but to flourish in love and service to others. 

So, I try to remember, daily, that when something happens to me, small or big, in the course of a day, how I respond is a reflection my who I am and not so much the severity of my circumstances, and when I find myself rattled by the happenings of a day, I know that the problem is within me, not around me. I remember that Jesus doesn’t need, so much, to change my circumstances. Instead, I need to let Jesus change me so that I stop being a passive victim or puppet of my circumstances. I remember that Jesus has given me his peace, and if I cultivate and grow it, I can excel, even in my storms. 

May God give us the grace to move from asking God to stop the storms into a life of letting the Holy Spirit fill us with the peace of Jesus so that storms don’t stop us… from doing good, loving generously, and serving faithfully!

© 2024 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References

* Madeleine l’Engle, Walking on Water (p. 40). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
** Alister McGrath, I Believe: Exploring the Apostles’ Creed. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 1997, pp. 68-69.