Calm in the Midst of the Storm

How wonderful it would be to always be calm, no matter the circumstances around us.  It’s something that we really should strive for, because remaining calm is so much healthier for us than getting disturbed and frustrated.

A couple of stories that caught my attention when I was reading in Acts 9 are really good examples of staying calm in the midst of the storm.  Verses 32-34 (NLT) says:  “Meanwhile, Peter traveled from place to place, and he came down to visit the believers in the town of Lydda. There he met a man named Aeneas, who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years. Peter said to him, ‘Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you! Get up, and roll up your sleeping mat!’ And he was healed instantly.”

I’d say being paralyzed and bedridden for eight years is a stormy time for the person dealing with it.  But Peter simply stayed calm and declared to Aeneas that he should just get up!  When he did, his storm was over.

Then in verses 36-41 (GNT) it says:  “In Joppa there was a woman named Tabitha, who was a believer…She spent all her time doing good and helping the poor. At that time she got sick and died. Her body was washed and laid in a room upstairs. Joppa was not very far from Lydda, and when the believers in Joppa heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him with the message, ‘Please hurry and come to us.’  So Peter got ready and went with them. When he arrived, he was taken to the room upstairs, where all the widows crowded around him, crying and showing him all the shirts and coats that Dorcas had made while she was alive. Peter put them all out of the room, and knelt down and prayed; then he turned to the body and said, ‘Tabitha, get up!’ She opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter, she sat up. Peter reached over and helped her get up. Then he called all the believers, including the widows, and presented her alive to them.”

There was definitely a “storm” in Joppa when a highly favored Christian woman –  Tabitha – died.  They sent for Peter urging him to hurry up and go back with them.  The storm obviously had them in a frenzy since they urged Peter to hurry.  But when Peter arrived and was put in the middle of the “storm” he simply asked all the grieving people to leave the room and calmly got on his knees to pray.  He then just spoke a command to her to get up, which she did, then the storm was over.

You can read many stories that exhibit how Jesus is definitely the prime example of staying calm in the midst of a storm.  The story told in John 5:1-9a (TLB) reads: “Afterwards Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish religious holidays. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was Bethesda Pool, with five covered platforms or porches surrounding it. Crowds of sick folks—lame, blind, or with paralyzed limbs—lay on the platforms (waiting for a certain movement of the water, for an angel of the Lord came from time to time and disturbed the water, and the first person to step down into it afterwards was healed).  One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew how long he had been ill, he asked him, ‘Would you like to get well?’  ‘I can’t,’ the sick man said, ‘for I have no one to help me into the pool at the movement of the water. While I am trying to get there, someone else always gets in ahead of me.’  Jesus told him, ‘Stand up, roll up your sleeping mat and go on home!’  Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up the mat and began walking!”

This man had experienced a “storm” that had plagued him for 38 years!  But the calm arrived in the form of Jesus that simply spoke to the man and he was healed, then the storm was over.

But one of my very favorite stories in the Bible is such a wonderful example of Jesus’ calmness in the midst of a storm, in John 11 (ERV.)  Here are select verses that tell the story:  “There was a man named Lazarus who was sick. He lived in the town of Bethany, where Mary and her sister Martha lived. So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, ‘Lord, your dear friend Lazarus is sick.’  When Jesus heard this he said, ‘The end of this sickness will not be death. No, this sickness is for the glory of God. This has happened to bring glory to the Son of God.’  Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days and then said to his followers, ‘We should go back to Judea.’  Jesus said, ‘Our friend Lazarus is now sleeping, but I am going there to wake him.’  The followers answered, ‘But, Lord, if he can sleep, he will get well.’ They thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was literally sleeping, but he really meant that Lazarus was dead.  So then Jesus said plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. And I am glad I was not there. I am happy for you because now you will believe in me. We will go to him now.’   Jesus arrived in Bethany and found that Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days.”  (Verses 1, 3-7, 11-15, 17)

Can you imagine?  Three of His best friends were in the midst of a horrific storm.  But Jesus was so calm that He intentionally waited two more days before taking any action.  He knew that on the other side of this storm God would be glorified.

When Jesus arrived in Bethany both of the sisters came to Him and declared that if He’d just been there Lazarus wouldn’t have died.  He tried to reassure them and then had them lead Him to the tomb where Lazarus was buried and verse 35 says:  “Jesus cried.”  At this point the “storm” isn’t only consuming the sisters and all the others that were there grieving, but obviously Jesus as well.  

Then…”feeling very upset, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave with a large stone covering the entrance. He said, ‘Move the stone away.’  Martha said, ‘But, Lord, it has been four days since Lazarus died. There will be a bad smell.’  So they moved the stone away from the entrance. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you heard me. I know that you always hear me. But I said these things because of the people here around me. I want them to believe that you sent me.’  After Jesus said this he called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with pieces of cloth. He had a handkerchief covering his face.  Jesus said to the people, ‘Take off the cloth and let him go.’  (Verses 38-39 & 41-44)

That gray, dark, depressing storm suddenly turned.  There probably wasn’t a calm as we would normally think of calm, because I’m sure celebration was in order.  The sun broke out of that storm as Jesus calmly told them to remove the cloth from Lazarus and let him go.  The storm was over.

Oh, that we could all remain so calm in the midst of all our storms.  When you read the Bible, watch for these kinds of stories showing how the strength of the believers and those of faith could weather the storms – small and large alike.  Lord, teach us to be calm in the midst of all our storms.

Written by Karran Martin – January 26, 2024

[All bold emphasis is mine]