And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But [Jesus] was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm (Mark 4:37-39 ESV).

Peace.

In the face of uncertain odds.

Our world is broken.

We see it. We taste it.

We stand and watch as it implodes, crumbling to dry powder at our feet.

This is not the safe, trustworthy world where I want to raise my children. I feel like one of the disciples, clinging to the side of the boat as it pitches towards the depths and then hurls toward another curling wave. The storm has wiped out the sky and the darkness has hungrily consumed the light. The next building wave screams in fury at even the thought of dry land.

Can our children only be raised in a glass greenhouse of perfect conditions?

How could Jesus possibly sleep in this storm?

But He awakens.

He stands tall, His outstretched arms illuminated by a flash of lighting against the black that strangles us all.

He rebukes the wind and says to the sea with authority.

"Peace! Be still!"

In the face of uncertainly and a violent storm raging around us: Peace!

When our mothering falls flat and we find ourselves among the most broken. When we show our children what repentance looks like, not from the crisp pages of a book but in real sticky life, lived out before their little eyes.

Into the darkness of today, the hate and division, and corruption on all sides set the stage once again.

"Peace! Be still!"

He has not abandoned us here. Our little ones are safe in this shuddering boat. Because Jesus is here.

As Moses' mother chose to trust and nestled that basket between the reeds.

As Hannah took her miracle boy back to the temple to stay.

As Abraham laid his promised child on the altar out of obedience.

Has God ever looked away? Has He ever abandoned His children?

The boat shudders under our clinched grip, but Jesus stands tall. His voice slices through the chaos.

"Peace! Be still!"

The waves fall back and dissolve into the now docile water, just a shimmering glittering mass. The ripping wind died in its last breath, now all eyes are on Jesus.

Has God ever looked away? Has He ever abandoned His children?
Don't focus on the building waves or let the pitching boat convince you otherwise.

He has not forsaken us here. In our hearts, in our homes, in our broken world today.

He stands tall and reaches toward our deepest moments and biggest fears, and He speaks peace.

"Peace! Be still!"

Spoken by the man who faced the fury of all fallen humanity, who would be our sacrificial lamb.

Only He could bring it.

And He did.

For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility... His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit (Ephesians 2:14-18).