Peace in Chaos
My son was merely seven months old when we first brought him to Disneyland. We took him on every ride we could, fed him Dole Whips, bought his first set of Mickey ears, and introduced him to the wonder of parades. We stayed late at the park one night to catch the Fantasmic show in Adventureland. It was well after dark when the spectacle began. Out on the river came giant floats filled with Disney characters, followed by bright pyrotechnics and blazing columns of fire. The music was thunderous. I looked nervously over at our four-year-old daughter, knowing she startles easily and has a strong aversion to loud noise. She had her fingers plugged in her ears and was hunkering behind our blanket. Then I looked over at our son, thinking surely he’d be crying in fright. But no. Justice was sitting comfortably on my husband’s lap, a Mickey Mouse beanie pulled snugly over his ears, and he was fast asleep. I couldn’t believe it. Just feet in front of him laser lights beamed, Disney villains cackled and a giant fire-breathing dragon was taking center stage. Justice was oblivious to it all.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could tune out the chaos around us, close our eyes, and experience complete calm and relaxation the way Justice did that night? Matthew 8:23-27 tells the story of Jesus doing this very thing:
“Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!’”
I imagine we can all relate to the disciples in this scenario. I panic when the wind swings my Ferris wheel carriage ever so slightly so I can only imagine how I’d react if I was on a boat being tossed about in the waves. The last time I was on a Ferris wheel was at Disney’s California Adventure and I will admit my nerves got the best of me. All I could think of was the horrific drop I would feel as I plummeted to my death and that I’d forever be known as the young mother who fell victim to a freak gust of wind while pretending to be brave for her kids at “the happiest place on earth.” I don’t exactly have a fear of heights, more like a fear of being trapped in an open-air cage swinging brazenly in the wind several stories high. This is a completely valid fear and you will not convince me otherwise. I laughed/cried hysterically for the entire duration of the ride. My daughter, bless her, has not asked me to join her on a Ferris wheel since.
It’s easy to become hysterical when we believe our life is in danger or when chaos ensues around us. Our mind spins down a stressful spiral and it can be hard to recover. Whether you’ve experienced a life-threatening journey around a Ferris wheel (imagine me nodding empathetically), or you’ve stood in the middle of your kitchen surrounded by dishes, piles of laundry, children’s toys, barking dogs, and slamming doors, it takes a lot of will power not to feel anxious. (Sometimes it takes hiding in the pantry with a box of Girl Scout Cookies and a cup of liquid courage until the chaos becomes white noise. Or is that just me?) We have all experienced seasons in which “when it rains, it pours” and everything seems to be going wrong or pulling us in different directions. How do we settle our minds and go to our happy place when the world around us is surging? How do we be more like Jesus and less like His disciples who couldn’t stay calm in a crisis? I think it starts with remembering that we are not in the boat alone.
It’s hard to say from the Scripture how long the disciples waited before they woke Jesus up. It may have been immediately after the storm began. Or they may have attempted to balance the boat, bail out some water, and adjust the riggings before resorting to waking up Jesus. In all honesty, that’s probably what I would’ve done. I likely would have tried to fend for myself for a little while, using my expertise to problem-solve before bringing my troubles to Jesus. A number of the disciples were fishermen by profession. I bet they knew what to do when a storm came up. But at some point, the waves became too much for them and they started to panic. They forgot, however briefly, that they weren’t alone. Had they only remembered the Son of God was in their midst, they would have found peace in the chaos. But no, they couldn’t be at peace until the winds and waves subsided. Their faith didn’t come until Jesus had already calmed the storm. I do this too. Like the disciples, I ask God to calm the storm and thank Him when He does, but I struggle to trust He’ll keep me safe while the storm is still happening. I forget He’s been in the boat with me the whole time. I forget that when He is near, I have nothing to fear. Psalm 46:1-3,10a says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though the waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging […] He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’” May we claim this truth in the midst of our chaos, whatever it is.
Peace isn’t something we can find on our own. It can’t be found in the storm. Peace can only be found in the presence of Jesus. I love the story of the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 19. Elijah is fleeing for his life. His world is in disarray and he is panicking. After Elijah explained his predicament, “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over this face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.” (v.11-13). Elijah’s help didn’t come from the chaos, it came in God’s gentle whisper. This is where our help will come from too if we are calm enough to hear it.
There will always be something to worry about, a reason to fret. Even when there is no tangible chaos around us we’ve gotten pretty good at creating chaos in our minds, haven’t we? The influences around us are constantly telling us our lives, our rights, our children, our homes, or our values are in danger. They want us to panic, and in our panic they want us to trust the things of this world to save us. We put our faith in security systems, government, medicine, you name it, instead of putting our faith in Jesus. When chaos arises like waves pouring over the side of our boat, instead of frantically looking around and wringing our hands, let’s look to Jesus. He’s sound asleep while the wind wages war against our vessel. He is a picture of calm in the storm.
We are not in the boat alone. We can have peace in chaos because we have peace in Jesus.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33