This message isn’t going to be an exegesis of the text above, but rather a consideration of different texts that focus on the need for what people in recent years have been calling a “non-anxious presence.” It’s a state of mind that gives people a spirit of calm and confidence even in the midst of the chaos around them.
Sort of like someone who can sleep in a boat in the middle of a raging storm.
It wouldn’t have been funny in the moment, but it’s a little humorous now to think about the disciples thrashing about in the boat fighting the storm, finally giving up hope as their boat started to fill with water. And then they notice Jesus sleeping soundly on the cushion. How in the world could he sleep through this?
In a world plagued by increasing anxiety, we need more of whatever enabled Jesus to sleep in the middle of chaos. It’s not apathy or inactivity or lack of concern, but rather a kind of confidence that allows someone to keep his mind when everyone else is losing theirs.
Kids need parents who are non-anxious. Wives need husbands (and husbands need wives) who are non-anxious. Churches need leaders who are non-anxious. Our stressed-out, overly anxious co-workers and neighbors need us to be non-anxious.
There’s a different way to do life than the one that characterizes most of the people around us, and when we have full confidence in the power and love of the One who controls all things, it leads to a preternatural calmness.
A kind of security that lets you doze even when the winds are howling.
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