{"id":103,"date":"2009-08-23T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-08-23T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/prayerplainandsimple\/2009\/08\/jesus-tames-chaos.html"},"modified":"2009-08-23T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-08-23T05:00:00","slug":"jesus-tames-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/2009\/08\/jesus-tames-chaos.html","title":{"rendered":"Jesus Tames Chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"

My garage has a mind of its own. I’m not particularly sentimental, but it seems to like to collect things I otherwise don’t know what to do with. Chaos wants to reigns there and plots to put things out of synch, out of order, out of bounds, and out of gas. If I weren’t brutally ruthless every spring and fall, the mess would spread like a fungus through the rest of my domain. I’m sure of it. Truth be told, entropy is a rabid rodent nipping at my heels, just waiting for a moment of sloth and the chance to devour everything. Jesus understood this. He knew that without intentional order, disorder would quickly take over the world. He had an answer, and it’s still an answer fit for today. He simply spoke to the mess and told it where to go! <\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/font> <\/p>\n

“Be still!” (Mark 4:39)<\/font><\/p>\n

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What is out of control in your life?<\/font><\/p>\n

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Coup d’\u00e9tat! And The world runs wild! Finances inexplicably diminish Time slips away. Your body stiffens against your will. You sneeze, and detonate a hurricane. How easily the earth demolishes itself into chaos! <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font> <\/p>\n

Jesus once slept through a storm. “Don’t you care?” his sea-wise companions yelled. He woke and spoke to the winds, “Peace, be still!” The winds remembered the Voice. They paused and returned obediently to a state of rest. <\/font><\/p>\n

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“Be still!” was enough. How easily the earth could destroy itself! And it would, but for two words: “Be still!” When Jesus talks, everything listens. As Creator, he holds everything back from smashing itself into bits. <\/font><\/p>\n

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“And where is your faith?” he asked his crew. Settling storms is assigned to Jesus-followers. He owns the world; but you and I manage day-to-day operations – with borrowed words. His words in our mouths are as His words in His. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font> <\/p>\n

Answer a confused mind: “Be still!” Answer a child’s tantrum: “Be still!” Answer disorderly closets, a bad memory, loose tongue, and foul moods: “Be still!” Gently, directly, persistently speak your peace: “Be still!” You don’t battle people or things; but the ruffian trying to destroy people and things. “Be still,” is all we need for storms that unsettle your world. “Be moved” is all we need for mountains in your way. <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font> <\/p>\n

Your mission: Find the trouble that has found you. Walk into the eye of the storm and whisper two words borrowed from Jesus: “Be still!” That settles that! <\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font> <\/p>\n

Question: “What is out of control?” Answer: “Be still!” <\/font><\/p>\n

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Say so! And find out more in the free ebook <\/strong>Fight Like Jesus<\/em> <\/strong><\/a>at <\/strong><\/font>www.markherringshaw.com<\/strong><\/font><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My garage has a mind of its own. I’m not particularly sentimental, but it seems to like to collect things I otherwise don’t know what to do with. Chaos wants to reigns there and plots to put things out of synch, out of order, out of bounds, and out of gas. 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He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the author of \"Six Prayers God Always Answers: Results May Vary,\" and \"Nine Ways God Always Speaks: Only Available in Certain States,\" both co-written with Jennifer Schuchmann. His third book is \"The Karma of Jesus.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Mark is a native of Santa Cruz, California. He has studied at Azusa Pacific University, The Academy of Performing Arts, Cambridge, Ontario, and Luther Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. from Regent University. Mark and his wife Jill have four children. His true passion is walking with people in the exciting adventure of communicating with God.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/author\/mherringshaw"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/200"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayerplainandsimple\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}