Drowning in the shallows

Have you ever taken a trip to the ocean and while you are standing in the shallows, all of a sudden...WHAM, you get knocked down by a wave that you never saw coming?
You gasp as you tumble forward only to get a mouthful of briny seawater as you cry out.  Your nose and eyes sting from the salt as you flail desperately in an attempt to stay on your feet.  You feel your fingers suck into the sand and it makes you feel as if you've been shackled to the bottom.
No sooner do you get to your feet, when another wave comes and knocks you down again.  This time you don't even notice that you were dragged into deeper water until you attempt to stand and realize you are now thigh deep.  You turn around to assess the situation and another wave smacks you full in the face and you fight to take a breath as panic sets in...
I've been there myself, literally and figuratively speaking.  It's been a rough couple of months; my Grandmother passed away in June, a beloved Aunt passed away in August and I lost my job in September due to a "reduction in workforce." 
I have felt that I have barely been able to catch my breath before another wave hit and sent me flailing, trying hard to maintain control.
The funny thing is, the harder I tried to control the situations, the deeper the "water" got until finally, I heard a voice say..."Be Still."
My first reaction was, "how can I be still, God? You know our situation?  You know what needs we have?  You really want me to "Be Still?!!"  I could literally feel fear and panic trying to grip me and drag me under.  I had a choice to either give into the fear or choose to obey.  I chose to obey.  I got quiet and became still.  As soon as I did, the Holy Spirit put me in remembrance of all the times that the LORD had brought me through and commanded the storms in my life to cease.  It encouraged me to do what the Word said to do as difficult as that sounds.  Psalm 46:10 NLT states: He says, “Be still, and know that I am God.
In another example, we see Jesus speaking to the storm in Mark 4:35-41 NLT.  However, I believe that His words were also meant for His followers:

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”

The LORD knows that panic leads to fear and fear is the absence of Faith. That is why when the waves start to come, we need to not fear, but speak PEACE to those waves and watch as they subside.  We can be like Jesus in the back of the boat...resting in the knowledge that Our Heavenly Father is going to take us through the storms of life and that we will get to the other side and fulfill all that He has called us to do.  
Years ago, Rick Renner did a teaching on these verses.  What was so interesting, was that he showed us that the storm came because it was attempting to keep Jesus and His followers from one of their greatest victories.  
On the "other side" was the Demoniac of Gedara and He was about to have a life-changing encounter with the Prince of Peace!
I want to encourage all of us that when the storms of life come to blow us off course and to get us in fear, we need to remind ourselves how Jesus responded.  
I LOVE how Jesus didn't leap up, all flustered and command the disciples to row like they never rowed before!  He also didn't command them to turn the boat around.  Many who were in that boat with Jesus were seasoned fisherman who knew a storm when they saw one and they literally shouted at Jesus, so either they were already panicked or the storm was so loud they didn't have a choice.  This shows me that this was no light summer rain.  It was a doozy!  
And yet, Jesus gives us the example to follow, He wakes up and then He speaks to the storm with His authority and tells it, "Silence! Be Still!" 
He wasn't done though, He next turns to his followers and asks why were they afraid?  He asked them "where is your faith?"   He had already told them that they were going to the other side and that is EXACTLY what He meant.  Jesus is speaking to you today...Silence! Be still!  Don't talk about the storm...talk to it and tell it to STOP!