Peace

What are you worried about right now? Is it a major project? A potential promotion? Are you worried that your boss could explode at you at any minute for no reason? Is your workplace talking layoffs?

There's a lot of issues that cause people anxiety in their work. We think about those things, obsess about them, lay awake at night wondering. Sometimes, creative ideas come from those ruminations, but that's the exception, not the rule. Maybe that's why Jesus emphasizes peace and freedom from worry so much. In Matthew 6:25, He says "do not worry." In John 14:27, He says, "My peace I leave with you." Earlier in that chapter, He says "let know your heart be troubled" (verse 1). Peter tells his readers to "cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you" (5:7).

There were probably few things that were more frightening to fishers like Peter and John than a fierce squall. Winds on the Sea of Galilee could come out of nowhere and be very dangerous to any boats caught out on the waters. So the storm described in Mark 4:35-41 must have been terrifying. Yet Jesus had the peace to be asleep in the back of the boat. When these desperate men awoke Him, He said to the storm "Peace be still" (verse 39). The Bible says that the disciples were amazed that "even the wind and the waves obey Him" (verse 41).

If the winds and waves of their lives obeyed Jesus, don't you think the wind and waves in your workplace will obey Him as well? The same One who says "Don't worry" in Matthew 6 created the earth in Genesis 1 and still commands it in Mark 4.

That doesn't mean everything always works out perfectly at work. Your project may not succeed. You may miss out on the promotion. Your boss might explode at you for no reason, or you might be laid off. It's easy to be at peace when everything is working out for you. But even when the wind and waves are at their worst, Jesus says "focus on Me, I am the peace."