<< >>
Stillness
“He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.”
Psalm 107:29-30
Just before the submersible descended, Dr. Marina Waverly brushed off the concerned crewman.
“Are you going to be alright, Miss Waverly?” the man asked.
“Of course I am,” she snapped.
Storm surges, surface currents, the chaotic dance of wind and water… she’d built her career on the ocean’s restlessness. Written books about it. Won awards. Nobody understood these waters better.
She was supposed to stay near the surface to study wave mechanics, but she miscalculated.
Thirty meters down, the submersible accidentally wedged itself into a narrow canyon where the light faded into a murky green. She was stuck… and too deep for immediate rescue.
Then the systems of her submersible failed.
There she was, alone and thirty meters below the surface.
She spent the first ten minutes pulling levers that wouldn’t respond, checking and rechecking the dead radio, finally kicking her seat so hard she bruised her foot.
Yes, it was bad. Very bad. But panic wouldn’t get her anywhere, so she forced herself to be still.
Through the viewport, the water sat motionless. A few fish drifted past. An octopus pressed itself briefly against the glass, then pulsed away into the darkness.
Stillness. The kind of profound quiet she’d spent her entire career avoiding, as it wasn’t productive. But here she had no other choice.
No emails. No deadlines. No conferences. Just… this.
Silence.
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
The words surfaced from somewhere deep.
What?
That was from Psalm 23. She hadn’t thought of it since childhood, when she visited Sunday school. But now it filled her mind with unexpected clarity. She recalled the entire psalm. Still waters, green pastures… rest. It told of security and most of all of peace.
But a psalm, right here, in this horrible situation? What could it mean?
Was God real and did He scan the oceans as well? Here, in these still waters? This was a current she couldn’t chart, a surge she’d never studied. But it was undeniably real. It was a Presence that filled her small submersible with a peace she had no scientific explanation for.
She should have been desperate. Her oxygen was running out; her life was in the balances, and yet she wasn’t afraid.
And so, she decided to do nothing but just sit, reflect on the picture of the still waters and bask in the overwhelming beauty of trust.
When the rescue team pulled her out two hours later and she climbed out at the surface, the light momentarily blinded her while soft rain spattered her upturned face. But she was radiant. A grand smile covered her face and the crew stepped back, startled.
“Dr. Waverly?” The captain stared. “You look… Well … are you alright?”
She smiled, tasting rain and salt. “I am fine, captain. Couldn’t be better. I found what I was looking for. My whole life I’ve been looking in the wrong direction.”
***
Lord Jesus, will You help me to spend more time in the beauty of holiness, in quiet surrender where I too can bask in the stillness of Your love?
____