Several years ago, the Beatles wrote a song that talks about what to do when we find ourselves in times of trouble - just let it be. This may be a good philosophy in the world, but for the Christian, it can be the kiss of death.

As Christians, if we ignore problems and put our heads in the sand, that means we are not using the authority that was given to us by Jesus. Unless we take authority and speak to the problems of life, they will overpower us. We cannot just "let it be."

The Bible tells about a time Jesus and His disciples were on a boat together. Jesus was asleep and resting when a violent storm came. The boat was being tossed by the wind and waves to the extent that the disciples thought they were going to die. In their panic, they woke up Jesus. He could easily see that they did not have the situation under control. Jesus got up, turned toward the storm, and rebuked it. He said, "Peace, be still" (Mark 4:39). Immediately the storm stopped and there was calm.

When we look at this incident that took place with Jesus and His disciples on the boat, we know, of course, that Jesus did not ignore the situation. He spoke to the problem and the problem went away. But why is it that the disciples were unable to solve the problem? The answer is quite simple. They did nothing. They simply "let it be."

Yes, the disciples expended a lot of energy. They panicked. They cried out in fear. They summoned Jesus. They were in despair. They did a lot of things, but they didn't do the right thing. And when you don't do the right thing, it's the same as doing nothing. You cannot overcome the problems in life unless you take proper action using the authority given by Jesus.

Years ago, I worked in an office with a person who was always busy. Every moment of their time was spent doing something. However, this person was extremely unproductive and never really accomplished anything. Why? The reason is that he was always doing something irrelevant that was not a part of his job description. He was active, but it didn't count for anything.

As Christians, we cannot be this way. We must make our actions count. We must act on the Word and we must take authority. We cannot ignore the problems of life, nor can we allow them to put us into panic mode. We must take authority in the name of Jesus and command the storms of life to cease. Only then will there be calm.

"Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm" (Mark 4:39).

_______________________________________