Apple’s choice for the iPhone app of 2017 was an app called Calm. According to a news article the app has relaxing visuals and sounds that are designed to help a person unwind, de-stress and calm down. It also includes some bedtime stories read by various storytellers. I hope parents aren’t giving their kids a phone with the app thinking that can replace them reading bedtime stories to their kids.

It is understandable an app titled Calm would be popular. Calm and peace are things we long for, but in this world so full of noise, conflict and tension, calm seems to be in short supply. This app appears to help some people, but it does sound like another time when people look to technology to do what only God can truly do.

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10). We’re invited to be still, calm down, rest in the truth that God is on the throne. The world is often chaotic, but the Lord is still in control. Be still and know that God loves you. Be still and know that God will keep His promise to faithfully care for you.

“The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). Rest in knowing God is with us. He delights in those who have faith in Him. God’s gracious love brings quiet and calm to our restless, troubled souls.

I was with my dad in his fishing boat crossing the Columbia River Bar and it seemed we were bouncing around quite a bit. I wasn’t concerned because my dad was a very experienced and capable fisherman and I had total confidence in him. After we crossed the bar and got into a little calmer waters my dad said, in his typical low-key manner, “It’s a good thing we hit the bar when it was calm.”

People have different definitions of what is calm. My dad had gone through a lot rougher seas than what we faced that night, so to him it was calm. When we face trials trusting in the Lord, we can remain calm, no matter how rough it gets. Jesus took on the cross and emerged victorious. He can handle whatever storm comes our way.

Jesus and His disciples were in a boat when a storm hit. The disciples were anything but calm. They were sure they were going to drown. But Jesus wasn’t stressed. He was sleeping. (This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Maybe because I’m a fisherman’s son who can sleep through most anything.) They woke Jesus up and He told the waves, “‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm” (Mark 4:39).

Like Jesus brought calm to that stormy sea, He can bring calm to your life. And He can do it more effectively than any app. He can calm our fears and worries and bring a restful, quiet peace to our soul.