Day 17
"A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Master, don't you care if we drown?" Mark 4:37-38
We were on a plane with our children on one occasion, when our son, Matthew, five years old at the time, looked at his mom and asked, "Is somebody driving this plane?" Mom answered, "Yes, Matthew, but he's not driving it. He's flying it and he's called the pilot." "Well, where is he?" Matthew asked concernedly. "He's behind those doors up there at the front," Mom said reassuringly. After flying a little longer, Matthew turned a troubled face to mom again and, asked, "Does he know we're all in here?"
We often put that same question about God. Does He know we are in here? Does He know we are caught in a storm, waves crashing around us, and we are at our wit’s end? Our marriage is in trouble, finances low, illness threatening, a loved one in difficulty, and we have no idea what to do. The disciples caught in a furious storm, looking to Jesus, found he was fast asleep on a cushion! They woke him up, "Master, don't you care if we drown?". The inactivity of Jesus compounded their trouble and fears. This was the worst-case scenario, a furious storm and a sleeping Jesus at the same time!
Why does Jesus sleep in our troubles (metaphorically speaking)? The journey across Galilee had been his idea after a busy day teaching a great crowd. The crowd wouldn’t leave, so ‘… when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side"’ (Mark 4.35-36). No doubt the weather seemed good at the time, but winds can whistle down from the Golan Heights and stir up the water of Galilee in very little time, and Jesus, exhausted from teaching, went to sleep as the storm brewed.
When he next spoke to his disciples, He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" (Mark 4:40). They had the choice of fear or faith. Faith is not about knowing an outcome, but knowing the security of His presence in the storm. That is enough.