Asleep in the Storm

Mark, chapter 4, tells us the story of when Jesus and His disciples were crossing the sea in a boat, and a storm with strong winds came up suddenly. When they had left the shore, the sea was peaceful and calm. Now it had unexpectedly turned wild and dangerous. There was a fierce gale, and the waves were breaking over the boat. In fact, the boat started to fill up with water. Fear gripped the disciples as they wondered if they could survive the sudden storm. It had come out of nowhere.

You can probably relate. Things seem to be going smoothly, when suddenly, out of nowhere, your world is turned upside down.

While they were frightened and worried, they noticed that Jesus was not. In fact, He was asleep on a cushion in the stern of the boat. In the stormy situation, Jesus was resting peacefully. So, they woke Him up and said, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

We might say today, “Don’t you see it’s time to PANIC!”

We might feel like the disciples sometimes. It might seem like Jesus isn’t paying attention to our problems. Our world is in chaos, and He doesn’t seem that concerned. We might think that He is asleep in the middle of our storm.

But, like the disciples, Jesus is not surprised by the challenges of our lives. He isn’t worried that everything will end in chaos. Once He awakened in the boat, He simply rebukes the wind and told it to be still. Then He said to the disciples, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

If we hold on to Jesus in faith – whether the circumstances be calm or turbulent – we can trust that He will deal with the storms in our lives. He is not worrying. And we don’t need to either.