Don’t You Even Care?

Don’t You Even Care?

Soon a fierce storm arose. High waves began to break into the boat until it was nearly full of water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. Frantically they woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are going to drown?” –Mark 4:37-38

Jesus and his disciples were on a boat crossing the Sea of Galilee when a windstorm came up. For many of Jesus’ disciples, being on a boat on the sea was a familiar place. They had lived on the sea. And they also knew many who had died on the sea in just such a sudden storm.

Obviously, their fears were well founded. The boat was nearly full of water and sinking quickly. Frantically, they woke Jesus up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you even care that we are going to drown?”

I know what it is like to feel as if I am sinking and to wonder if Jesus even cares. Do you? Don’t you even care that my child is dying? Don’t you even care that my business is failing? Don’t you even care that the one I love is suffering?

When I read that Jesus questioned their faith, I wonder if he was just a little cranky from being awakened from his nap. Didn’t they have every right to be afraid? The boat was sinking and he was sleeping!

Perhaps Jesus was frustrated that everything the disciples had already seen and heard had not seemed to penetrate deeply enough to become belief. Perhaps by calling him “Teacher” they revealed their view of him as only a teacher and their lack of faith in him as God. Perhaps by expressing their confidence that they were going to drown, they revealed their doubt in his ability to save. I’m not sure.

But I do know that they lost sight of what it meant to simply have Jesus on the boat with them in the middle of a storm. Having God with us makes all the difference, no matter what swirls around us. We know God cares for us because he is with us in the storm, speaking peace.

Lord of the wind and waves, would you speak peace into my life even now? I’m afraid my boat is sinking, and I so easily forget that your presence with me makes all the difference. Give me the faith to believe I can rest in you.

DIGGING DEEPER