“On that day, when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go across to the other side of the lake.” So after leaving the crowd, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat, and other boats were with him. Now a great windstorm developed and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was nearly swamped. But he was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. They woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are about to die?” So he got up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Be quiet! Calm down!” Then the wind stopped, and it was dead calm. And he said to them, “Why are you cowardly? Do you still not have faith?” They were overwhelmed by fear and said to one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and sea obey him!” —Mark 4:35-41
Exhausted and in need of respite from preaching, teaching, and healing the Lord Jesus gathers His disciples into a boat with the command to head for the other side. Weary and exhausted from the day’s duties, Jesus sits in the stern and promptly falls asleep. Here Jesus demonstrates that it is not wrong to consider the frailty of our bodies when we are about God’s work! Our bodies are jars of clay, not machines. Jesus often withdrew with His disciples to solitary places for times of refreshment and restoration. Later in Mark we read:
“Then the apostles gathered around Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come with me privately to an isolated place and rest a while” (for many were coming and going, and there was no time to eat).” —Mark 6:30-31
We are told a furious squall descended upon them–filling the boat with water until it nearly swamped. All the while the Lord slept soundly in the stern. Drained of hope, the disciples turn to Jesus, the God of all hope. Believing the Master to be unconcerned about their circumstances, the storm is testing the disciple’s reliance on Jesus. I’ve been there: Wondering if Jesus is unaware of my circumstances, singing a line from the old spiritual, “Nobody knows the troubles I’ve seen”, and forgetting to go on to the next line, “Nobody knows but Jesus.” Why is it that when the fire gets hot we think Jesus is on vacation? That we begin to think He is not interested in our pain, interested in our sorrow, not able to help us through our difficult circumstance? Nothing could be further from the truth!
The disciples should have known that a ship with the Lord Jesus in it may be tossed, but it will never sink. We may perhaps be at our own wits end, but we are never at faith’s end while we have a Savior to go to. Sometimes a greater lesson is learned in the midst of our storms, before the waves are quelled. We can be sure God always has our best interest at heart. He will never leave us or forsake us. Nothing can change our unchangeable God. We must rest in His words:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.” —Matthew 11:28-30
The words of the Old Testament remind us:
“God is our strong refuge; he is truly our helper in times of trouble. For this reason we do not fear when the earth shakes, and the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea, when its waves crash and foam, and the mountains shake before the surging sea.” —Psalm 46:1-3
Christ rebukes the wind and the waves and they immediately subside at His command, leaving tranquility in their wake. There is always complete calm with the Lord Jesus. He is never out of control. He is never unable. We discover in Psalm 107 words describing our Lord’s actions:
“They cried out to the LORD in their distress; he delivered them from their troubles. He calmed the storm, and the waves grew silent.” —Psalm 107:28-29
Take It to Heart
Near the end of our verses for today we find Jesus asking the disciples about their fear and their faith. Our great fear will cause our faith to flee. Our great fear will force us to take our eyes off the God of all creation–the all-powerful, the all-knowing, the everywhere-present God. And we will put our eyes on ourselves. The result? Sheer terror.
Faith conquers fear! In the calm after the storm the disciples sat wide eyed–full of reverence and respect over what had transpired. They were beginning to realize that Jesus was no ordinary man!
When Christ is in our company we have all that we need.
Further Reflections
“Be not dismayed, but go to Him who is the God of all comfort, who comforteth all those that are bowed down, and He will give you a word which shall heal your wounds, and breathe peace into your spirit.” —Charles H. Spurgeon
“Hope, it is exquisitely fragile and it is an exceptional force and it is essential to faith and you can’t afford to lose it. Lose your fears but never your hope.” —Ann Voskamp