It had been a long day of teaching. The crowd had been so large that Jesus had to teach from a boat that was sitting out on the lake. When evening came, Jesus told his disciples to go over to the other side of the lake. Then he promptly fell asleep on a cushion in the stern of the boat. You can read the story in Mark 4:35-41.
A furious squall, meaning a violent storm, came up, so much so that waves broke over the boat. Jesus slept on. Afraid for their lives, the disciples woke Him, “Teacher,” they said, “don’t you care if we drown?”
After Jesus quieted the storm by simply telling it to do so, and after chiding His disciples for their lack of faith, Mark recounts that “They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’” [v41 NIV]
I love this story for a couple of reasons. First, that the disciples were afraid of the storm while it was raging but were even more terrified by what they had witnessed after the storm quieted.
Second, I always wonder why they woke him. They certainly didn’t think he could do anything about the storm, attested to by their amazement when He did. Did they just want some company in their misery? Were they a bit put out because He could sleep so peacefully while they were afraid?
The disciples were human, like us. We run to Jesus when we are frightened by life’s circumstances, but are we really expecting Him to do anything or do we just want some company in our misery. If we are standing in faith and expectation, then why are we amazed when He does “quiet our storms?”
Father, forgive us our lack of faith! Amen.
