Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?

The disciples, probably Peter, were panicking. They were in the midst of a storm on the Sea of Galilee that was threatening to sink the boat, and Jesus was asleep on a cushion in the rear. So they wake him, and ask him the question at the head of this post (Mark 4:38).

This morning, I was practicing the “picture it method” of meditation on the Word. I was imagining that I was Peter in a panic and confronting Jesus with this question. In my imagination I received a look from Jesus that pierced my heart. In the story, Jesus calms the storm, and asks the disciples why they are so afraid, and why they have no faith.

It was a relevant question! After all that they had seen of the miraculous power of Jesus, how could they doubt that He would not look after them and deal with the situation, even if He were asleep.

It’s hard for me to describe exactly what I felt when, in my imagination, I received the piercing look from Jesus. It was certainly a rebuke, but it wasn’t condemnation. Over the past 20 years or so I have seen many more miracles than I can remember, and some of them have been spectacular. And yet I continue to panic, or perhaps overreact is a better description, at the happenstances of life.

How about you? Have you often thought that Jesus was asleep in the midst of your trial and temptation? Have you, like Peter, accused the Lord of not caring? We (and I certainly include myself) demonstrate a lack of faith in such circumstances. And we need to repent!

Father, I repent of my unbelief, I choose to trust you in all circumstances, and I ask you to help me to pause for those crucial seconds before I overreact. I give all fear and anxiety to you, and I received your peace, the peace that passes all understanding, that lifts me above my circumstances. In Jesus name amen