READING: Numbers 7-8, Mark 4:21-41
“Who then is this?”
Mark 4:41
They had seen him do much. We know the stories about Him spread broadly. He had cast a demon out of a man in the synagogue. He had healed Simon’s mother-in-law, and he had changed the skin of a leper. He had forgiven the sins of a paralytic even as He gave him legs to walk anew. He had restored the withered hand of another man in a synagogue. He taught like no one else had ever taught. Even the demons knew who He was: “You are the Son of God.”
His disciples had left everything behind to follow Him, yet all of those stories of Jesus’ power didn’t seem to matter much when they found themselves in a boat in the midst of a violent storm. Waves were breaking over the boat. The wind howled. The boat was filling with water. It surely felt like death was close. Meanwhile, Jesus slept in the bottom of the boat. He was tired, but He also wasn’t worried. He who created the water and the wind was fully capable of calming them whenever and however He wished.
You would think that the disciples would have understood more about Jesus’ power by that point in their journey, but they apparently did not. They awakened Him, fearing they were on the road to their demise: “Teacher! Don’t You care that we’re going to die?” (Mark 4:38). Jesus graciously got up, calmed the sea and the wind, and then chided His disciples for not having faith. Perhaps they believed in Him with their head, but they were still learning how to trust Him—even when He was seemingly unconcerned, resting in the boat.
We’re just like those disciples, though. You see, it’s easy to teach people how to trust Jesus in the storm, unless it’s your storm. We who confidently direct others to Him when they face a tempest sometimes fail to depend on Him when it’s our boat that appears to be sinking. I can only wonder if He asks us, too, today, ““Why are you fearful? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40).
ACTION STEPS:
- It’s easy to trust God on the mountaintop. If you’re in a valley today, trust Him anyway. He’s in control, even if it seems like He’s sleeping.
- Ask God to teach you how to trust Him more.
PRAYER: “God, I want to trust You. Through Your people, Your Word, and Your Spirit, please grant me a heart that is confident in You.”
TOMORROW'S READING: Numbers 9-11, Mark 5:1-20
