"Asleep in the Boat"
February 22, 2018
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" (Mark 4:37-38)
He must have been really tired. After preaching all day, Jesus is asleep in the back of the boat, asleep on a cushion -- and what was that, exactly? A cloth thrown over some bundled-up nets? Whatever it was, it surprises me that it was comfortable enough for Him to stay asleep, even in the middle of a storm, even with the waves crashing into the boat and slopping water into the bottom. That's some kind of tired.
And that was some kind of scared the disciples were feeling, too. Several of these men were fishermen; they knew the Sea of Galilee in all its moods. They had been out in storms before. These weren't first-time sailors! And yet this storm had them terrified -- waking up Jesus with the words, "Don't You care that we are about to die?"
That certainly woke Him. Rude as it was, the disciples' sort-of "prayer" got Jesus up and dealing with the situation. "Peace! Be still!" He says, and the storm tidies itself away. The wind stops howling; the waves go flat. Then He turns to His disciples and deals with their personal storm: "Why are you so afraid? Don't you trust Me yet?"
As I type this, I have just learned that someone I love is probably sick with cancer again. This is not a storm I want to be sailing in. And I've been down on my knees, begging Jesus to get up, to deal with the storm, I'm frightened, HELP! This boat is filling with water. Wake up, Lord! Please!
This situation is horrible. And yet Jesus is with us, here in the boat. He hasn't gone anywhere. He will hear my prayers, no matter how scared or how rude or how "little-faithed." And when He speaks, the storm will know its Master.
Thank God He is with us.
THE PRAYER: Lord, keep me with You, trusting You, when I'm afraid. Amen.
