The Care of the Lord

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 ‭4‬:‭38‬ ‭(ESV‬‬)

How often have our prayers echoed these words of the disciples? When wind and waves threaten, we bring forth our circumstance as evidence that God has stopped caring for us. We are in fear of our lives, and the Lord is sleeping!

Do you remember the words of the Israelites in Exodus 16:3? “You have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” We are so quick to jump to conclusions, yet God is ever patient with us. We claim that God has forgotten us and insist that He has delivered us from our oppressors so that we may die by His hand instead! But he answered not in wrath, but with love. He brought forth “bread from heaven” so they would not die.

Jesus awoke, and did not answer the disciples with wrath. He rebuked the winds and the waves! He answered their call for help first, and then addressed them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” In the hour of desperation, let us fix our eyes on Jesus. Let us never think that he has forgotten us in our storms. The storm was placed there to show the disciples exactly who it is that calmed the storm: the same one who calmed the seas in Jonah 1:15-16.

He has not brought you into the wilderness and storms to destroy you; He has brought you into them so that you would rely on His provision and call upon Him with faith. Have faith, and let the storm serve its purpose in your life.

Non Nobis Nati