JESUS, DON’T YOU CARE?

Mark 4:35-40

"That day when evening came, [Jesus] said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"

Not long ago I did an updated arrangement of the old German hymn, "Jesus, Priceless Treasure." While I was working with the text, I was particularly attracted to the second verse.

2. In Your arms you rest me,
Foes who would molest me cannot reach me here;
Though the earth is shaking, ev'ry heart be quaking, You dispel our fear.

Sin and hell by His cross fell.
Though they still with storms assail us,
Jesus will not fail us. Jesus will not fail us!  LINK

It is interesting that in the midst of the storm Jesus' disciples asked the very same question that we often ask, "Lord, don't you care . . .?" Wow; how could Jesus' disciples, who had experienced His power and who had seen His love in action, ask such a thing? The same way we, who have also experienced His power and know His love, do. Eyes blinded by wind and waves can easily fail to see the loving hand of God reaching out. In the tempest's roar it is easy to miss the gentle voice of our Savior saying, "Peace, be still."

The assurance of faith is this: we may find ourselves in the midst of a storm, but we don't need to fear. Jesus will not fail us. Jesus will not fail us!

 

Pastor Keith Andrews