Jump Start # 1231

Mark 4:38 Jesus Himself 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?”

  Our verse reveals an extreme emotional and fearful time for the disciples. They were crossing the sea. A violent storm caught them. The expression, “a fierce gale,” from the verse before, comes from the Greek word “seimos” where we get our words, earthquake or seismograph. This wasn’t just any ole’ storm. This was huge. The experienced fisherman, Peter and James were frightened. Jesus was with them. Jesus was asleep in the boat. They woke Him and asked a question. That question said a lot about the disciples.

It is interesting that they did not ask, “Have you ever seen anything like this?” No, that wasn’t the question. They didn’t ask, “Is this storm greater than you?” Not the question. They didn’t ask, “Can you handle this?” What they asked, wasn’t about ability or power. They asked a question about the heart. They asked, “Do you not care…” That question struck at the heart of Jesus. Are you indifferent to what is happening to us? Are you insensitive to us? Are you heartless? Do you not care?

Jesus was asked this at another occasion. It was another storm. Instead of being on the sea, He was in a house. He was with friends. Martha was cooking and serving and Mary was sitting. Martha burned her attitude as she was stirring the pot. Unable to get Mary to move, she interrupted Jesus and said, “Do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving along?” Don’t you care?

Sometimes another person is unable to do anything, but knowing they care helps. Knowing that they will sit with you, pray for you, send you a card, means everything. Being in a situation in which you feel that no one cares, just worsens things deep within us. An uncaring Jesus cripples our faith. It leads us to thinking and then believing, that we are not good enough. Jesus cares for the “perfect” people and I’m not one of them. Or, Jesus cares for the preachers and not the rest of us. Or, Jesus cares for those with happy families, not those who are dysfunctional or have prodigals running through their lives. Thinking that Jesus doesn’t care leads us to feeling abandoned and alone. Our prayers drop off when we feel that Jesus doesn’t care. Worship doesn’t happen. Why worship, when God doesn’t care? Isolated and alone, we don’t know how we will get through our storms. Sometimes we don’t.

It seems that this question isn’t asked in the sunny days of our lives. It’s asked, as with the disciples, when we are going through a fierce gale. It’s asked, as with Martha, when other people seem to have let us down and we are really bothered by their lack of care. Those storms are real. They are frightening. They are greater than we are. Many perish in those storms. The disciples knew that. Overturned boats and drownings were common in that sea. They knew they could be the next ones.

It is interesting what Jesus did. He didn’t answer the question with words, but with action. He didn’t say, “Certainly I care.” Nor did He respond, “How could you ask that question?” Instead, He calmed the sea. Immediately, the threat, the fear, the storm was gone. Next, He calmed the storm within them. It was greater than the storm upon the sea.

We have a song that we sing, “Does Jesus care?” We never ask that when things are going well. We know. There are too many verses that show that God loves us, blesses us and wants us with Him. However, it’s when things are dark and stormy that we forget this. We wonder. We fear. We doubt. We question.

I’d think this must disappoint God. We do well when things are well. But when things are upside down in our lives, we panic. God must think, “I’ve not left you. I’m still here.” Is it that we want every day to be sunny? Is it that we only have faith when things are right and going smoothly? Faith is often tested. Faith is tried. Those trials, demonstrating just how much we believe and just how real our faith is, are the storms. The storms serve a purpose. The storms remind us that we are not in control of things. The storms remind us that we need God. The storms are necessary. I drove home in a storm last night. It was rainy. The traffic was heavy. There was road construction. The temperature was dropping and starting to turn to snow. Some thought it was a sunny August day the way they were flying through traffic. That only made things worse. Life can be like that. It has moments when it is intense. It’s time to slow down. Say some prayers. Pay attention. Put both hands on the wheel. Be careful. Those things not only help in traffic, they help in the storms of life.

Does Jesus care? Yes. He always has. The Cross is the proof. The troubles in our lives are not an indication of the lack of care by Jesus. They may be trials and testing. They may be the result of my choices. These storms may last longer than I want them to. These storms often bring pain and come with consequences. These storms will destroy the weak in heart. It’s by faith that we get through these. Jesus is there, in the storms. Trust. Seek Him. Obey Him. Talk to Him.

I expect fewer things hurt Jesus more than His own people asking, “Don’t you care?”

He does. He always has. He always will.

He cares for you.

Roger