Honesty In A Storm
They said, "Teacher, do You not care that
we are perishing?" (Mark 4:38)
We can
trust the Lord in His love and care for us,
no matter how terrifying the
storm.
1. Jesus. There He was. In their boat. He
was resting after a long day of expending human strength while ministering to
needy people. Even God as man needed to rest. He was tired. Asleep and at
peace. In a moment of sheer panic and paralyzing fear that had overcome His
disciples, He was awoken from a deep sleep and presented with this brazen
charge: “Teacher, do You not care (in
the Greek, the word “care” is a verb that can read, “We are making an assertion
that we do not matter to you”) that we are perishing?” Or to put it another
way, “Apparently You are not in control of this storm, and we sure aren’t, so
we are going to attempt to control You instead with our words.” Another word to
describe what took place is the word, manipulation. Before we come down too hard
on the failure of these disciples, we need to look closely at our own lives and
pose these questions: (a) Have I ever used prayer to bend God’s will to my own?
(b) Have I ever sought the easy path in order to avoid the challenging
circumstances that form my character? (c) Have I ever accused God of doing
wrong by accusing Him of being late or ignoring my prayer request? (d) Have I
sought to make God feel guilty because of my unpleasant situation? (e) Have I
ever suggested that God is not fair? (f) Have I ever felt like God did not care
for me in a way I was expecting Him to care for me?
2. Fear makes us do some pretty strange
things sometimes. We become irrational, even though we seek to live within the
confines of a rational life. We become spiritually paralyzed, forgetting to do
everything we know to do (like pray, read our Bible, worship Him). Fear also
drives us to grasp for as much control as we possible can. And in the pursuit
of control we are only going after an illusion, for we will never have a deep
and meaningful faith if we hold the reigns of control. The battle for control
is a lifetime confrontation between us . . . and Jesus. Will we serve Him as
Lord or will we seek to subject Him to our own will? Does His Word control our
lives or do we attempt to control His Word by picking and choosing what we will
and will not obey?
Dr. Denny
Bates & Something New Christian Publishers © 2013 All rights reserved.
