31.Aug.2010 Going to the Other Side

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Mark 4:35-42: That day when evening came, he 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?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

All new things are exciting- when you first invite Jesus into your boat, your life is fun. You go to places that you’ve never been before, but before you know it, the storm comes. As you launch into that idea, life gets rocky, and it gets tough. It seems as though Jesus is gone from your life, when really, he is just sleeping. He has been in your boat since the day you invited him in, and he will never leave it.

So why is Jesus sleeping in the boat when your world seems to be caving in, nothing is going right, and life might just end soon? Because he trusts you. At least four of the disciples were trained, skilled professionals at boating. Jesus was sleeping then because he knew that the disciples could handle it- even if they thought that they couldn’t. God likes to let you steer your boat through the storm. That’s just how much he trusts you to do what you know to do- he is sleeping! Trust God that he will do what he said he would do, when he said he would do it.

One more thing: Jesus deals with your storm when you can’t, but then he deals with you. He calmed the storm, but then straightaway, he asked the disciples why they were scared. He was in the boat with them; they must have known that they would have been safe even if the storm had crashed their boat. So why are you scared? What is keeping you from doing what you know to do? He trusts you, so do it!