Always Present!

 

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 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?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:35-41 ESV).

 

It is very easy to feel alone in a crisis. Even if we are surrounded by people, it can feel like we have no one who understands and is willing to walk with us through our difficulty. Well, Jesus both knows what it is like and is always present to walk with us, sometimes even carrying us through it. Our reading shows this truth with great clarity. After a busy day, Jesus suggested an evening boat trip across the lake. Soon he was napping while the disciples handled the oars. But then a sudden squall came upon them. The Scripture says that “Jesus was in the stern”—that is, in the back of the boat—and during this squall he was “sleeping on a cushion” (v. 37).

 

This startling story reminds us that Jesus is present in the stormy times of our lives—the severe, harsh, hard times. And when he rebukes the storm—“Quiet! Be still!”—the disciples know that he cares for them in their times of severe struggle and even fear and terror. Later the disciples were alone in a boat on that same lake, “straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.” Jesus “went out to them, walking on the lake” (cf. Mark 6:48). Again, he was present in a severe time.

 

I’ve grown old enough that I have experienced a few difficulties. In every case Jesus has proven Himself to be ever-present as He calms the storms of life and works all of it to my good. Lent helps us remember that Jesus endured the most difficult suffering of all so that we might live in hope under his mercy. Trust in Him!