"Oh Yes, He Cares"

On Jesus' instructions, the disciples had sent the crowd away and had set out to go over to the other side of the lake into the country of the Gadarenes (Mark 5:1). At some point in the journey, Jesus, being tired after ministering, fell asleep, head on a pillow, in the back of the boat. Everything seemed fine as they left out, but then the narrative tells us that after a while, "there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full" (Mark 4:37, KJV). The word translated "storm" could also have been translated "squall", which Webster defines as "a sudden violent wind often with rain or snow." Despite some of the disciples being seasoned fishermen, they seemed overwhelmed by what had overtaken them. So much so that Mark wrote, "and they awake him (Jesus), and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?" (v. 38).

The disciples' words reflect the feelings of some of us when we are overtaken by life's storms and circumstances. When it seems that the phrase "God doesn't give us more than we can bear" seem more of a cruel joke than it is our reality. "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" rings true from the depths of our soul as we face our respective challenges, but let us not despair because Jesus did not sleep through the disciples' despair, but "he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm" (v.39). Those of us who profess Jesus as Lord should be encouraged that he responds to the cries of the sincere, and not only does he respond, but he has all power and authority to rebuke every adverse wind in our lives, and speak peace to our troubled hearts and minds.

Though they woke Jesus in a moment of despair, the disciples recognized that he was the only one that could do something about the situation. Once he had calmed the storm, he looked at them and asked, "Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?" (v.40).

As you face the squalls in your life, how do you respond? What would he say to you? I trust and pray that whenever we find ourselves asking if God really cares, we can sing triumphantly with the hymn writer:

"Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Saviour cares"

"(Casting) all your care upon him, for he careth for you" (1 Peter 5:7, KJV).