On Second Thought
“Quiet! Be still!” — Mark 4:39 (NIV).
I can understand why the disciples woke Jesus. Waves were breaking over the side, the boat was taking on water, and there He was in the stern with His head on a cushion. It was Jesus who had suggested crossing the lake that evening. They had done what He asked, and now they were in real danger. I’ve found that the hardest part of some storms comes when I remember that I prayed before I got in the boat. I sought the Lord’s guidance and took the step I believed He was asking me to take. Then came trouble I had no way of anticipating. The disciples asked the question I have sometimes been afraid to say aloud. “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38, NIV).
There is a difference between asking Jesus to help and asking whether He cares. The first question tells Him what we need. The second tells Him what we’re beginning to fear about Him. Mark lets us hear both in the disciples’ cry. I’m grateful for that honesty. A person who has waited months for an answer to prayer may know the feeling well. So may the parent who keeps the phone beside the bed, hoping for a call from a child who has stopped coming home. In such moments, our prayer may be only a sentence long. Faith can begin again when we tell Jesus what we are afraid is true about Him. The disciples brought their fear to the very One whose care they were questioning.
Jesus stood and addressed the waves. Mark records two Greek commands, siōpa and pephimōso, which the NIV renders “Quiet! Be still!” The commands call to mind Psalm 107, where sailors cry out to the Lord and He hushes the waves and leads them to harbor. On the Sea of Galilee, Jesus speaks and the wind dies. Alistair Begg describes God as “both present through them and sovereign over them,” speaking of the storms we face. Mark gives us a picture of both truths in the same boat. The man who was tired enough to fall asleep is the Lord whose voice the sea obeys. No wonder the disciples had a fresh question once the water settled. They wanted to know who was in the boat with them.
I still ask God to change hard circumstances. When someone I love is suffering, I ask plainly for relief. And when the answer takes longer than I hoped, I return to Philippians 4:6–7. Paul invites us to bring our requests to God and says that His peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ. I’ve come to think of that guarding as something I may recognize only later. In the middle of a long week, it may look like being able to sleep for a few hours, to ask a friend to sit with me, or to make a decision that fear had made seem impossible. Some days the only prayer I can manage is, “Lord, help me with the next thing.” I believe He hears that prayer all the way through.
Mark 4:35–41 shows Jesus’ authority over the storm and His care for frightened disciples. Psalm 107:28–30 gives us the background of the Lord who hears sailors in distress. Philippians 4:6–7 helps us pray when our own trouble continues. Read together, these passages give us words for asking God to change what is happening and for trusting Him to guard our hearts as we wait.
On Second Thought
The surprise in Mark’s account comes after the rescue. The wind dies, the water settles, and the disciples are terrified. I would have expected the stillness to put everyone at ease. Instead, it gives them room to take in what they have just witnessed. They had woken a weary teacher and watched Him do what their Scriptures said the Lord could do. I wonder whether there have been times when I’ve asked Jesus for just enough help to get back to the life I knew, only to find He has given me a larger question to live with. If this is who He is, what else might I entrust to Him? What have I been carrying as though it were mine alone?
There is another surprise. The peace I ask for may begin with admitting that I am frightened. I may have spent days trying to keep a steady voice for everyone around me, and the first honest prayer I can offer is, “Jesus, I’m scared, and I need You here.” Then I may need to say those same words to a trusted friend and let them pull up a chair. The next act of faith may be letting someone stay with you while the wind is still blowing. If that is where you find yourself today, read the disciples’ question aloud and give Jesus your own. You can speak to Him from the middle of the crossing.
When fear begins to shape what you believe about God, spend some time with The Battle in the PAGES section of Intentional Faith. Bring one fear with you and consider how Scripture speaks to it.
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