Read: Mark 4:35–41

A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. Mark 4:37–38

The disciples must have thought Jesus negligent. There was a storm. The boat was being swamped. And Jesus slept. Did He not understand the danger they were in—and not just their tiny boat but also the other boats that were with them? After spending hours by the seashore teaching the people, was Jesus going to allow the day to end in a mass drowning? Didn’t Jesus care?

To be asleep at the wheel is negligent, but to be asleep in the stern is trusting. That was what the disciples failed to understand. Jesus wasn’t at the helm at this perilous moment. Jesus was simply along for the ride. Jesus rested in the wind and waves of God, trusting that the God of heaven and earth and sea and storm would take care of Him in this life and in the next. With faith like that, what is left to fear?

Can you rest in the middle of a storm?

Lord—storms make me anxious. In fact, the mere prospect of a storm can get my heart and my mind racing. Whether it be a storm in a relationship or on the job or in my finances, the worry of it all does not allow me to sleep. I spend my nighttime hours pondering possible destruction and peril. This means that I do not trust, I do not believe, and I do not have faith that all will be well whether I make it through the storm or go down with the ship. I so desperately need Your help. Speak to me so that all that rages in my heart and mind might become peaceful and still. In Your name, I pray. AMEN.