But Jesus was in the rear of the boat, sleeping on a pillow. They woke him up and said, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re drowning?” – Mark 4:38
Well, that seems like an appropriate question. If my boat is taking in water and going to sink, and I see a guy sleeping, I’d think he was crazy enough not to care whether he, or we, lived or died.
But the awakened Jesus responded with a question of his own.
“Don’t you have faith yet?”
The “yet” is important.
Leading up to their boat adventure, the disciples have been around Jesus long enough to know that he wasn’t your ordinary preacher. He has taught with authority, opening up people’s hearts to a totally new way of understanding God. He has healed lepers and paralytics and insane and dying folks. He has confronted self-righteous religious leaders, putting them in their place. He has attracted a following of 1000’s. In short, the power and authority of the Son of God has been imprinted upon their hearts and minds every day and every night.
In a crisis, though, all that goes out the window. They (we) want Jesus to come through on their (our) terms. We all want to be in control and have him do what we want.
Sufficient faith is growing comfortable with the out-of-control times. It’s trusting that it’s better to be with him while he seems to sleep in our boat than for him not to be there at all. Sufficient faith is not having to ask if he cares, and but simply living with the certainty that he does, asleep or awake.
I think Jesus wasn’t sleeping as much as he was teaching. The older I get, the more I need to learn his lesson.