I was reading a passage the other day about how Jesus fell asleep in the boat as the disciples rowed to the other side of the Lake of Galilee. Apparently a storm came up and the disciples were worried that they would perish in this storm. As fishermen, they knew that storms did kill people from time to time. They woke Jesus up and asked if he was not concerned about this. Jesus wakes up, looks around and hushes the storm and it grows still. It says the disciples said, "Who is this that the waves and the wind obey him?"
I was thinking about this passage because I think how like we are to the disciples. We find ourselves in real situations that are dangerous and we wonder why God does not act. We may even say in our prayers, "God, Why are you so quiet?" or "Why don't you act?" It appears that God does not care about our situation or concerns. Our faith is tested and tried. Fortunately, for the disciples, they were able to see that Jesus was near them even though he was asleep. They could go and wake him up and he responded rather quickly when doing so. But, some are no so fortunate.
It reminds me of a young woman who I saw as chaplain one weekend which working as a chaplain intern in Raleigh. This lady had just had twin girls born after only 23 weeks of pregnancy. Their lungs were not fully developed and they died after she gave birth. I know, because it is the habit of the chaplaincy program to bring the babies to the room so the family can see them if they request it while still in the hospital. On that morning, it was my job to go down to the morgue, pick up the babies and take them to the families room. Being a father myself, it was difficult to do. I don't want to be in the morgue in the first place and sure not to pick something up!
My impression of that young lady was that she was emotionally spent. She simply did not have anything left to give. In fact, when the babies were brought to the room she barely looked at them. It was the role of everyone else in the room to get a chance to see them. Here was a time that was suppose to be joyful and it was turned to gloom. She may very well of asked the same question "Why are you sleeping when we are perishing?"
I don't know why things always happen the way they do. But, when I was a child I had the illusion that I lived in a safe world. I thought my parents had all the answers. I thought things always worked in a logic manner. It wasn't until later that I realized that safety is an illusion. Horrible things happen to very good people. People lose their jobs, their insurance, their homes and sometimes children. We don't live in a safe world. We live in a world where even Jesus had to go to the cross and suffer and die. The message of the cross is not just about redemption, but about how God is "with us". God is not subjectively sitting off somewhere with an uncaring attitude unaware of our sufferings. God is the God who came down to take on human flesh, to suffer, to experience thirst, poverty, the feeling that he had "nowhere to lay his head." If this world is not a safe place then God also shared in that suffering, so he can relate to us.
"Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushioin. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?' He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be Still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to the disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"
They were terrified and asked each other "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" Mark 4:38-41
