“A furious wind suddenly blew across the sea of Galilee. Waves broke over the disciples’ boat and it nearly swamped and sank. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care?’” Mark 4:37-38
Lord Jesus, weather patterns can be wild and wooly, and the Weather Channel can’t always get it right. Just a few weeks ago, I encountered an August hailstorm on a friend’s ranch in Montana. Some storms happen in the environment—others in our hearts, culture, global affairs and everyday relationships.
Indeed, relational storms can be everything from an afternoon popup storm to an unexpected cold snap with damaging freeze, to a typhoon resulting in a monsoon of hurt and disconnect. Until you finish making all things new, our relationships will be the devil’s main target, and the place our brokenness and grace-neediness is most clearly revealed. Jesus may your truth, goodness, and beauty of the Gospel to shape, re-center, and heal our relationships.
Thank you for being prior, present, and after every storm we experience in life. That you can “sleep” in a storm should comfort us more than alarm us. It doesn’t mean you’re indifferent, but in control. Every storm knows your name.
The most rhetorical question we will ever ask is “Teacher, don’t you care?” No one cares about us more than you do. For you aren’t “merely” our teacher; you are our gracious Savior, perfect Righteousness, reigning King, and returning Bridegroom.
You always give us what we need, even when it doesn’t line up with our specific ask, druthers, or timetable. We will never experience a Jesus-absent, distant-Father, or Spirit-void day. You never leave us, are always at work for our good, and will finish what you’ve begun. A BIG Hallelujah, and So Very Amen.
