June 23

Faithless Fear

But Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him and said, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing?” — Mark 4:38 BSB

The disciples’ words suggest that they thought Jesus was indifferent to their danger—that He didn’t care about them because He was asleep while they faced the storm. But how unfair was their reproach! They were never safer than they were at that moment, in the midst of the storm. The boat that carried the Lord could not sink. Faith should have trusted in the darkness.

Don’t we, in our hearts, sometimes make the same complaint against Jesus? When we face a severe trial, and it seems to get worse without any relief, do we not sometimes think, “Jesus doesn’t care if I perish”? When we pray for a burden to be lifted, and no answer comes, do we ever feel like Jesus isn’t listening or that He doesn’t care about us?

But such a complaint is never justified. Sometimes it seems like He doesn’t care, but He always has a purpose. The disciples needed to learn some lessons: they needed to understand their own helplessness in life’s dangers, and they needed to learn that only Christ could deliver them. These lessons could only be learned through the storm, with their Master asleep. Similarly, there are lessons in life we can only learn when Jesus withholds His help for a time. Sometimes He hides Himself to teach us faith. But He is never truly indifferent to us. His heart is always awake, watching over us, and at the right moment, He will bring deliverance. We should trust Jesus so completely that in any hour of danger, we can rest in His care without fear or anxiety.