The Testing of Our Faith

(part 1)

“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 his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Mark 4:39-40

Most of us are familiar with this story found in the book of Mark. Jesus and his disciples are crossing the sea of Galilee when a strong storm comes upon them. Jesus is sleeping in the stern of the boat as his disciples are franticly bailing water to stay afloat. In desperation one of the disciples wakes Jesus to ask him, “Don’t you care if we drown?” Immediately Jesus gets up and rebukes the wind and the waves. As the boat slowly settles from being tossed about, Jesus turns his attention to his exhausted disciples whose lack of strength is only matched by their absolute lack of faith.

Most of us have a picture in our minds of what this scene must have looked like. Twelve anxious, freezing, drenching wet disciples bailing water furiously out of the boat as wave after wave relentlessly pounds against them. In the midst of certain chaos, Jesus lay sleeping in the boat’s stern. For a while, I imagine, the disciples were not overly concerned. Some of them were avid fishermen. They knew how to command a vessel in stormy conditions. I am sure they were confident in their own ability to reach the shore. At some point in the night, however, the situation got away from them:

“A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.”

Mark 4:37

Nearly swamped! Anybody out there ever feel like that sometimes? The feeling that you couldn’t take on another ounce of water without drowning. I believe that being “nearly swamped” is a serious spiritual condition. It is the condition we find ourselves in when we fail the testing of our faith.

Upon calming the wind and the waves, Jesus turned to His weary disciples and asked:

“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Mark 4:40

Most likely, that was not the response they were hoping for! Let’s be honest, after going through an ordeal that almost “drowned” them they were probably expecting more compassion. However, I am going to let you in on a little secret…God does not always respond because He is moved with compassion, sometimes He simply shows mercy on our ignorance. Jesus’ response to the wind and the waves was not motivated by compassion.


In fact, His disciples thought that He was being very uncompassionate because He lay sleeping in the boat beside them. However, Jesus laid quietly in the boat that night, not because He didn’t care about the plight of His disciples. Rather, He lay there resting because He had already equipped them to face the storm.. “earlier that day!”


Pastor Scott Burr
http://faithandworshipseries.blogspot.com