Mark 4: 35-41. Listening to David Crowder - How He loves
We have been reading through the Gospel of Mark at church over the past few weeks, and something about the pastor's message really jumped out to me. In the passage, Jesus and the disciples are crossing a sea to reach their next destination. Along the way a storm rolls through, and overpowers the boat, so much so that the disciples are afraid to drown. Remember now some were fisherman by profession, so they were not naive. They were in legitimate danger. They awakened Jesus and said, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? (ESV)" Then Jesus calmed the storm and there was a great calm. And then:
40He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" 41And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"
What stands out here is they were still afraid AFTER he calmed the storm. I had never noticed this before. It previously made sense that the disciples were afraid because of the storm. But here the storm has been calmed. The disciples are actually afraid of Jesus here. At this point in time, it appears the disciples were not fully believing in His lordship. There still had doubts that He was the Christ, as evidenced by their amazement on his power to control the seas.
I can't help but feel like one of the disciples here, as my faith is still so small. I walk with the Lord, and strive to know His heart, but there are things about his power that I cannot grasp and make me uncomfortable. I think I ignore those things, and try to enjoy the peace, guidance and His Glory. But what of His power? With Christ, the dead walked, the blind saw and the mute spoke. Christ even promised if we had faith we could do greater still. So why am I so hesitant to believe in that kind of power?
I have prayed over people and had people pray over me. I've seen an unbelievable amount of mercy been granted to me, and each time I approach the situation with fear. It's just that rare feeling when seeing meets believing and your mind just wants to reject it. I find myself understanding "He is here! He is real." And when I used to think my spiritual gift was faith, this verse reveals I still have much more faith to pray for. Christ was not afraid of the power of God, He used it to demonstrate God's love. Think about it. When I see God's power I panic, but for Jesus it was no big deal. It was everyday. He had the faith in God to not be overwhelmed by it. What would surprise Jesus is God not being there. I find myself afraid when God actually appears at my request.
I believe God heals, and walks with us, and is just waiting for us to rely on His mercy. To move through us and into our neighbors, our friends, and our family. To blanket us with his love. But I still need to pray for more faith. The kind of faith that is surprised when my prayers aren't answered instead of when they are. Whatever I ask of in faith should be received back at 100%. My understanding of Matt 7:6-8 gives me confidence in that. God has made his promises, they are viewable in scripture and evidenced in Jesus. The ball is in my court now, and I just need to remove the training wheels.
