The winds and sea obey him

And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Mk. 4:41

Our Lord rebuked the disciples for their fear of the wind and the sea. This is because their question, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" (38) was motivated by their lack of faith: "Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?" (40). Even so, when we are surrounded by the winds and waves of the trials and troubles that threaten to sink our ships, we are often tempted, out of unbelief, to question our Lord's compassion and care. We wonder why he would allow our souls to be swamped with such stressful and painful burdens. But we must never forget the reality to which this account in Mark's gospel points. It points us to the reality that the very winds and waves which we fear so much are under his command. If he chooses, he can but speak a word and they will obey him. "And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm" (39).

But our Lord's rebuke in the following verse (40) indicates that even apart from the calm, they had no reason to question his care and command of the sea. There was no chance that this boat would have sunk with the Lord in it. Even so, as we navigate the trials of this life, let us never forget that we are with Christ and he will never allow us to perish. If we are united to him who is in heaven we can be sure that we will certainly and assuredly arrive at that blessed shore. One day we will look back and see just how safe we were all along, even at those moments when we feared all was lost.