Don't you care?

Mark 4:37-39

New Living Translation (NLT)

³⁷ But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

³⁸ Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”
³⁹ When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm.

I realized this morning, as I read the word, that my eyes have been focused on the storm instead of the Lord!  

We all have storms.  They are part of life, but storms pass, they are temporary.  In the storm, and often because of it, our faith is weakened by the storms we face.  Like the disciples we call out to God, "don't you care that we're going to drown?"  In panic, and not realizing what we are saying, we have made the storm bigger than the God we worship.  

If I will stop and think for a moment I realize that no storm ever comes into my life without God's permission.  HE is Lord, not the storm of the moment.  In the storm and because of it I have to intentionally deal with my fear caused by the storm and look to God in faith.  He's with me, just as he was with the disciples.  If my boat goes down so does he!  But that's not his plan.  His plan in a storm is to show his glory, build my faith and focus my attention on him.  

Don't you care?  That's the heart cry of each one of us as we face storms.  Does God care?  YES!  And he shows it with actions, not just with words.  He deals with our storms.  The problem with most of us is the storms we face are most often internal.  Churning in our hearts and minds is a storm of fear, confusion, dread and a hundred other fears.  Fears are more toxic than any storm you will ever face!

In the storm, whether external or internal, run to the one who appears to be sleeping and oblivious to your dilemma, and trust him.  This morning, as I realized what I had done...how I had allowed my storms to capture my focus...I suddenly realized my faith was on the line.  Do I believe God is able to deal with these temporary storms in my life or not?  Do I believe he cares?  Is he really God or just an aboration?  Storms sort all of that out, don't they?

In the book of Luke, after Jesus stilled the storm, they worshipped him.  It was the right response to the realization that they had feared the storm more than the one who made it.  Does he care?  Yes, he's with you in the storm, waiting for you to ask, waiting for you to worship.