Day Forty-Three: Field Trip
“35That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” – (Mark 4:35-39)
My favorite days in grade school were the days when we had a field trip: no writing, reading, or mathematical concepts to learn, just the hands-on experience of science or nature. As a child, I was not aware of all the potential dangers of conducting a field trip. I wasn’t thinking about liability, bus safety, environmental factors of the destination, time constraints, or even if we should be going on the trip in the first place. It never dawned on me whether or not the trip would be fun.
However, I cannot say that the disciples were undergoing the juvenile feelings I described above when Jesus invited them on their first field trip – a boat ride. In fact, terror struck the journey and compelled the disciples to question Jesus’ concern and care for their safety. “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Wow, can’t you feel the intensity and desperation of that question? And yet we’ve been there, haven’t we?
When Jesus awoke, He makes two fascinating statements, ” Quiet, Be Still!” Not what I would have expected. How about, “Stop, calm down, be gone, stop raging, or wind, stop blowing?” Instead, He commands the storm to complete silence. Silence? Yes, silence. So, they could hear. I’ve never thought about the benefit of silence to faith. Is it possible that all the noise and conversations in your life that are raging like a storm are causing you to ask Jesus the very same question the disciples asked? “Don’t you care?”
Maybe what is needed is first to address the noise. Then, you can be in a place to HEAR Jesus speak. Because in the silence, you will discover His love and words to you. So, what storm/noise around you needs to be silenced?
Blessings,
Andy Smith