Mark 4:39-41

Passage

Jesus wakes up and deals with the situation.  He rebukes the wind.  He tells the sea to be peaceful and to be still.  Nature obeyed.  Jesus turns to His disciples and asks, “Why are you so afraid?  Do you have such little faith?”  They were filled with fear and awe, wondering who Jesus was that He could control even nature.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus rebukes the wind.  He commands the sea.  Jesus is master over nature.  The elements of creation obey Him.  After all, John tells us that the world was created through Him, so it should obey Him!  Here is yet another piece of evidence that everything falls under the authority of Christ.

What comfort is there in knowing that everything falls under the authority of Christ?  Does it always feel like everything is under the authority of Christ?  How does this last question speak to our need for faith?

Second Thought:

Jesus then rebukes the disciples.  Jesus had just taught about the greatness of faith.  There was the mustard seed, which starts out small but grows immense.  There was the seed, which grows in ways we cannot see or explain.  Yet in their first place to try and act on this newfound learning the disciples fail.  Actually, this is alright.  Jesus is making the point to the disciples that they aren’t ready.  They’ve got some things to learn.  Jesus is bringing them to a point of understanding where they can grow.  Failure is not a bad thing when it helps reveal the places in which we are not yet competent!

What does the expression “Failure is always an option” mean to you?  How can we use failure to actually promote spiritual growth?  What are some of the necessary things you need to have in order to overcome and learn from failure?

Third Thought:

The disciples genuinely wonder who Jesus is.  This may seem like such an odd statement from our perspective.  We know Jesus is the Son of God – how could they not know this?  Had they not seen a bunch of miracles?  Had they not confessed to follow Him?  The truth is that this is such an incredible statement of humanity.  We follow Jesus, but we are always learning more and more every day how Jesus should be a part of our life.  We are always growing in our understanding of the power that Jesus has.  We know Him to be the Son of God, but that doesn’t mean that we know all He can do.  It doesn’t mean we are prepared to hand everything to Him right away.  Like the disciples, we grow in our understanding of Jesus as we experience Him.

How does it make you feel to know that the disciples had these moments of growth?  What do the moments of growth feel like to you?  How often do you have moments of growth in your life?

Passage for Tomorrow: Mark 5:1-4