Mark  4:38- And he they said to Him, do you not care that we are perishing-

Do you not care that I’m drowning?
Do you not care what great temptation I’m facing?
Do you not care my family’s condition?
Do you not care about the challenges this life is presenting to me and my friends?
Do you not care how lonely, alone, not special and insignificant I feel?
Do you not care about —— and about —— (fill that in with your own situations)
Do you not care???

     There are two things that come to mind when I think about this scripture:
1) The 1st thing that captured my attention as I studied this scripture was the question; Do You Not Care? This was a direct question, a statement implying that the person being asked was very much in the same situation as the persons asking. It showed that Jesus ( though he never sleeps nor slumber was taking a nap through the storm; Palsm 121:4) was very much present. This brings to mind something about a student’s favorite teacher keeping quiet during a test of which his help the student would have appreciated.

2) The second thing that captured my attention was the realisation of who to look up too immediately there was trouble. If you read down from vs 36- of mark 4 to 38 which is our text for today, you will notice that it wasn’t just one boat that was present in the storm, meaning there were at least 2 other people in that Place At that point in time. This leaves me asking; who do you call when you are perishing?  Do you remember your parent’s connections? Do you remember your friends influence?  Or your pastor’s strong choice of words when praying?  Because when I read this scripture, i saw people that looked up to Jesus, “the author and finisher of our faith”. Who do you look up to when you are perishing? Because, trust me, if you look up to man, you will be gambling with disappointments. This brings me to the scripture that says “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”- Matthew 11:28.
                                                                                     The Message
     Trust the Master, nothing in this life happens by accident. If God lets you go through something,  it’s because He is ready to help you get through it. If Jesus had stopped the storm before it started on that day, the people wouldn’t necessarily have learnt the importance and power found in depending in Christ. Jesus taught them that in His presence, so that when He returns to His glory in Heaven, they disciples wouldn’t be perplexed or compelled to panic in the face of challenges; as the name above all names, to which every situaton must bow down and answer to is available to them- They called on Jesus in Vs 39… “HUSH NOW, BE STILL!!! And the wind ceased… and there was a great calm…”
     When you are in some of the listed situations in my introduction and even much more, however you case might be, God wants you to call on Him and not the other way around resulting to panicking that God is unfaithful to allow you go through this instead of someone else ( probably that your neighbor that is more of a sinner than you are). God wants you to call on Him because ” …I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son”.
     It is important to note that God always answers immediately you ask, however, the answer Only comes when you are ready ( not when you THINK you are ready), which is always in line with His master plan. Therefore the answers come as such:

1) Immediately- This happens to increase your faith as seen in the implication of the questions He asked in vs 40.

2) Delayed- This happens to increase your patience.  Hannah as seen in 1 Samuel 1, prayed for a child. After a while God remembered Her ( the question is, Can God Forget? Certainly not!!! He had answered her from day one. But that He might increase her patience thus teaching her to understand how useful the child to be was going to be to Him, He waited until the right time and in that time He remembered what must be done in His master plan by reason of the humble prayer of a crying Hannah in her days of perishing.

3) He does not answer what you Think you need but gives you what He Knows you need, and when you need it; which is always greater and better than your original request. Numbers 23:19 says “God is not a man that He should lie” and “no good thing will He withhold from the blameless-” Psalm 84:11.  So for a fact, when you ask for A- (which is a good thing), and He doesn’t give you, it is naturally human nature to assume God does not like you and is not following His Word, since He is allowing you to perish… But because He has better plans for you, He waits and when the time is right, He gives you B-
     Any honest man here will testify with me that anyone who has ever endured to the end will know “God’s thought for us are of good and not of evil, to give us an expected end”. Take Joseph in prison  for exampele (Genesis 40-41), when the prisoner whose dream was interpreted was been released, Joseph asked him to remember him when he gets out ( the time of remembrance wasn’t told us but I won’t be out of line to state that Joseph meant immediately; because that is what I would have meant and scripture says the prisoner forgot when it got out). Now if God had allowed him to remember Joseph before the 2years in which he had; of what significance would it have been? He might not have been released (because the King which is His reason for being here did not need him yet), and even if he was released (of which he would have been very happy), since he was to rule a foreign land, it would have been more difficult and taken him a longer time in which case he could have doubted his dream or even gone back home, thinking God allowed Him to perish…
     But you see, while we are IMMEDIATE,  God on the other hand is ULTIMATE and so when we Think we have our best interest at heart (Which we do, but from a limited perspective), God Knows our best interest (He is our best interest!), and gives it to us!!!

And ……………….. (insert your name, eg And …Tosin….) said to Him “Do You Not Care That I Am Perishing?
     The next time you want to make that statement or ask that question; Remember,  God is on your side and He’s GOT YOUR BACK! He’s so cool even the wind obeys Him.

With love,
Olabode Oluwatosin.