“If you loved me you would…”. How would you finish that sentence?  If you are like me, you might complete the sentence by inserting something you want; something that will bring you joy or pleasure. We often believe that a sign of love is being given something we want. This belief can lead us to think that the opposite is also true: if we receive something we don’t want in our life, then we must not be loved.

Jesus’ disciples had similar thoughts when they were caught in a life-threatening storm on the Sea of Galilee. Mark 4 Chapter 38 says:

“The disciples woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’”

Jesus’ disciples are accusing him of not loving them. They think that if Jesus cared for them, he would wake up and help them. His inaction was seen as unloving and uncaring. I am sure this is something we have all felt before. When everything is going wrong and God seems to be absent and uncaring, you think, “If He loved me, He would not be letting me go through this scary time”.

Jesus gets up and says to the storm, “Be quiet! Be still!” and, remarkably, the storm does just that. This is power beyond imagination. Jesus turns to his disciples and asks, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”. The disciples were afraid because, to them, the storm meant that Jesus did not love them. However, Jesus wants them to understand that he allows people he loves to go through storms, but there is no reason to panic.

You see, he lets things happen that we do not understand. He does not always do things according to our plan or that make sense to us. But if Jesus is God, he has reasons to let us go through things we do not understand. Jesus has power, wisdom and love beyond imagination. He can love somebody and still let bad things happen to them. This is because he is God and knows better than us.

You might not know what is going on. You might be confused, hurt or in pain, but God is always working it out. If God took the hard things away, our dependence on and love for Him would weaken. It is through the hard times, when we do not have the strength, that we realise our true dependence on him. I do not know how big the storms you will face in your future will be, but I do know Jesus is working for you. He calmed the storm of God’s anger of sin on the cross, and He is the one who knows our future.

I know why storms might be scary to you. However, if you are in a boat facing the storm by yourself, let Jesus in the boat with you. Why would you keep him out? When the storm is raging, why give up on the one who has such a deep love for you? You may not know what God is doing now, and you may not feel loved, but that does not mean God is not working for your good. It would be foolish to face the storm all on your own.