²² One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, ²³ and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. ²⁴ And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. ²⁵ He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

That must have been some storm, to strike that kind of fear into a group of disciples, several of whom previously made their living by fishing on that same lake.  After years of experience you might think they had seen it all.  Maybe they hadn’t.

We can find ourselves in situations where experience is little help.  In fact, maybe experience only tells us that all is surely lost.  The disciples found themselves exactly there on this day.  We may feel like that is where we are today. 

And it may seem like Jesus is asleep.  Where is God when you need him?  Where is that Savior when our resources and abilities come to an end?

Jesus responded to their cries.  He calmed the storm.  His words, however, were not exactly reassuring.  He didn’t say, “There, there, it’ll all be all right.”  It was more along the lines of a rebuke, asking, “Where is your faith?”

Their voyage started with Jesus saying, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” He said it – and Jesus knows what he is talking about. 

It is okay and even required that we pray.  Sometimes God just doesn’t act without our prayers.  But we need not panic.  We can pray with faith.  We can pray confidently that God will meet our need.  We can wake Jesus up, but perhaps not with the same level or kind of fear the disciples showed on that night in the boat during the storm.