Ask Anything

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

ASK ANYTHING

Mark 4:35-41

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side."  36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?"  41 They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

NIV

If there was ever any question about Jesus being there during the creation of all things, this should dispel any doubts and answer that question. But that is not the only truth we can find in the exchange between Jesus and his disciples. From a very personal experience of seeing the faith of a child riding on the way to a county fair during a heavy rain storm asking Jesus to calm the storm and arriving at the fair in the sunshine, it is clear Jesus has the power over the wind and the waves. The thought that comes to mind is, do we have that kind of faith? Do we have prayer requests out of a sense of doing the traditional thing? Do we have prayer requests for our friend’s aunt who has a brother whose wife’s sister has something that needs healing because we are afraid to ask for something close enough for all to see because we really have doubts about healing? Do we simply not ask, because we simply have no faith? Are we afraid to ask because we do not believe Jesus will do what we ask? Have we bought into the human attitude about providing for ourselves using that non-scriptural quote, “God helps those who help themselves”? Have we not seen with our own eyes various miracles? Do we still have no faith? Did Jesus stop doing miracles after he ascended? Were all the miracles just for the sake of developing the faith of his disciples, or proving he was actually the Son of God, a divine being, a part of the trinity, there at creation? Could all those miracles be for the purpose of developing our faith? Do we need to see more in order to believe? Again from a very personal experience God did perform an incredible miracle beyond all human reason, beyond all physical scientific reality, in order to grab my attention bringing this person to faith. We need to continue to believe beyond a shadow of doubt. Do we have any storms in our life that need to be calmed? All we have to do is ask, Jesus said, “Ask anything”.