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 Since I was a little boy, I have always had a fascination with water. My mother tells the story of when I was ten, I grabbed the garden hose and held her and my little brother trapped in the corner of our yard. Mother made a critical error in judgment. She said, “Corey Ray Bjertness, you are going to get a spanking for this!” Well, if you are going to get a spanking anyway, “let r rip.” If you are going to get in trouble anyway, you might as well have some fun. So I soaked them down. Years later, my mother was still a little bitter that I laughed my way through that whooping. On a hot summer day, there is simply nothing more refreshing than water.
However, there is a dark stormy side to water. A side ugly, and mysterious, uncontrollable, hidden, and cruel. I will not forget what Sheriff Loren Wild said to me many years back. It was a few days after 16-year-old Brad Capp drowned in Homme Dam. As Chairman of the Board of the Park River Lutheran Bible Camp, it fell to me to join seven Bible Camp staff at the county jail so they could give their depositions. When they were done, I spent some time talking to the Sheriff. “I asked him, point-blank, “Were these young people in any way irresponsible, or even careless?” He said, “No, absolutely not, they were only doing what kids do, having fun after a warm summer day. It’s just that Homme Damn has been waiting to take someone for years, and she finally did.” Just think how quickly life changed for a family. In a flash! There is a dark stormy side to water.
I always think of this Brad Capp when I read this gospel lesson. And I am reminded at the speed a storm can roll into our life. One moment we are riding along on the seas of life, and the next minute we are in the midst of the worst storm we have ever seen. One minute it is calm. The next minute we are bailing water trying to save our necks. One minute we feel like everything is under control, and the next we are in distress. And sometimes you have seasons of tough times.
A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Mark 4:37-38
The disciples ask the same question we all do. The disciples ask it in the boat. You have asked it in the hospital and the graveyard. It has shown up in the dark moments of your life when you did not know if you could take one more breath. “
“Jesus, do you not care that we are perishing?”
The answer is yes! The Bible explicitly tells us that God loves and cares about you deeply. And even if you don’t feel a connection with Him, God is still near. One of the most touching verses in Scripture that perfectly captures this truth of God’s heart toward us is found in Zephaniah, which states:
“The Lord your God is with you. He’s mighty to deliver. He takes great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love. He rejoices over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17
I do not know where you are right now. Perhaps the waters are about to capsize your spirituality, your life, your hope and you are crying out, “Jesus, do you not care that I am drowning.” Perhaps, you have the sense God is standing in front of you saying, “Why are you afraid, do you have no faith?” And you are wondering yourself, “Do I have enough faith to get to the other side?” Or perhaps, you have recently seen the power of God, and Jesus has said to the storms of your life, “Peace be still.” No matter where you are on this continuum know this. “You are safely in the hands of God and he will see you to the others side. God is near.
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