Jesus asleep at the wheel

Mark 4:30-34, Matthew 13:31-35, Luke 13:18-21, Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 13:36-52, Mark 4:35-41, Matthew 8:23-27, Luke 8:22-25, Mark 5:1-20, Matthew 8:28-34, Luke 8:26-39

Jesus was sleeping in the stern of the boat and a violent storm appeared out of nowhere.  When the boat started taking on water, the disciples woke Jesus and asked him, "Don't you care that we are going to drown?"

It's sad that it doesn't take much turbulence for us to feel like Jesus is asleep at the wheel; we exclaim, "Jesus, don't you even care that I'm going to DIE?!"  The truth is, Jesus is nearest to us when it is most difficult to stand.  The truth is, Jesus is not capricious; nor is He negligent.  The truth is, Jesus is fully aware of our circumstances, and everything that we are experiencing is measured/limited in His love for us.  The truth is, He is in the boat with us the whole time.  The truth is, He allows us to experience turbulence so that we may more fully appreciate His Lordship.  As John Frame would propose, in that boat with the disciples, Christ demonstrated His three principal Lordship attributes:

1. Power - Christ's omnipotent ability
2. Authority - Christ's universal and absolute sovereignty
3. Presence - Christ's simultaneous local and omnipresent closeness
   

Consequently, when He authors faith in our hearts, we discover in Him true satisfaction, and we are willing to give up everything to gain Him - like the man who found a great treasure in a field and then sold all he had to buy that field.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, please help me seek you with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength; may I give up my selfish life to gain the ZOE life of Christ.  Lord, please help me trust you in the midst of the storm - knowing that you are in control, that you do care, that you are with me the whole while, and that the purpose of the storm is to grow my faith and give me opportunity to know you more deeply.  Father, please give me grace.  I pray in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.