As we live another week in the realities of how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting our lives, I am reminded of Mark 4:35–41. This is John Mark’s account of the story of Jesus and the disciples’ experience one evening on the Sea of Galilee. Mark records that Jesus and his disciples were on one side of Sea of Galilee and Jesus suggested, “Let’s cross to the other side”. So the disciples took Jesus in the boat and started out leaving the crowds behind, though some jumped in boats to follow them. As the disciples launched from shore and headed out into the lake, like they had done so many times before, they may have been thinking “This is something WE can handle, Jesus”. So it was no big deal for them that Jesus went to sleep at the back of the boat.
“Any peace they had was stolen by their circumstances, and they were filled with irrational fear, panic and hysteria. ”
Mark records that soon a fierce storm came up, which the disciples would have been all too familiar with. However, this time the high waves were breaking into the boat, and the boat began to fill with water. And suddenly a situation that the disciples thought they could manage, turned into one that was out of their control, and fear, panic and hysteria set in. The disciples woke Jesus from his sleep, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” Under normal circumstances, the disciples would never ask this question. They were there when he cared enough to heal sick people, they experienced his kindness to each of them as He daily walked with them, and they had each felt a new sense of life purpose when “The Teacher” had called them to follow him. So how could they ask this question that went against what they already knew; that Jesus cared deeply for them and each one of their lives? Any peace they had was stolen by their circumstances, and they were filled with irrational fear, panic and hysteria.
Mark then writes Jesus response. Jesus wakes up and speaks. First he speaks to the wind, rebuking or commanding it to be restrained. They he speaks to the waves, telling them to be silent or quiet and to be still or literally to become speechless. Then he speaks to the disciples.
Most of the time when I am suddenly woken up to panic and hysteria, like when my kids were little and woke up crying from a bad dream, I am just trying to catch my bearings and assess the situation. So its not surprising that Jesus speaks to the wind and waves first, who are making so much noise and causing so much chaos, just so he can better assess the situation and even just to be able to hear the disciples. And the wind and the waves do as they are told.
Then Jesus speaks to the disciples and asks them two questions: “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” At first glance, one wonders at the logic of Jesus’ first question, when the reason for their fear was obvious. The second question suggests that the disciples have a “faith” issue. I wonder, though, if Jesus is really asking them, “’What or Who are you so afraid of?’ and ‘Who is your faith in?’, because of their reaction to the situation.
These are the same questions that Jesus is asking us today, in the middle of the COVID-19 virus pandemic. Don’t get me wrong, Fear is a natural response and it’s not always a bad thing. Fear of falling keeps me from jumping up on my second storey deck railing and running down it from one end to the other (though if I have to stay stuck in my house for too much longer I may consider it as an entertainment option). Fear or Concern of spreading the COVID-19 virus, keeps me taking care to wash my hands, practising social-distancing or even self-isolation, for the sake of the health of myself and others. But in the middle of experiencing the realities of COVID-19, is it really a good thing for fear to be “plaguing” our minds? On a recent Dave Ramsey podcast, he mentioned that this is less a pandemic of COVID-19 and more a pandemic of hysteria and panic. So Jesus asks you and I, “What are you so afraid of?” and “Who is your faith in?”
To help us truly reflect on these questions, we have to first respond as Jesus did to the waves & waves. We have to intentionally take time to “quiet” the news reports & news conferences. Turn down & turn off the opinions and messages that we are hearing from those caught up in the panic and hysteria. And we have to “make speechless” the inner voices, messages and “worst case scenarios” playing over and over in our minds.” This is easier said than done, but we have to intentionally take time to “dial it back”. I will add that if you feel incapable to “quiet” these things, it would be worth speaking with a professional counsellor and getting the help and tools you need.
Once you have quieted the things adding to the fear, panic or hysteria, then take some time to reflect on these Questions. “What are you so afraid of?” challenges us to remember who is greater in this situation. In a contest between God our Father, Master of the Universe, and Covid-19, it’s a “no brainer”. If God is in control and has my life in his care, then do I really need to fear Covid-19? As Paul reminds us in his letter to the believers in Rome at the time (Romans 8:35,37) “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?...No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us.” This doesn’t mean that I ignore the threat of COVID-19, foolishly act like it can’t touch me, or that I have permission to disregard the “laws of the land”. But I don’t have to live in fear! “Who is your faith in?” also challenges me to ask myself who can I depend on in this situation. I have the highest respect and appreciation for the health care professionals putting themselves at risk to care for COVID-19 patients, for the scientists working non-stop to provide a vaccine, for the essential service employees going to work each day to make sure we have what we need, and the government officials doing all they can to assist those suffering and being affected by all the effects that COVID-19 is having on our country. But at the end of the day, our greatest hope and faith has to be in the God who is with us, provides for us, saves us, can heals us and can delivers us. We must continually choose to put our faith in him and rest in Him, though what is happening around us seems out of control.
Choose to embrace the Peace that Jesus offers you and I today in the middle of COVID-19. And just as the disciples discovered in their situation something new about who Jesus was, “Even the wind and waves obey him!”, you might just discover for yourself in a new way who Jesus is, and what he is able to do!