Does God Care in Our Suffering World?

Jesus is in the boat with you!

You may feel all alone or you may feel no one cares about you. The big question today is does God care? We live in a world where numbers are important. Targets have to be met and people get lost in the system especially those who have no voice. The louder you shout the more you get heard.

We have wars today where thousands of innocent children, women and men are being killed every day. Sadly they are just a number to the politicians. The truth is world leaders do not care about what happens to the people.

But Jesus had good news when he said that Kingdom of God was very different because it valued people. There is no marginalisation or discrimination in the Kingdom of God. Jesus said that not one sparrow is forgotten by God and the very hairs on our heads had been counted. Jesus said, He was the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd immediately knows when one his sheep is missing. He intimately knows his sheep and calls them by name. This was a very different picture of God than the one that had been presented to us before. He was not a God who was distant from his creation.

An example of Jesus and his power is shown in this story. Jesus is in the boat with his disciples he was calmly asleep in the corner of the boat with his head on the pillow. A fierce storm breaks out. The disciples were struggling to keep control of the boat. The disciples in their anxiety and fear approached Jesus, “Master don’t you care, we are about to drown?”

Jesus stood up and shouted to the winds and the sea, “Shush”. The winds and sea died down again and everything was calm. Jesus looked at his disciple and said to them, “You have very little faith in me.”The disciples exclaimed even the winds and seas obey him!

We may feel as if we are drowning in lives’ problems. You are not alone, Jesus is in the boat with you. Jesus was not alarmed by the storm or the severity of it. Jesus didn’t stop the storm from arriving and he allowed his disciples to go through it. God does allow the storms to enter our lives. He alone knows the reason for these storms.

The rich and the poor will both have storms. The question is who you will turn when you have a storm. I personally turn to Jesus because he has shown he can calm a storm. It is also understanding Jesus is with us in the storm. (The story of Jesus and the storm is found in Matthew 8:23-27)

Dear Jesus

You are in the boat with me.

When the storms come my way

You will be there with me.

Help me put my trust in you.

Drive away all my fears

Thank You

Amen.

By harbajan (servant of Jesus) 20/08/2024