Call Out to Him in Faith
Why did the disciples wait so long to ask for help? Should they not have called on the Lord Jesus just as the storm was starting to brew?
In Matthew 8:23-27, Matthew recounts the story of him and the other disciples in a boat, crossing the Sea of Galilee. He writes,
"And when Jesus got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep" (Matthew 8:23-24).
As the disciples are in the midst of an intense storm and they worry it may capsize their ship, Jesus remains asleep! Is he not concerned at all? Does he even care? What gives?
Whenever I read this passage, the story always seems to "hit" a little differently. Today, for instance, I am left asking myself the following questions...
Why did the disciples wait so long to ask for help? Should they not have called on the Lord Jesus just as the storm was starting to brew?
In the story, Jesus is woken up by the disciples and rebukes them for having little faith. To be honest, part of me has always implicitly assumed that the rebuke was a result of the disciples not "pushing through the storm" and instead "giving in" by asking Jesus for help. But I've begun to recognize this as a dangerous assumption to make. I actually think that Jesus rebukes them precisely because they waited so long to reach out for assistance.
After all, they waited because they were supposed to be totally self-sufficient...right? There's no way they would request aid unless absolutely necessary! If they DID ask for help, that would be so embarrassing...
This, of course, is a ridiculous way of thinking.
So what was the right course of action?
The disciples should have just sought Jesus' assistance right at the first sight of trouble. Instead of allowing him to help right away, they let things fester until the storm reaches a critical point. Then, when the disciples eventually do wake up Jesus (only as a last resort, as if they have not wanted it to come down to this), everything is a mess and the situation is wildly out of control! Of course, Jesus is easily able to calm the storm, but he is hurt by the lack of faith, by the simple fact that his disciples did not approach him for help sooner.
He knows that he certainly would never look down on those whom he loves for calling out to him. On the contrary, he desperately wants to help, and is only waiting for us to show the slightest sign of us asking for it before he rushes to our aid.
This lack of trust that Jesus actually wants to help us is what hurts him so and is exactly why he rebukes the disciples. In fact, I'm confident that if the disciples had never approached him at all, the rebuke would have been even stronger!
As soon as something, anything, any issue comes up in our lives, we must run to Jesus so that he has the opportunity to help us; it always brings great joy to his loving heart. Although God never sleeps on the job and is aware of what is going on, he won't force himself into our lives; we must invite him in. Do not do what the disciples did and approach him as some sort of last ditch effort to make things right. Run to Jesus, now!
Of course, this also extends to asking friends and family for help. But that is a topic for another day...