MASTER, DON'T YOU CARE?

"Master, carest Thou not that we perish?" —Mark 4:38 [KJV]

Saints in all ages have experienced, that their extremity of distress has been God's opportunity to deliver; so these disciples found it; they were in the most imminent danger and in the greatest fears and distresses. Their vehement address to Jesus bespeaks it. "Jesus was asleep." We believe in our Saviour, as a MAN like unto ourselves: we adore Him as the sovereign Lord Whose "eyes are over the righteous, and His ears are ever open to their prayers."—1 Peter 3:12. 

Of this we have the clearest evidence, the fullest proof. Jesus awakes as a man, and with the power and sovereignty of Jehovah He rebukes the boisterous wind, and says to the raging waves, "Peace, be still;" and instantly all nature obeys its Creator; all is hushed into a profound calm. While others are pleased with the feats of a Caesar, or the conquests of an Alexander, it is our delight to meditate upon the wonderful works of our God-man and blessed Saviour. Transporting to know this awful God is ours, our Jesus, and our Friend! But art thou not ready, O believer, sometimes to say, "My Lord hath forsaken, and my God hath forgotten me!" 

It seems as though He cares not; even though I perish. I am in the wide ocean of difficulty and distress. Corruptions rage, temptations assault, the fiery darts of the enemy fly thick around me; I groan under the sense of a hard heart and an absent God. Hear the voice of thy Lord, "O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted: for a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee."—Isaiah 54:7, 11. Judge not of God's love by thy sense and feeling, but by His word and truth, the stability of His promises, and the security of His oath. 

He may be battering down thy life of sense to make thee strong in faith, strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. These disciples, though in a terrible storm, were safe, because Jesus was in the ship, though asleep; so is every disciple where Jesus dwells in the heart by faith. The affections of God's love never cease, though storms surround us, and the sense and comfort of love may seem to us as it were asleep; and as with these disciples, so shall it be with thee, O Christian; thou shalt find thy loving Saviour ever near to hear, and ever almighty to deliver thee; God's moment is thy mercy; in the deeps of distress are God's wonders known. 

"In the moment of the LORD (Jehovah-Jireh, the LORD will provide) it shall be seen." What saith the Lord? "Call upon Me in time of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me." It is the joy of faith to reply, "Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance."—Psalm 32:7.

-preacher William Mason (1724-1797 A.D.)

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