Carest thou not?

|Emi B., 18, Utah|

So I have like 20 “favorite scriptures” but Mark chapter 4 is definitely one of them!! This story is so meaningful to me. I first read it when I was going through a trial that was especially hard for me and it changed my whole perspective. I think that this story is super applicable in the world right now!! So here is the story of Christ calming the sea. 

35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.

… 

37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

     I had the opportunity to go to Galilee this past summer. The wind there is SO strong. As I felt the strong winds and looked at the sea, I could easily picture how scary a storm would be!! In Mark 4, Jesus tells his disciples “let us pass over unto the other side”. However, as Jesus slept on the back of the small fishing boat, a very strong storm arose and the disciples feared for their lives!! As the waves and the wind beat upon their little boat, the 12 disciples asked in absolute desperation “Master, carest thou not that we perish?”  

    When I read those words “Master carest thou not?” I felt like crying out “YES! This is how I feel! Why am I going through this? Where are you?”

   There will be times in all of our lives when we feel like crying out “Master carest thou not?”… Carest thou not that I am sad? Carest thou not that I am going through a hard time? Carest thou not about all the pain and heartache and sadness in this world? What about Coronavirus? Carest thou not about that? We will all have “tempests” of our own. 

 As we go through our trials, it is easy to feel like we have been abandoned. But we must remember that Christ can calm every tempest!! Every single one!! After being overwhelmed with fear, the disciples finally cried out to Jesus. Immediately he “arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” (Mark 4:39) 

Then Jesus says unto the disciples “Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?”. (Mark 4:40)

      I think there is a lot to be learned from this story. Every single time I read it, I  learn something new!! However, the biggest thing I have learned is that we need not fear because Christ is on our side. There may be times when we feel like Christ is “sleeping” but we must remember that he is still on our ship, he is still with us. We are allowed to go through storms because they make us stronger. Although it may be hard, Christ is with us every step of the way.  

In prison Joseph Smith exclaimed a similar plea.  D&C 121: 1

1 O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth the hiding place?

The Lord’s reply is what I want to focus on for the end of this post.  D&C 121:7-8

7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

 I know that without our hardships, we wouldn’t be able to appreciate the beautiful things in life. When we rely on Christ, our trials mold us into the people that God knows we can be. He sees our full potential and knows what will help us achieve that. When we endure-and we can- we will receive blessings!! Blessings are better than anything we can imagine!! I hope that we can all have the faith to trust in Christ. He loves us and is always with us. This is a crazy time of life, but it will make us stronger. Christ can calm the fear and pain that we feel in our hearts just like he can calm the storms of the seas.