On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?" And he awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?"
Mark 4:35–41 (RSV)
I don't think it was intentional. I was at the pool in Jewell, IA, on a typical July afternoon. It was hot, humid and in the late '60's it was the best way to spend the day. I had dove into the deep end, planning to come up by the diving boards.
I am not sure how it happened, but another swimmer was getting out right above me as I was coming up. He may have thought he was bracing himself on something solid as he pushed to get out. The something solid was me. The more he tried to get out, the harder he pushed me down.
I started to drown. I had run out of air, and panic set in. I wasn't thinking about Jesus. Fighting to breathe in water didn't care a fig if I had been baptized. All that occupied my mind was breaking free.
The disciples came to the sleeping Jesus and shouted their panic over the howling of the wind, 'Teacher, don't you care if we perish?' The fishermen among them knew how bad things were. If they were panicking, then something must have been wrong.
Real people in real situations confronted by terror can't always think of Jesus. The panic and fear are overwhelming, so if they think of God, it is to cry out. 'Do you not care if we perish?' Even those whose faith is a blessing to behold can fail when the waters are mountains and drive the air from your lungs.
Jesus does not abandon, even when the terror is all we can feel. When we can no longer think of Jesus out of fear, He does not forget us. When all earthly securities fail, Jesus does not.