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)
The day will come when the cries of Jesus' disciples, "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?" will be our cry. We will encounter the hour of crisis when our trust begins to waiver, and our hearts are full of dread. It may be a fleeting moment or a daily companion. "Do you not care, Jesus?"
These trials will come. You may be enduring the greatest trial of your life as you read these words. A great storm of life may have been battering your faith for years. One might wonder how you will be able to hold on for even an hour more. "Lord, do you not care?"
When the wind is driving the waves into mountains, you realize how small you are compared to that power. It is like staring into the face of death that has come for you, knowing there is no other path before you. How alone you can feel at that moment. How helpless and terrified is your soul as hope fades.
What the disciples could not see because of the storm was that Jesus was still with them. The same storm that surrounded them, causing their hearts to fail, was raging around Jesus. Jesus would later endure every agony unto death as He hung on the cross.
Jesus is always with us. There is no time or place where He is absent. He has known all our fears, pains, sorrows, and death itself. He does care for us. He has gone through hell for us. Even as we are dying, Jesus is with us, speaking a word of hope, "I have faced even death itself. I am still your living Lord. Have no fear; this storm will not last."
At the end of all things, when all the trials and sorrows have ceased, when death itself is no more, Jesus will still be with us.