Don’t You Care?
A springtime devotional by Rev. Dr. Loida I. Martell
Photo: Dr. Loida I. Martell © 2019
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The following is an excerpt from my personal journals, written as I reflect prayerfully upon my daily Bible readings in conjunction with the Scripture reading from the Spanish version of The Upper Room devotional (El Aposento Alto). HTI Open Plaza has now invited me to share these reflections, along with my photography, with you.
The parable of the sower and the seed is found in three of the gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke). The Lucan version reminds me that the parable isn’t so much about the seed as much as it is about the sower. We are called by God to sow seeds and, as sowers, we will be sent to places of crises and storms, places of despair and locura, places of hopelessness, and even places of death. That is what our calling is about.
In Mark 4, as the chapter unfolds, we realize that the parable is about the seed we are given. We are called by God to sow seeds. While seeds are small and apparently hold no value, in the hands of God, they can achieve the unimaginable. Whether we focus on the sower or the seeds, one thing is clear: we are not called by God to be successful but rather to be faithful. Faithful sowers are those who sow day and night wherever they are sent, not knowing whether the seed will be fruitful (re: Ecclesiastes 11:6).
Being faithful does not preclude the fact that we may end up dealing with our own personal crises, our own storms. In fact, for many who are called, those “dark nights of the soul” seem to appear out of nowhere. Just when we are most joyful, most content, just when we think that we are in the place to which God has called us, doing what we are called to do, the crisis looms. And it is in those unexpected and grief-ridden moments–after being faithful, after being obedient to the divine will, after all the labor, after all the uncertainty, after all the tears shed–that we, like the disciples in the storm (Mark 4: 35–41), turn to God in desperation and ask, “Don’t you care if we perish?”
It is interesting that, when the disciples yell this question to Jesus, their boat seemingly about to be torn to shreds, he does not respond directly with a yes or no. He never says, “Well, of course, I care! Why do you think I came to be, to live and to suffer among you? How can you even ask that??” Rather, Jesus answers with his actions: he calms the storm and brings peace.
While Jesus does not respond directly, Psalm 28 is a response to the question “Don’t you care?” It is God’s extended response. Psalm 28 reminds us that God is and always will be present. Were it not for God’s presence, we would surely perish (v.1). God is the one who hears our cries and becomes our shield, our strength in those times of crisis (v. 6-7).
“Don’t you care, Lord?” Always. The answer, always, is: “Always.”
PRAYER
Thank you for answering our cries, always.
Amen.
