When God Seems Too Calm About Your Crisis

You've cried out for help and God seems… relaxed. Will Sopwith on Mark 4 and the storm Jesus slept through.

About this episode

Why does God sometimes feel completely unbothered about the thing that's wrecking you? Guest speaker Will Sopwith opens up Mark 4, where the disciples are bailing out a sinking boat while Jesus is asleep on a cushion at the back. Through some honest stories — a cycling holiday in Glencoe, Elijah on Mount Carmel, and three weather miracles at Dunkirk — Will makes the case that faith isn't a magic charm that lifts you out of the storm. It's the steady presence of someone who's with you in it.

Timestamps

1. 00:00 Welcome and intro
2. 02:08 Will reads Mark 4:35–41 — Jesus calms the storm
3. 04:30 Glencoe — the prayer that lifted the clouds
4. 09:00 Elijah praying for rain (1 Kings 18) and Dunkirk's three weather miracles
5. 14:00 Point one — Jesus is God (he commands the wind and the sea)
6. 16:00 Point two — Jesus cares (not a god needing to be buttered up)
7. 17:30 Point three — Jesus does not abandon us to our fears
8. 18:30 Faith isn't a magic charm or an insurance policy
9. 20:30 Conversation Street — Dan and Jan unpack the talk with Will
10. 31:15 Jan's broken-down car and the stranger who vanished
11. 35:30 Why we still need to pray when God already knows
12. 40:30 Closing prayer — "Jesus, who are you?"

Conversation Street highlights

A few moments worth rewinding for.

Dan, on a God who isn't too busy for you. Will's line "surely God has got better things to do" landed for Dan. His response: "No, he does. He wants to know our situation. He cares particularly about our situation… He wants to focus on you, on Jan, on me, on Will."

Jan, on the lifestyle thing. Jan names the gap most of us feel — we run to God in emergencies, then drift back to managing on our own. "It's just like childlike faith, isn't it? A little child will cry and ask mum or dad to pick them up. Who better to go to than our Father? But we don't do it as quickly as we should."

Dan, on the ferry he missed. A family trip home in the late '80s — truck kept breaking down, they missed the ferry, and that ferry sailed into the storm that hit Kew Gardens. "Sometimes God doesn't stop the storm. He just stops us getting in the way of it."

Jan, on the stranger in the fog. Student nurse, borrowed her dad's car, broke down in fog at 6:30am in a rough area. She prayed. A man appeared, told her to lift the bonnet, got the engine going — and then he was gone. No footsteps. "It could have been an angelic thing. It could have been a God moment. But he does care. He really does."

Will, on praying anyway. A direct word to the cynics in the room: "Turn off your little cynical voice for a moment and say, well — what if God answers that? What if it is a really stupid thing? And what if it might have happened anyway? Just pray anyway."

Key references

1. Bible: Mark 4:35–41 (Jesus calms the storm), 1 Kings 18:41–45 (Elijah and the rain), Matthew 28:18 (Jesus' authority), Psalm 89 (God stilling the raging sea)
2. Historical: The Battle of Dunkirk and the National Day of Prayer called by King George VI on 26 May 1940
3. Quoted: Mike Tyson — "Everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the head"

Quotes from the talk"He is a solid rock in a storm. He's not flustered by what threatens to tear us apart, but he does care and he is able." — Will Sopwith"Jesus knew the storm would come and yet still told his disciples to row across the lake. Following Jesus' instructions didn't keep them from danger." — Will Sopwith"I encourage you not to stop asking. I encourage you to ask Jesus his perspective on it." — Will SopwithLinks

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