Interaction between radio presenters and their audiences is commonplace, whether it be with phone-ins, or by email and texts. So some frustration then, when on 8th October 2016 the BBC system that gathers texts and sends them on to the correct studio failed during Anneka Rice’s breakfast show. Unbelievably Rice revealed that the system was designed and maintained by one man, and he was still fast asleep in bed!
Jesus’ friends once found themselves in a similar situation when they were sailing across the Sea of Galilee, and a furious storm blew up and threatened to drown them. Unfortunately, the man they thought might be able to help was fast asleep and oblivious to their predicament. Fortunately, he was fast asleep in the back of their boat and so it didn’t take too long to wake him and get the problem fixed – with a word Jesus stilled the storm and restored calm once again.1
The moral of these stories seems to be that if you’re going to depend on a system that might you let down, it’s best to keep the one who can fix any problems close at hand; and as Jesus’ friends discovered He really is the go-to person for most of the problems life throws at us.
1Mark 4:35-41