God never sleeps.

上帝不打盹，也不睡觉。

Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him! Mark 4:41

这到底是谁，连风和海也听从祂了。-马可福音4章41节

Imagine a world without wind. Lakes would be calm. Falling leaves wouldn’t blow in the streets. But in still air, who would expect trees to suddenly fall over? That’s what happened in a three-acre glass dome built in the Arizona desert. Trees growing inside a huge windless bubble called Biosphere 2 grew faster than normal until suddenly collapsing under their own weight. Project researchers eventually came up with an explanation. These trees needed wind stress to grow strong.

试想在一个没有风的世界，湖面平静，落叶纹丝不动。在凝滞的空气中，怎么会有许多树木轰然倒下呢？然而这样的事却发生在亚利桑纳州沙漠的温室。这个占地三英亩的被称为生物圈2号的玻璃圆顶巨大无风的温室，其中所种植的树木，生长速度比在一般环境中更快，可是最后树木却自己突然倒塌。研究人员最终得出结论：这些树木需要经历强风，才能更加茁壮。

Jesus let His disciples experience gale-force winds to strengthen their faith (Mark 4:36–41). During a night crossing of familiar waters, a sudden storm proved too much even for these seasoned fishermen. Wind and waves were swamping their boat while an exhausted Jesus slept in the stern. In a panic they woke Him. Didn’t it bother their Teacher that they were about to die? What was He thinking? Then they began to find out. Jesus told the wind and waves to be quiet—and asked His friends why they still had no faith in Him.

耶稣让门徒经历狂风暴雨，增强他们的信心（马可福音4章36-41节）。他们在黑夜里越过熟悉的水域，一阵突如其来的狂风，连这些老练的渔夫都招架不住。狂风和巨浪拍打着船身，耶稣却疲累地在船尾睡着了，门徒惊惧害怕地叫醒耶稣。他们都要死了，耶稣不在意吗？祂有什么用意吗？直到耶稣吩咐风和海止息，并且问门徒，为何仍然对祂没有信心，门徒这才明白其中的深意。

If the wind had not blown, these disciples would never have asked, “Who is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:41).

如果这阵狂风不曾刮起，门徒永远都不会问：“这到底是谁，连风和海也听从祂了。”（马可福音4章41节）

Today, life in a protective bubble might sound good. But how strong would our faith be if we couldn’t discover for ourselves His reassuring “be still” when the winds of circumstance howl?

今天，生活在无风无雨的温室中，或许听起来很不错。但若我们的人生一帆风顺，未曾经历祂平静风雨的大能，信心又岂能茁壮成长呢？

Father in heaven, please help us to remember that anything that frightens us comes with an invitation to find the strength of knowing and trusting You.

亲爱的天父，求祢帮助我们记住，凡使我们惊恐的事， 都能使我们更认识祢、信靠祢。

Read: Mark 4:36–41

³⁶ Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷ A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸ Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰ He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹ They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

整理：于姊妹