There are certain Bible stories that I remember hearing as a small child in Sunday School class. Flannel board set up with the colorful story pieces spread out on the table, the teacher would launch into these amazing tales about a giant falling after he was hit by a single stone or a wall coming down after a week of marching. A man-swallowing fish or a perfect garden or a den of hungry lions. Signs like a wet fleece on dry ground or a rainbow curving in the sky. Good guys and bad guys. A manger followed by miracles. A cross followed by an empty tomb.   One of my favorite Bible stories was about Jesus calming the storm. The flannel cut-out of a scalloped sea would be placed along the bottom of the board, then a wooden boat would be added. Clouds and bolts of lightning would appear in the sky. I love this story for the power it displays, but I noticed something new as I took a lap through Mark 4 recently.     Jesus had been teaching and healing, healing and teaching. Crowds of hurting and hungry people followed his every move. Exhausted, Jesus told his friends that he needed a break. “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake,” he suggested. Then verse 36 says, “Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.” Just as he was . That phrase stood out to me. If you read what happened before this, you see his physical state. He was weary. And when you continue with the story, you realize that Jesus was so tired that he slept through a “furious squall” with giant waves breaking over into the boat so that it nearly capsized. The desperate screams of his friends as they attempted to maneuver the boat and bail out the rising water didn’t initially wake him.   Eventually, they roused him from his deep sleep. “Don’t you care if we drown?” they shouted. I suppose they asked this about themselves, but maybe it was disbelief that he wasn’t concerned for his own sake. Each of the three gospels where this story is recorded mention what happened next. He got up. I imagine this was one of those “push-yourself-up-from-where-you’re-sleeping” moves. You groan a little and sigh. His exhaustion didn’t disappear, but he was moved by their fear and hopelessness. I don’t know what they were expecting him to do, but, by their reactions, I guess it wasn’t this: He ordered the wind to be quiet. He commanded the waves to be still. And suddenly the world was completely calm.   He asked his disciples, “Why are you so worked up? After everything you’ve seen, do you still have no faith?” Adrenaline still pulsing through their bodies, Jesus’ followers were terrified. They thought that deciphering his parables was going to be the most confusing part. Now they had to try to walk around with this man who could make the wind and waves obey him!   I’m not planning any sea voyages anytime soon, but I can take comfort in that fact that Jesus was tired, too. When I’m weary and exhausted, I can rest in the knowledge that he knows exactly how this feels. I can also take a page from his disciples’ book and invite Jesus into my chaos. I may not have the exact words to communicate what I need when life comes crashing down on me, but I can come to him just as I am and yell out, “Help!” His response may surprise me, but I guarantee he won’t sleep through my storm.