In Mark 3:36, there is an interesting and seemingly meaningless sentence. Meaningless in the sense that it looks simply as a historical and narrative marker. The interesting sentence reads, "And other little boats were also with Him." It comes in the middle of the story where Christ as man, sleeps on the boat, while as God, He calms the storm.
As the windstorm arose, those on Jesus' boat were astonished at Christ's lack of care for the situation. As he arose from his sleep, Jesus rebukes the storm first, and his followers second. How terrified and amazed the disciples would have been in this situation. We have all put ourselves in the shoes of these men.
But take the angle of the interesting and seemingly meaningless sentence. What if you were on one of the 'other' boats. Surely, as everyone was, you would be frightened by the storm and weary of both the present situation and its foreseeable outcome. Perhaps you discuss the storm with others on the boat, comparing it to another storm from the previous season. Just as you begin to fear the worse, the rain lessens, the waves mellow, the clouds pass, and the winds blow softly. You think to yourself, "Phew, that was a little frightening." You return to your comfortable place, and begin to nod off into the night. When you wake up, you have forgotten the situation entirely, but are concerned with the affairs of the day.
If you were one of those on board the 'other' boats, you would have been present in this narrative, yet oblivious to the orchestration of the events.
How true this is for us today. How present we are in so many situations and events of everyday life, yet oblivious to the precise and careful hand of God. Every cloud that passes by in the sky and every blade of grass that waves in the breeze is controlled by the very hand of God.
If only you and I would observe His work. Every situation, every event, every good news, every bad news is ordained and controlled by God.