Trusting God in the Storm Mark 4:35-41 Wind and Wave Obey Jesus 35On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” 41And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”   If we go back to Mark 4:1 And again, He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. 2Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: ·     This scene was repeated on a number of occasions. ·     The crowds were so massive that they pressed Him all the way to the water’s edge. ·     The only way He could get some space between Him, and the crowds was if He were to get in a boat. ·     The water would act like a reflection of His voice and the Hillside surrounding would act like an amphitheater, ·     Jesus had taught: -               The lamp under a basket -               The parable of the seed- planted at night that grows, the farmer knows not how. -               The parable of the Mustard seed -               Most likely He taught many more parables than just these. -               He pulled the disciples to the side and explained the meaning of the parables.     Casting out an unclean spirit           1:23-28  Jesus power over the forces of evil Healing Peter’s mother in law         1:29-34  Jesus Power over sickness Cleansing a Leper  1:40-45         Jesus compassion and His power over sickness Healing a man with a withered hand   3:1-6           Jesus power over sickness and His authority to do good on the Sabbath       Vs 33-34 And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it. 34But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.   Vs 35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” -      The disciples were now on a journey with the will of God. -      They witnessed Jesus teach to the multitudes, He clearly explained the parables to them and answered all their questions.   -      And now He says, “ Let’s get in the boat and cross over to the other side…”   -      So now we have the disciples and Jesus in the boat. -      Boat Size: 27’ long by 7.5’ wide and 4.5’ deep -      Propelled by 4 sets of Oars: Sails when possible. -      Back of the boat seat or a bench: it had a pillow for the person steering the boat.   See life couldn’t get better: -      You just went to church with Jesus, hearing the word of God, and now you’re taking a little cruise with him. Vs 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. All of this is happening in the dead center of the Will of God… -      But now we run into a problem.   V 37   And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.   Now: Let’s take a look at the disciples -      Many of them were fishermen. -      We know that Andrew, Peter, James and John were Fishermen..    Thomas, Nathaniel and Philip may have also worked as fishermen, for they were all together and fishing when Jesus appeared to them in John 21:2-8, following his resurrection. -      They know about Storms. -      But when a professional fisherman is freaking out, something is definitely wrong. -      So now we have a major situation going on here. -      WE have a major storm,  while being in the WILL of God… What does this tell us? -      It will and can rain in the WILL of God -      It’s not always going to be sunshine and rainbows during the WILL of God… -        The Wind of the Storm was shaking and moving the boat / at the same time filling up with water. God Ordained Storm: ·     WE could assume that these were especially chosen winds to accomplish this miracle, to put our Lord in the position to demonstrate that He in fact is the one who controls His creation.   This Storm: -       This kind of trial is an unexpected circumstance that rattles your life and threatens your well-being. -      We’re talking about a situation where your life is on the line. -      You don’t know if you’re going to be ok or not! What is the storm in your life right now? What storm have you had in the past?   A Storm, a Trial, Tribulation: -      Is designed to increase your faith. -      To give you a deeper experience with God -      You can have small storms or large storms, but they always come with a PURPOSE. -      See, with God there is no coincidence   So here we have a situation, or we can call it a crisis, a circumstance:   There are 3 storms were looking at here: 1) We have a Circumstantial Storm -      A circumstantial storm that they had no control over You can’t control: -      The Sea, Wind, the Waves -      Completely out of your control -      So, you can be in the WILL of God, in a Storm and no be able to do anything about it...   2)                 Emotional Storm -      So, Jesus and disciples are out in the boat at night, so that didn’t help either. -      The disciples were scared, you can say terrified.     This is to be a Lesson: Let’s look at  vs 40 “Why are you so fearful? “How is it that you have no faith? This is a Faith Lesson… The Point: -      That our Lord wants to teach His Disciples that He can be trusted in the most threatening of circumstances     ·     The disciples weren’t fearful, they were freaking out! ·     So now we have 2 storms. -      The circumstance -      Now the Emotional Storm So, they’re scared about: -      They’re financials. -      Not finding a job -      Scared about their marriage problems. -      So they start throwing the D word in conversations with their spouse…. Divorce -      They’re scared about being alone and not finding a spouse. -      They’re scared about Trusting again. -      They’re scared about their addiction and not being to live without it. -      They’re scared about living in their Grief… -      They’re scared of being scared…. Whatever it is you can’t control! We’re going to call it your affliction… Something so big, so deep you can’t control it...   Now we have the 3rd Storm: The Spiritual Storm -      We can also call it a Theological Storm. -      Because scripture goes on to say:   They woke up Jesus…   Vs 38:   But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”   That’s the Spiritual Storm Big Picture: -      So, because of the circumstances we’re out of control, they’re emotions have gone crazy. -      Now they question Jesus…and what He has been saying is true…. -      Let’s be honest: There aren’t many of us that haven’t questioned God at 1 point or another. -      Is God going to come through? -      I don’t know  if I should be believing this anymore… -      Because what I’m hearing on Friday Night and Sunday morning, isn’t really matching up with what I’m, feeling on Monday… -      Jesus, you say that you’ll never leave me or forsake me. -      But what I’m experiencing doesn’t match up -      Now I’m not sure this is real…   Am I right?   Let’s review vs 38 again: But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” They shook him and said, “Don’t you care?” Where are you? This story is also explained in Matthew 8 and Luke 8: In the book of Matthew, it says…. “Lord Save us! In the book of Luke, it says “Master, Master!” And in Mark they yelled “Teacher! “ This is how much they were panicking …   It’s a super sad day, when the sailors call on the carpenter to get them out of the storm…    If you cared about me, you wouldn’t be letting me go through this affliction, this trial, this Storm in my Life! … Don’t you care that were perishing? This is huge Jesus; we might drown out here and die! They just came back from Church with Jesus… they just listened to His word… By now they know Jesus has connections with God They know they’re going to need a divine intervention from Jesus… That’s their only HOPE.   The disciples were all raised on the Old Testament: ·     They were familiar with the Psalms. -      So, they would have known:   Psalm 65:5-7              By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of the far-off seas; Who established the mountains by His strength, Being clothed with power; 7You who still the noise of the seas, The noise of their waves, And the tumult of the peoples.   Psalms 89:9                    You rule the raging of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them.       Psalm 107:23     Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters, 24They see the works of the Lord, And His wonders in the deep. 25For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. 26They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; Their soul melts because of trouble. 27They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits’ end. 28Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, So that its waves are still.   Does Jesus care: About: -      My pain, finances, loneliness, my hurt, my relationship, my depression -      Because I’m in HIS WILL and I still feel all of this…   Vs 39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. -      Maybe they were thinking of:   Psalm 10:1 Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide in times of trouble?   Or   Psalm 44:23-24   Awake! Why do You sleep, O Lord? Arise! Do not cast us off forever. 24Why do You hide Your face, And forget our affliction and our oppression?   -      As soon as he says these words… the sea is like glass…   -      The water and the wind recognized the voice of the Creator. Just as He would tell death to release Lazarus.          He tells the wind and the waves to Obey HIS Will… -      Everything is calm. -      Except the disciples…   Vs 40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”   They knew Jesus had power over demons. -      Over disease -      Over the Natural world and the Supernatural world -      Could He save them in this circumstance? -      Could He deliver them from this Perfect Storm? I don’t think it entered their mind that He could stop the Storm…   One of the disciples could have said, “Well, I don’t know Jesus, because we could have died…”   But at the very beginning Jesus told them something particularly important: “Let us go over to the other side” … Not let me go, or hopefully we’ll make it … No….” Let’s go over to the other side …” You guys were excited to get in the boat with me. -      But when scary circumstances showed up, you forgot what I told you…   -      Your problems overrode my PROMISE.   -      They were living in the light of the PROBLEM. -      Not the light of the PROMISE   God never wants you to deny your circumstance: -      A storm is a storm, some days it’s going to pour, and we can’t deny that. -      But God doesn’t your storm to overtake or surpass His word… -      He definitely doesn’t want your storm to surpass HIS Presence -      Because He’s in the boat with you …   So now Jesus speaks to the problem: -      Quiet... be still. -      The wind and the waves obey. -      Now there’s a circumstantial change.   V41 1And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” -      When they saw Jesus immediately change the circumstance, they became very afraid. -      Jesus took the disciples of a journey of discovery… to discover their faith…   Who can this be? -      The Supernatural Power of Jesus is such that with a word, Millions of Horsepower of wind is halted. -      Millions of gallons of water are stopped and made still. -      This is the son of God, proven by his Birth, proven by His Victory over Satan -      Proven by His Teaching -      Proven by His Miracle Power -      And Proven by His tremendous control of creation. -      Yes, He can change nature, so the Lion lies down with the lamb! -      He has the Power over His creation to change Life span so that in the Kingdom somebody who dies at a hundred, dies like an infant.   Adversity Reveals our Level of Faith… ·     When hardships come our way, do we respond  “God, I trust you to bring me through this?” -Or do we tend to say, “I’m doomed there’s nothing anybody can do! “   * How many times have you felt like the disciples? * Life turns stormy and no matter what you do, it seems like you’re going to Perish * You cry out, “Don’t you care Lord, that this is happening to me? “ * God, don’t you care enough to do something about the hardship? * God, don’t you know how my heart is broken now that I lost my mom, my husband, my son…   This Christian thing doesn’t work, that’s what the disciples were saying…   I’m not getting victory, I’m not getting delivered… I’m not, and I’ve tried.. I come to church… And they want to know why… We want to know why…   What does His word say… We have a book here that explains who Jesus is…   He doesn’t just bless you for you…. -      He blesses you for His name and His Glory.. -      Your impact -      Your Testimony -      Your Ministry -      You’re a part of the Miracle..   See we have to: ·     Allow adversity to spur your faith to action rather than into question. ·     When you do, you will find that it reveals areas in which you need to act in CONFIDENCE rather than in FEAR. ·     When challenging times come, instead of running for COVER, make a COMMITMENT to TRUST GOD…     If I’m faltering in my faith now, I have my faith built on the wrong God. A faith that cannot be tested, is a faith that cannot be trusted… Because real faith gets stronger through testing, not weaker …    

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