Admist The Storms Series

A wife woke up one morning and said, “Honey, I just had a dream that you bought me a new gold necklace. What do you think it means?”

“I don’t know, but Valentine’s Day is coming soon. Tuesday, you’ll know,” He replied.

A few nights later, she again woke up after having a dream, “This time, I dreamed you gave me a pearl necklace. What do you think it means?”

“You’ll know Tuesday,” He replied.

The night before Valentine’s Day, she again woke up telling him about her dream, “This time I dreamed that you brought me a diamond necklace. What do you think it means?”

“Honey, be patient. "You’ll know tonight." he said.

That evening, the husband came home with a package and gave it to his wife. Delighted, she opened it--to find a book entitled, "The meaning of dreams."

We live lives filled with shattered dreams and disappointments. Often we give Satan the credit for those problems and call it “spiritual warfare.” But last week we discovered some interesting facts about spiritual warfare.

We discovered that the devil was completely disarmed and stripped naked of all of his powers over us. We discovered he was paraded through the streets of heaven and publicly humiliated. We discovered we have victory over Satan but we still have battles with him.

We discovered that warfare is only mentioned 5 times in the New Testament and not once does it have anything to do with Satan. Rather the warfare is between our spirit and our flesh. Our war is against mental bondages and human reasoning. Our warfare is against doubt. Our warfare is the threat of losing focus of why God placed us here, which is to make disciples and be salt and light. Our warfare is fighting our lusts and desires to have it our way. Our warfare is desiring to control our thoughts and actions rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to do so. Losing on any of these battle fields empowers Satan.

We also discovered that we must take responsibility for our own actions. That wherever we are challenged we must recognize our role in the battle. And if the battle is not because of our actions than begin to discover what God is getting ready to do.

Let’s be certain of this. When you are being active for God, Satan will try to derail you. He will discourage you. He will put fear in you. He will put doubt in your mind. He got to the twelve disciples this way and he will you also.

Let’s read Mark 4:35. “As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.”

What was important on the other side of the lake? The other side of the lake was the region of Gerasenes. It was known as the Decapolis, the ten cities. It was largely a Gentile area where the Roman Army was stationed to maintain the order and peace in the conquered land. It was home to a demon possessed man who lived in the graveyards. Supernaturally strong, he wandered about cutting himself. He needed deliverance and Jesus was sent by his Father to deliver him because God had a plan for this man’s life. So Jesus and the twelve set about their mission.

Let’s continue the story. Mark 4:36-38. “So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.”

Let’s look at the word for “came up.” The Greek word is ginomai. It described something that came up unexpectedly or catches you off guard. There was nothing about that night that would have led them to believe that a storm was coming. As experienced fisherman they knew it was a perfect night for sailing. Plus this was no ordinary storm. It was a fierce storm. The Greek word was megas. We get our word mega, meaning huge, from this.

This was a mega storm. The last time the United States had a mega storm was Oct 29, 2012 when Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey. A 14 foot wave of ocean water hit the coast and covered 51 square miles of the city. Imagine an area from Mountain Island Lake down Hwy 16 to Newton and from Lincolnton to Concord covered with water. 70,000 homes were damaged or destroyed. Entire neighborhoods burnt to the ground. 43 people died. This was a mega storm. This was what the disciples were facing.

Plus, since we are told that high waves were breaking into the boat, we know that it was a wind storm. The wind storm was unseen but the effects were being felt. This is the way Satan works. We often do not see his attacks coming or even where they are coming from. But we suffer the effects of such attacks.