After The Storm

After the Storm

By

Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.

OPENING: - In Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem entitled “The Rainy Day” we find this famous line which says “Into each life some rain must fall” meaning that everyone will experience difficulty and heartache at some point. Matthew 5:45 says “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust”. Just a sure as the sun will shine tomorrow just as sure as the breath you just took just as sure as death is inevitable – the storms and trials of life are sure to come your way. None of us are exempt from the storms of life.

Storms are not fun and often leave us with damage that we have to deal with in its wake. However, what is important for us to realize is that though the storms of this life come they bring valuable lessons that we cannot learn apart from them. Several years ago, my wife and I had a gazebo in our backyard it was sturdy, and we left it up year - round until it just dry- rotted. Recently we got another one that was not as strong or sturdy. I left it up during a storm one night and when I got up the next morning our gazebo had suffered damage. I learned that although it was a gazebo it could not handle the storm like the one we had several years ago. The storm will come but what will you learn after the storm.

Prayer:-

Scripture:- Mark 4:35-40 says “And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full, And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish. And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?”.

When the sea was calm, and the disciples were sailing they gave no thought to the fact that the Lord was keeping the seas calm. So many times, we go along in life and as long as things are smooth sailing in our lives God is given little consideration. Even some so-called Christians will only give God time on Sunday morning when things are going well. But when the storms begin to rage the prayer wheel keeps on turning. Just look at 2020, when the pandemic caused the world to literally shut down and the church doors along with everything else people were calling on the name of the Lord like never before. Making promises and trying to bargain with God saying Lord if you deliver us from this then I will serve you all the days of my life, but now that things are getting back to some form of normalcy the prayer wheels are suffering from flat tires, dry-rot and simply falling off. The attitude is now that the storm is over, we made we can just carry on with life. But making it through the storm is only the first step. To experience God’s best in this next season of our lives, you and I must be able to learn from the storms and use that information to grow spiritually.

In our text, Jesus was exhausted from all that He has been doing. He has just finished preaching, healing the sick, opening blinded eyes, unstopping deaf ears, healing lepers and dealing with the attacks and traps of the Pharisees. He is physically exhausted, and He tells His disciples let’s cross over to the other side. And they get into a boat and there are other little boats there with them and Jesus heads to the stern of the boat and falls asleep. After Jesus goes to sleep in the stern of the boat, a life-threatening storm suddenly erupts. It is so rough they take on water and the disciples feared they were going to sink and die. They wake Jesus and ask don’t you care that we will die. As Jesus gets up out of a dead sleep, He says three words - “Peace be still!” Now you know I have to go here 3 represents fulness. He demonstrated the full power and authority He has. The storm submits to the superior power of Christ, and they all make it safely to the other side.