Facing Life's Storms Without Fear Series

Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over.

1. The problems began when Chippie’s owner decided to clean Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. The phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She’d barely said "hello" when "ssssopp!" Chippie got sucked in.

The bird owner gasped, put down the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie -- still alive, but stunned.

Since the bird was covered with dust and soot, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held Chippie under the running water. Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do . . . she reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air.

Poor Chippie never knew what hit him.

A few days after the trauma, the reporter who’d initially written about the event contacted Chippie’s owner to see how the bird was recovering. "Well," she replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore -- he just sits and stares."

It’s hard not to see why. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over . . . That’s enough to steal the song from the stoutest heart.

- Taken from the writings of Max Lucado. Unsure of the book title.

Lessons from this miracle of Jesus.

1. When you follow Jesus, problems may happen.

Storms happen. Even when you follow Jesus, storms happen. You’re doing your best to do what God wants you to do, and suddenly, it’s all turned upside down. The waves are smashing over your little boat – the water seems like it’s coming in faster than you can bail it out!

If I was the disciples, I would have been pretty aggravated with Jesus, about the time the waves started coming over the side. Did you notice whose idea it was to get in the boat and go to the other side? JESUS’!

Now, since we know that Jesus was God come in the flesh, and he knows EVERYTHING, that means that HE KNEW THAT STORM WAS COMING!!!!

And he still allowed them to go! What does that mean to you and me? It means that when you start following Jesus, not everything will be perfect. . . you’ll still have problems.

2. When Jesus is on board, you can always call him.

I wonder why the disciples waited until they were quite sure they were done for until they called Jesus? I don’t know the answer to that. . .

But I do know that no matter where you are in your storm, you can talk to Jesus about it. IF he’s in the boat with you. If you aren’t currently following him, and giving him your life, then NOW would be a good time to get him in your boat – don’t wait until the storm comes up!!

You may be at the stage where the waves are just getting a little rough. Nothing to really get scared about yet. You know,

- if your money is running a little lower than normal. . .

- or if your physical condition hasn’t been as good as you’d like. . .

- You’re undergoing some tests at the hospital.

- The kids aren’t minding all that well, and you’re worried about them.

- You’ve felt depressed lately.

- Your wife/husband has been a little cold and distant for a few weeks now.

NOW IS THE TIME to make sure Jesus is in your boat. Don’t wait until the storm is so big that you’re afraid you’re going under!!!

3. The REAL problem isn’t usually the storm, it’s our lack of faith.

Fixing the wrong thing.

A friend of mine awoke one morning to find a puddle of water in the middle of his king-size water bed. In order to fix the puncture, he rolled the heavy mattress outdoors and filled it with more water so he could locate the leak more easily. The enormous bag of water was impossible to control and began rolling on the hilly terrain. He tried to hold it back, but it headed downhill and landed in a clump of bushes which poked it full of holes.

Disgusted, my friend threw out the water-bed frame and moved a standard bed into his room. The next morning, he awoke to find a puddle of water in the middle of the new bed. The upstairs bathroom had a leaky drain.

When Jesus woke up, he didn’t say, “Oh, man! This IS a bad one! You guys were right to be afraid! You were right to think that I didn’t care!!”