How To Handle The Storms Of Life

Introduction: Have you ever been in a storm? No, I mean a REAL storm! One where the lightening flashes and you feel the electrical charge from miles away? Or where the thunder crashes so loud, it seems every window is about to shatter? Or the rain falls so heavy that you can’t see a foot in front of you?

Years ago, my wife and I were returning from Pampa, Texas – up in the panhandle, and traveling back to catch a flight out of Amarillo following the funeral of her grandfather. It was late afternoon, and about a half-hour into our drive, the dark skies unleased rain like we’d never experienced. It was so heavy, I had to stop the car because I couldn’t tell where the road was! As we sat there, the rain pounding fiercely on the car, the wind had also kicked up, and was now rocking the car back and forth and driving the rain sideways. Then suddenly, the brilliant flash of lightening in front of us, followed by an ear shattering “BOOM” of thunder. We thought we might be in the presence of a tornado! To say we were getting a bit concerned would be an understatement. We truly believed we might not survive that storm. (Obviously, we did . . . )

Ever been in a storm like that? Then perhaps you can appreciate the circumstances the Apostles found themselves in on the Sea of Galilee. Turn to Mark chapter four in your Bibles, or on your phone, or read along on the screen with me. I want to talk to you this morning about “How to Handle the Storms of Life.”

Text: 35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” [Mark 4:35-41 NRSV]

I. The Severity of the Storm. It had been a full day of teaching there north of the Sea of Galilee, with lessons in great parables, like the Parable of the Sower, and the Parable of the Mustard Seed. The later, a parable about the power of just a little faith; a lesson they were about to be tested over! It’s evening time, and Jesus wants to go across to Gerasene (Mk. 5:1). So they load up in a boat, and some others crowd into other smaller boats for the journey. They start out, and Jesus goes down to the stern of the boat and falls asleep on the cushion. For those living near this body of water, a fairly routine beginning to crossing the lake.

A. The Winds: But then trouble blew in – out of nowhere. If you read commentaries, or study the geography of the Sea of Galilee, you’ll learn that this is a common occurrence. Given the structure of the mountains, the cool, moist air coming in from the Mediterranean Sea to the west, and the hot, dry air coming in from the desert to the East, these winds meet and sink into the Galilee basin, with a lake some 600 feet below sea level. These winds can converge and whip up a storm in a heartbeat, and you can still see this happen today. It was probably this type of situation that turned a routine trip across the lake into a fight for life & death.

B. The Workers: One observation I make about this – the people on board. At least four of these men, Peter, Andrew, James, and John were professional fishermen that grew up on this body of water as fishermen. It’s highly probable that these men had witnessed or been in a similar situation before. Phillip and Nathanael were also from the area. I can imagine the four fishermen yelling out orders of what to do in order to maintain control of the ship. Someone was controlling the rudder; maybe a couple or three managing the sail. Verse 37, however, tells us that the boat was filling, or “swamping” with water, which means it was close to sinking. The picture Scripture paints here is that whatever they’re doing to work through this situation isn’t enough.