Lessons Learned In The Storm #7 Series

Great Lessons from the Life of Christ #7

Lessons Learned in the Storm (Mark 4:35-41)

Life is tough, but if you have lived very long, you already know that.

• Scott Peck, begins his book The Road Less Traveled with the words “Life if Difficult.”

• In life, you are going to experience pains, problems, struggles and heartaches.

Job said that “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble” (14:1). And Job knew what he was talking about. Someone has pointed out that God Himself had but one Son, and though He was without sin, He wasn’t without sorrows.

• Someone has compared life to a soap opera – You either just got out of a problem, you have a problem, or you are headed for a problem. That is a pretty accurate description of life.

• Someone else said it this way – “One of three things are true: You either have a problem, you are a problem, or you live with a problem.” That is also true.

• This is life – there is sickness and death, heartache and heartbreak, disappointments and struggles – and as long as you are breathing, that will not change.

So, the question is not, will storms come?

• The question is: What will I learn when the storm comes? What will I become having gone through the storm?

• Our text is Mark 4:35-41, and our goal is simple: What are you supposed to learn when you go through the storms of life?

We are working through the book of Mark – trying to see how Jesus did life and what He teaches us about life.

• Mark has 16 chapters and 150 scene changes. We are just hitting the highlights.

• Remember what has taken place up to this point. This is the end of a long hard day – a day just like most days in Jesus’ life.

• Multitudes are following, but most will not be touched by what Jesus is teaching.

• Those of us who teach and preach can relate to that. It is an honor to stand here, but I realize that most who need to be here are not here. And probably ½ of those who are here do not pay attention to what is taught. And of those ½ who do pay attention, ½ of those will not get what is being taught. And of those ½ who do understand, ½ of those will not agree with what was said. And of the ½ that do agree, ½ hour after they leave will not even remember what we talked about.

• When you put teaching and preaching in those perspectives, it is an humbling experience.

As soon as Jesus finishes teaching, He says to His disciples, “Guy’s, let’s get out of here.” And they take out across the lake. The lake being Galilee.

• Galilee is a large lake – about 6 miles across.

• As they go across the lake, night is beginning to fall, and a storm comes up. Jesus, being tired, goes to the stern, lays down, and goes to sleep. The disciples, fearful of the storm, go to Jesus and wake Him up. “Lord, don’t you care? Lord, we are about to die.” Jesus gets up, looks around and rebukes the storm. He then turns to his disciples and asks two very pointed questions:

…Why are you afraid?

…How is it that you have no faith?

• You need to pay close attention to those two questions, because when we face the storms of life, those are two very relevant questions: “Why are you afraid?” and “Where is your faith?”

This is the story we are going to look at and try to learn the lessons Jesus wants all of us to learn when we go through the storms of life.

• Today, when I consider what is going on in my life right now, I need this.

• My guess is some of you do to.

Lesson #1: When life seems out of control, the world is still in God’s hands.

• After the disciples wake Jesus, we are told that He rebukes the storm. That word “rebuke” means to “scold.” One translation puts it this way - “Oh, pipe down.”

It is almost like a phrase that a man would use when scolding a dog that won’t quit

barking…”be quite, pipe down, hush!”

• Vs. 39 - says that “immediately the storm stops”

Jesus speaks and just like that the storm is gone.

The disciples look at one another, scratch their heads and ask “Who is this man, that

even the winds and sea obey him?”

• Verse 36 is important – “other little boats were with them.”

Jesus is trying to get away from the crowds, but there are those who follow.