Listening For The Right Sound

Listening for the Right Sound

I used to go coon hunting in my younger days. Now for those of you who don't know about racoons, they are nocturnal animals. So you hunt them at night. I never had a coon dog but had friends who did. We would hunt on Charlotte’s family farm. Highway 61 ran right through the middle of it.

I spent a lot of time on that property hunting and cutting wood and I knew just about every square foot of it. But when you are in the same woods in the middle of the night with nothing but moonlight to guide you (at times only a flashlight) everything looks different. I have one brother in law who would get totally lost and I don’t think he would have ever found his way back home if he had been alone. He tried to walk according to what he could see.

I learned pretty quickly that in order to keep my bearings I had to depend on more than just my sight. I listened. Even if we were a ½ mile or more from the highway I could still hear the highway noise. Others could hear the highway noise but couldn’t determine what direction it was from. But I determined from the onset that I would keep the noise in my mind regardless of how far away we got.

In our passage today I want to share a story that involves hearing the right voice and how we are called to respond to it.

Mark 4:35-41 NIV

35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

Prayer: I know

I. The sound of Jesus’ voice can be drowned out by the busyness of life.

I want you to get this… the last thing Jesus said before they headed out to cross the lake was…

“Let us go over to the other side.”

When we think of Jesus’ disciples we think of the twelve that He called to be apostles. But there were others that were disciples that we just don’t hear about. After a day of ministry among the crowds, when Jesus said, “Let us go over to the other side.” The twelve were in the boat with Him. They were going cause Jesus said so. But there were others that made up their minds that where Jesus goes I’m going too. Verse 36, There were also other boats with him. They were going to stay within hearing distance of Jesus.

But for others, the sound of Jesus’ voice was drowned out by, I’m so tired. I just can’t do it. Or, I don’t have time or I don’t have any qualifications for ministry. Or how about this one, “I ain’t going over to that gentile place across the lake. Nope, not gonna mix with that bunch.

They couldn’t hear the voice any longer and lost their sense of direction.

But Jesus knew exactly what He was doing. He had an appointment across the lake and wasn’t going to miss it.

John 5:19-20 NIV1984

19 … “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.

Did Jesus know that there was a storm coming? It didn’t matter.

Did Jesus know what he was going to see on the other side of the lake? That was the Father’s plan.

II. The Sound of Jesus’ voice can be lost in our circumstances.

37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” The KJV says that the “waves beat into the boat…” Here's a thought for you… the word “broke over” in the NIV and “beat “ in the KJV is the Greek word “epiballo” In classical Greek literature this word is never used except as the intended blow thrown at another person or object. Epiballo is a compound word. Epi meaning “upon” and ballo meaning “a deliberate strike”