In Spite of the Storm
By Pastor Jim May
Jesus was the Miracle Working Man from Galilee. He was The Great Hope of the Jews. To many who watched him perform miracles, signs and wonders, Jesus was the Great Messiah, the Deliverer. For many of them he was the answer to their prayers, the hope of their future and the shining light of a brand new day. Yes, he was all of these things, but the one thing about Jesus that very few of the Jews really understood was that Jesus was the Very Son of God, the Savior of the World, the Great Physician who had come not just to perform miracles and healings, but to heal men of their sin. Though the Jews often lifted up praises to Jesus, and though they had great expectations of him, the Jews never fully understood that Jesus was Very God in their midst.
They had their hearts set upon the things of this world and not upon the things of the Spirit. Their thoughts were for today and not for eternity. They are a picture of much of the church world today.
Jesus had just fed the 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. It wasn’t much but how many of you know that Little is Much When God is in it? I’d rather have a small church and have the blessings of God than a mega-church where there is no moving of the Spirit. I’d rather live from week to week depending upon the Lord to meet my needs and have his blessings upon my life than to have all the gold I could hold and not know Jesus. I’d rather ride a bicycle and have the hand of God upon me than to drive a Rolls Royce and not know him. God’s blessings upon the little that I may have is vastly greater than having the curse of sin upon any great abundance that I could have.
The Jews on that hillside that day watched as this great miracle unfolded right before their very eyes. As a piece of bread was broken off and placed in the basket, the loaf of bread would simply reappear. Jesus is that Bread of Life. In effect he was trying to tell the people that the Bread that He offered could never be fully consumed but that he was all-sufficient for them.
But the people didn’t see that sermon as Jesus preached it through this miraculous illustration. Their minds were set on earthly things and all they saw was a great prophet performing a miracle before their very eyes. It was something that none of them had ever seen before for it had been many years since such miracles had been performed in their midst. Surely this Jesus must be the promised Messiah.
Then they watched as the 2 fish grew and grew until everyone was filled and there was fish left over. What a great miracle this was! Who could this Jesus be but the Messiah they had waited for, for so long?
At first it was just a whisper, then a rumble, then a roar, then a shout! The Messiah has come! This must be the Messiah – the Deliverer! The people would have made Jesus their Messiah right then and there but it was not a Spiritual Savior they wanted, but an earthly king.
And what about the 12 disciples; those 12 men who had walked with Jesus and helped him to distribute the bread and the fish; what were they thinking? I can’t help but believe that they were caught up in the excitement of the moment just like the rest of the Jews. I believe that they had joined in the shout and wanted Jesus to sieze the moment and become the Messiah and King of Israel, and lead the Jews in a revolt to throw cast off the Roman control of Israel.
Because of their carnal thinking, Jesus knew that the crowds were going to try press him into action but this was not his purpose in coming to the earth so he had to stop them. He began to try to disperse the crowd, sending them away; and then he began to get the disciples to forget the excitement of the moment and to move on for there was much left to do.
Matthew 14:22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
Matthew 14:23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
It took some persuasion to get the disciples to leave. After all, they wanted a King too. They still hadn’t understood who Jesus really was or what his true purpose was. They were still looking for a Messiah, and desired Jesus to fulfill that role. Jesus finally convinced them to get into a boat. He “constrained” them; forced them; compelled them; probably physically pushing them and holding them back; restraining them and ordering them into the boat.
At the same time Jesus was ordering the crowds to go, but many would not leave. They were determined to stay and make him their King. Finally he was able to get away from them by going into the mountains, leaving them waiting there by the seashore for him, and his disciples to return. Many stayed and when he didn’t come back, we find out later that they loaded into boats and followed him to Capernaum.
One thing that probably caused some of the crowd not to follow Jesus into the mountain was that he went there to pray. By going up on a mountain to pray Jesus was actually breaking one of the laws and traditions of the Jews. That law, or tradition said that a man may not stand, neither upon a throne, nor upon a footstool, nor in any high place and pray, because there are no high places before God.
Jesus is God so it just didn’t matter, and there, upon that mountain, away from the noise of the crowds and alone he could finally commune with the Father in Heaven.
We must also never forget that Jesus was also a man in every way, and though he never sinned, there is no doubt that the human nature within him battled with the idea of being praised as the King of Israel. Some of you might think that Jesus couldn’t have those kinds of feelings but the Word of God says otherwise. Would not that be tempting to you? When others praise your efforts and want to lift you on a pedestal tell you how great you are, isn’t that something that we all want; to be liked; to feel needed; to feel important to someone?
Hebrews 4:15, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."
It is not sin to be tempted; sin becomes sin when we act on those temptations and give in to them. The thought of robbing a bank doesn’t make you a robber. But if you think on it enough and you walk in with a gun and a ski mask, then you are guilty. The thought of being too tired to do what you are supposed to do for the Lord isn’t sin, but when you fail to obey him then it becomes sin.
But alone with the Father, on that mountain, Jesus rebuked those thoughts and feelings and stayed true to his purpose. He prayed nearly all night, until the 4th watch of the night, sometime between 3:00 AM and 6:00 AM. Many of us have trouble praying for 3 to 6 minutes, much less all night.
Matthew 14:24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
The disciples hadn’t gone very far from the shore, probably no more than 2 or 3 miles, before the wind and waves kicked up on the shallow Sea of Galilee. They couldn’t go ahead because of the contrary wind; and they couldn’t go back because they had been told to meet Jesus on the other side; and the little ship was being swamped by the waves and broken by the rough waters. They fought this storm a long time, but hope was fading fast.
Matthew 14:25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.
Then, in the darkest hour of the night, after he had finished praying, Jesus walked out onto the waters of the Sea of Galilee. The wind and waves were crashing, but he didn’t pay them any attention. The storms of life are no storms at all if you learn to have faith in the power of God to bring you through. They are mere annoyances at best. The same storm that threatens to destroy you is nothing but trouble that is under his feet.
There’s a song that says this, “Whenever you’ve waded out too far in waters too deep; remember when the waves are over your head, they’re under his feet.”
The Bible says, in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, "But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."
Now since the disciples had not received the Holy Spirit, and because they had their hearts set on earthly things, they didn’t truly think of Jesus in spiritual terms. They though of him as a great man and a prophet of God, or even as a Messiah, but not as God in the form of a man. So when they saw Jesus walking on the water in the darkest hour of the night, and watched as he appeared in between the waves, with the wind blowing his robes, and dim moon light reflecting off of him, they didn’t have the mind of the Spirit at all. They thought Jesus was a spirit but not a spirit that they wanted to see.
Matthew 14:26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
Let me tell you that when you’re in the midst of the storm, and the winds of adversity, and the waves of troubles and trials are over your head and threatening to send you under for the last time, it’s hard to keep your mind on the things of the Spirit and sometimes we forget that Jesus is the Lord of the storms, the winds and the waves too. We talk about having faith, trusting God and knowing that he can do all things. But when the storm is blowing with all its fury, we sometimes doubt and cry out in fear.
Matthew 14:27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
The instant they cried out in fear, Jesus heard their cry. He spoke to their hearts, to their minds and to their spirits saying, “Don’t worry; be happy. I’m here now and there’s nothing to fear.”
Jesus hears your cry to instant you call out to him.
Isaiah 59:1, "Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:"
But I want you to notice something here. Even though Jesus spoke these words of comfort and cheer, the storm wasn’t over. He wants you to have faith in the midst of the storm, not just when it’s over.
Some of you have been through some real storms in your life lately. Some of you are in the midst of a terrible storm right now. The winds of trouble are blowing you around like a feather and the waves of life are tossing your family and your home around like a matchstick on the ocean. You don’t understand why things happen the way they do. You don’t know why God allows these things to come your way. Perhaps there are even questions and doubts arising on whether God even cares.
But Jesus cares and he is there with you in the midst of the storm and he is trying to get you to hear him say, “Don’t worry; be happy; I am here with you and all is well”.
We have to get our minds on Jesus and off of the problems if we are going to survive. The storms of life are meant to bring your faith to a higher level, not to bring us down to despair. But we allow our eyes to get off of Jesus, they have the power to destroy us too. Thank God that Jesus always comes in the nick of time to save us and won’t allow us to go down for the last time. He always makes a way of escape. He lifts us up and helps us to walk on the water with him.
Matthew 14:28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.
Matthew 14:29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
Peter recognized Jesus, heard his voice and stepped out into the water with Jesus. His faith was alive and his eyes were set on Jesus as he stepped out of that boat and into the very seas that were threatening to drown him.
But notice something once again. Just because Peter’s faith was strong, and he was able to walk on the water, didn’t mean that the storm was over. What that is trying to tell us is that in spite of the storm; in spite of the winds of adversity; in spite of all the troubles; in spite of the doubts and fears; in spite of it all – You can walk over it because Jesus can lift you above it all and hold you up through it all; and he will put it all under your feet too, if you’ll just keep your eyes on him and not on the storm.
Matthew 14:30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Though faith may become strong and you begin to rise above your circumstances, the time can come when the storm looks bigger than Jesus.
Just a few weeks ago, Lance went home to be with the Lord. His storm came upon him suddenly and it was a fierce storm that would only end when Jesus took him on to glory. But in the midst of that storm his family had great faith. They confessed, and we all did our best to believe and have faith with them that God was going to perform a miracle and heal Lance. We just knew that the storm would go away and we walked on the waters of faith with Jesus. But the storm did not cease; it only grew worse. We tried to increase our faith and hold on to hope where there seemed to be no hope. But still the storm raged on. Those few weeks were times of walking on the water and sinking into the waves, then walking on the water and sinking again into the waves. It was a roller coaster ride of faith and then faltering, wondering just what God was doing. The important thing is that we never gave up hoping, praying and trusting God. Somehow, we all knew, that no matter what God chose to do, it would be for the best in the end.
But my friend, there is no time in this life when you need the help of Jesus to keep you from going under than when you are standing on the sidelines, helpless, watching a loved one come to the point of death.
Thank God, that’s the time when Jesus reaches out his hand and catches us, then lifts us up and helps our faith to be strong enough to trust him no matter what. That’s what he did for Peter that night out on the Sea of Galilee.
Matthew 14:31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Even when Jesus lifted Peter up, the storm still didn’t cease. It was still blowing and crashing but now Peter had hold of Jesus’ hand and he knew that he could not fall. All he had to do was just keep on holding on to Jesus and everything would be all right. Let the winds blow and the waves crash, Jesus is here and that’s all that matters.
Matthew 14:32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
I want you to think about something here. I believe that the boat itself can be a type of the church. Without Jesus in the church, we are just tossed about with every little wind of doctrine that comes along. Every new fad will make us go with the flow. Every new doctrine is added to the already confused mess that the church calls its own. We need Jesus in this ship. When Jesus is in the church, peace will reign. When Jesus is in the church, fear goes out the door, faith arises and the joy of the Lord makes us strong.
How do we get Jesus in the church? We are the church and we must have Jesus in us before we come together. Then Jesus will be in our midst.
Matthew 14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God.
Think about this – Why didn’t the disciples and those in the ship worship Jesus before he calmed the storm; and before he entered the ship? We need to learn to worship Jesus in the midst of the storm, and even when we can’t see him or feel him. We need to learn to worship and serve the Lord all the time, not just after he performs a miracle for us.
If you’re in a storm right now – worship Jesus in spite of the storm.
If you’re finally having a time of peace and the storm is ending – worship Jesus for the victory.
If you aren’t in a storm right now, worship Jesus anyhow, because the next storm for your life is just over the horizon.
Learn to worship Jesus all the time. Keep you eyes upon him. Trust in him and have faith in him, and the storms of life won’t feel so bad after all. Jesus will help you walk above it all if you will only worship him.
