SURVIVAL GUIDE TO STORMS IN LIFE MRK.4.35-41.
NATURAL STORMS LIKE TSUNAMIS CAN LEAVE WHOLE COMMUNITIES AND COUNTRIES RIPPED APART IN THERE WAKE, LEAVING SURVIVORS BEREAVED AND HOMELESS – AND COUNTRIES WITH HUMANITARIAN CRISIS ON THEIR HANDS.
BUT TONIGHT I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT NATURAL STORMS - BUT THERE OTHER TYPES OF STORMS THAT RAGE IN THE LIVES OF PEOPLE ALL AROUND US, MAYBE YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORM RIGHT NOW…. YOU LOOK FINE ON THE SURFACE – BUT YOUR TREADING WATER JUST TO KEEP YOUR HEAD UP ABOVE THE SURFACE IN AN ACT OF NORMALITY.
THE STORM YOUR FACING COULD BE ANYTHING FROM A EMOTIONAL SCARS – DUE TO ABUSE, RELATIONAL PROBLEMS WITH YOUR WIFE/HUSBAND – PARTNER YOUR CHILDREN, A FINANCIAL CRISIS WITH THE PERVADING CREDIT CRUNCH, PHYSICAL STORMS WITH ILL HEALTH DIAGNOSED AND A FUTURE BLEAK, SPIRITUAL STORMS AN AWARENESS THAT THERE IS MORE THAN THE PHYSICAL – AND YOUR SEARCHING.
TONIGHT I WANT TO HELP AND GIVE YOU A REAL TRIED AND TEST SURVIVAL GUIDE TO STORMS ONE THAT CAN ENABLE YOU TO RISE ABOVE ALL STORMS AND ENTER INTO REAL PEACE IN YOUR HEART, WHATEVER SITUATION YOU FIND YOURSELF IN.
• SURVIVAL GUIDE 1 ‘TAKE TIME OUT’ V35 -36 .
HERE WE HAVE JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES ABOUT TO TAKE TIME OUT TO SAIL OVER THE OTHER SIDE OF SEA OF GALILEE, THEY WANTED TO BE AWAY FROM THE DEMANDS OF THE CROWDS , THEY WANTED TO BE ALONE, THEY WERE TIRED AND SO HE CALLS HIS DISCIPLES TO GO OVER THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LAKE BY BOAT, TO TAKE TIME OUT, TO REFLECT ON ALL THAT HAS HAPPENED TO RECHARGE THEIR BATTERIES.
THE DEMANDS WERE PILING UP FOR JESUS AND HIS DISCIPLES IN PARTICULAR FOR JESUS HE HAD DONE SO MUCH IN SUCH A LITTLE TIME (TEACHING, DISCIPLING, HEALING) HE WAS WORN OUT! IN FACT WHEN HE GOT INTO THE BOAT HE WAS SO EXHAUSTED HE FELL FAST ASLEEP.
THE STORMS IN OUR LIVES CAN BRING US TO THE POINT OF EXHAUSTION, MAKE A POINT OF GETTING AWAY FROM THE DISTRACTIONS OF EVERYDAY SITUATION - PAUSE FOR THOUGHT - TAKE TIME OUT TO REFLECT – GET OF THE TREADMILL. TAKE A WALK TO BRADGATE PARK SIT ON TOP OF ST JOHNS MOUNT – TAKE A WALK ALONG THE CANAL – SPEND SOME TIME ALL ALONE – SWITCH OFF FOR 5 MINUTES. BE IN A PLACE WHERE YOU CAN JUST WIND DOWN FROM THE DISTRACTIONS OF EVERY DAY LIFE .
• SURVIVAL GUIDE 2 ‘EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED.’ V36. V37
HERE THEY WERE SAILING ACROSS ALL WAS CALM, IN FACT THEY WERE NOT THE ONLY ONES SAILING THAT DAY, V36 THERE WAS ALSO OTHER BOATS ENJOYING THE EVENING UPON THE LAKE. V37 TELL US THAT IT WAS ALL ABOUT TO CHANGE THE UNEXPECTED WAS ABOUT TO HIT THEM BETWEEN THE EYES.
FACT: THE SEA OF GALILEE IS A HUGE LAND LOCKED LAKE 680- FEET BELOW SEA LEVEL IT IS THE WORLD’S LOWEST FRESH WATER LAKE, WHICH IS FED BY THE JORDAN RIVER. 13 MILES LONG, 8 MILES WIDE, 150 FEET DEEP. SURROUND BY STEEP CLIFFS AND MOUNTAINS EXCEPT ON ITS SOUTHERN SIDE. AS A RESULT OF THIS MOUNTAINOUS RANGE IT IS KNOWN FOR COOL WINDS, WHICH RUSH DOWN THESE SLOPS AND OFTEN STIR UP VIOLENT STORMS ON THE WARM WATERS OF THIS LAKE.
FOUR OF THESE DISCIPLES APPLIED THEIR TRADE ON THIS SEA – THESE FOUR NO DOUBT TOOK ACTION AND ENDEAVORED TO DEAL WITH THE STORM (MAYBE AT FIRST THEY THOUGHT IT WAS JUST A STORM IN A TEA CUP) FIRST STORM THEY FACED , THEY HAD TO DEAL WITH STORMS BEFORE. THEY KNEW ALL ABOUT THEIR SITUATION AND THOUGHT THEY COULD HANDLE IT. SO OFTEN WE TRY TO DEAL WITH STORMS OURSELVES, AND SOMETIMES THAT MIGHT BE POSSIBLE, BUT SOME STORMS WE CAN UNDERESTIMATE ITS MAGNITUDE.
FOR INSTANCE A YOUNG STUDENT WHO WAS TO PICK UP HER 1ST CLASS HONORS DEGREE STUDENT AT THE AGE OF 21 SUFFERED A BRAIN HEMORRHAGE/ THE NIGHT BEFORE HER GRADUATION/ PROUD PARENTS INSTEAD OF ORGANIZING A BIG CELEBRATION WERE ORGANIZING HER FUNERAL. HOW DOES ANYBODY DEAL WITH THE DEATH OF A CHILD? SO UNEXPECTED YET IT HAPPENED. YOU MIGHT BE SAYING “THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN TO ME!” ONE THING I HAVE LEARNT ABOUT THE “UNEXPECTED IS TO EXPECT IT!”
• SURVIVAL GUIDE 3 - ‘DON’T UNDERESTIMATE THE STORM.’ V37
PETER, ANDREW JAMES AND JOHN WERE EXPERIENCED FISHERMAN, AND TO BEGIN WITH THEY MAY WELL OF BEEN IN THEIR ELEMENT, IN THEIR OWN BOAT AND SHOWING THE OTHERS HOW TO SAIL, LETS FACE IT I DON’T THINK LEVI THE TAX COLLECTOR WOULD HAVE HAD A CLUE ABOUT SAILING. IT WAS ON THIS VERY SEA THAT THE FOUR APPLIED THEIR TRADE AS EXPERIENCED FISHERMAN. WELL AWARE OF STORMS BEFORE AND KNEW HOW TO HANDLE THEM. BUT THIS ONE WAS DIFFERENT!
V.38 UNDERESTIMATED THE POWER OF THE STORM AND WERE PREPARED TO DROWN V40 THEY WERE AFRAID
• THE TITANIC DESIGNERS SPENT A 3-HOUR BOARD MEETING. TWO HOURS AND 50 MINUTES WAS USED DISCUSSING THE INTERIOR DECOR AND 10 MINUTES WAS LEFT TO DISCUSS LIFEBOAT PROVISION.
HAVE YOU UNDERESTIMATED THE STORM WITHIN YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW? MANY OF THE STORMS YOU ARE FACING TONIGHT CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE SINFUL NATURE THAT IS WITHIN US ALL, THIS IS THE EPICENTRE THE SOURCE OF MANY STORMS WE ENCOUNTER. AND WE SEE ITS SYMPTOMS AROUND US.
WHY DO WE FACE DEATH? SIN - WHY IS THERE WARS? SIN - WHY IS THERE SUFFERING ? SIN - WHY IS THERE NO PEACE? SIN - WHY IS THERE GREED? SIN - WHY IS THERE CORRUPTION ? SIN - WHY IS THERE ABUSE? SIN
BUT ITS NO GOOD POINTING THE FINGER AT OTHERS BECAUSE TWO COME POINTING BACK - OUR SINFUL NATURE IS WHAT RAGES WITHIN US ALL THE GREATEST STORM WE HAVE TO FACE IN THIS LIFE. IS THE STORM WITHIN, IN REGARD TO OUR SINFUL NATURE, WHICH RAGES AND DESTROYS OUR LIFE, AND HURTS THOSE AROUND US, SIN IS AT THE BOTTOM OF ALL STORMS THAT WE FACE.
‘YOU MIGHT BE SAYING HANG ON A MINUTE AUBREY I’VE GOT A BIT OF BAGGAGE BUT I’M NOT A SINNER. BUT IF THE TRUTH BE KNOWN YOU’VE GOT MORE THAN JUST A BIT OF BAGGAGE WE’VE ALL GOT HAULAGE. BECAUSE THE BIBLE SAYS ‘WE HAVE ALL SINNED AND THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH.’
DON’T UNDERESTIMATE SIN IN YOUR LIFE, DON’T THINK ITS OF NO CONSEQUENCE, DON’T FALL INTO THE TRAP IN THINKING YOU CAN JUST BRUSH IT UNDER THE CARPET, THAT GOD WILL TURN A BLIND EYE. BY GETTING TO GRIPS WITH THE REAL STORM (SIN) IN YOUR LIFE AND YOU ARE REACHING THE EYE OF ALL YOUR STORMS.
• SURVIVAL GUIDE 4 - UNDERSTAND ‘WHERE TO TURN.’ V38
WHAT ARE WE TOO DO? WE NEED TO COME TO THE POINT OF REALISING NO MATTER HOW GOOD WE THINK WE ARE, WERE SIMPLY NOT UP TO THE TASK...... LIKE THESE DISCIPLES THEY WERE SEASONED FISHERMEN YET THEY CAME TO A POINT WHERE THEY WERE AT THE END OF THEMSELVES (SELF SUFFICIENCY) AND TURNED TO ANOTHER FOR HELP. IN OUR OWN STORMS, TURN TO ONE IS ALL SUFFICIENT TO HELP.
I AM SURE IT WOULD BE A WHILE BEFORE THESE EXPERIENCED FISHERMEN ACTUALLY TURNED TO JESUS FOR HELP. BUT TURN THEY DID V38. IT’S A HUMBLING EXPERIENCE TURNING TO JESUS RECOGNIZING WE are HELPLESS ON OUR OWN, REALIZING ALL OUR OWN EFFORTS ARE FUTILE TO HELP, STORMS ARE GUARANTEED BUT WHERE WILL YOU TURN?
SOME PEOPLE SAY AUBREY, “JESUS IS JUST A CRUTCH FOR THE WEAK, ACTUALLY JESUS IS A COMPLETE INTENSIVE CARE UNIT. “ AND IM NOT AFRAID TO ADMIT HE SAVED MY LIFE, I NEED HIM EVERYDAY , HE GIVES ME LIFE ALL ITS FULLNESS, JESUS DOESN’T SHACKLE ME, HE ACTUALLY GIVES ME FREEDOM AND LIBERTY TO OVERCOME ALL STORMS .
REAL LIFE SCENARIOS:
IN 2005 ANTHONY WALKER A BLACK 18 YEAR OLD FROM LIVERPOOL, WHEN WALKING THROUGH A PARK WAS AXED IN THE SCULL BY THUGS TO DEATH. HIS MOTHER MRS GEE WALKER WAS ABLE TO FORGIVE HER SONS MURDERS. HOW? SHE UNDERSTOOD WHERE TO TURN.
MRS WALKER SAID "WHY LIVE A LIFE SENTENCE? HATE KILLED MY SON, SO WHY SHOULD I BE A VICTIM TOO? "UNFORGIVENESS MAKES YOU A VICTIM AND WHY SHOULD I BE A VICTIM? ANTHONY SPENT HIS LIFE FORGIVING. HIS LIFE STOOD FOR PEACE, LOVE AND FORGIVENESS AND I BROUGHT THEM UP THAT WAY
"I HAVE TO PRACTICE WHAT I PREACH. I DON’T FEEL ANY BITTERNESS TOWARDS THEM REALLY, TRULY, ALL I FEEL IS... I FEEL SAD FOR THE FAMILY."TURNING TO JESUS HAD ENABLED MRS GEE WALKER TO FORGIVE OTHERS AND THE STRENGTH TO MOVE ON THROUGH THE STORMS IN HER LIFE WITH JESUS.
IN THE 1970 -80’S MIKE MELLOR WAS A SESSION MUSICIAN ON TV, WORKING WITH ACTS LIKE TOMMY COOPER, MORCAMBE AND WISE HE WAS A MARRIED MAN WITH TWO LOVELY GIRLS WITH A PROMISING CAREER.
BUT WITH THE MUSIC CAME A HEAVY DRINK PROBLEM WHICH WAS SLOWLY DESTROYING HIS CAREER AND TEARING HIS FAMILY APART FAMILY – AS HIS MUSIC WORK EVAPORATED HE GOT A JOB AT THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER, HE WOULD OFTEN TURN UP INEBRIATED.
AT A DESK OPPOSITE TO HIM WAS A YOUNG MAN WHO CONTINUALLY WITNESSED TO HIM ABOUT JESUS. HE KEPT SHRUGGING IT OFF AS NONSENSE, BUT THEN UNABLE TO HANDLE THE STORM TAKING PLACE IN HIS LIFE. HE COLLAPSED IN THE TOILET AT WORK IN TEARS AND HIS LIFE WAS TRANSFORMED.
I COULD GO ON WITH OTHERS…..WHO HAVE SIMPLY TURNED TO JESUS IN THE MIDST OF A STORM.
‘NO WHERE TO TURN ‘V36
THE SAD FACT IS NO MATTER HOW MUCH WE TELL OTHERS THERE WILL ALWAYS BE THOSE WHO WILL FAIL TO TURN TO JESUS. IN THIS COMMUNITY, CITY, COUNTRY AND WORLD THERE WILL BE THOSE WHO GO IT ALL ALONE WITH NO WHERE TO TURN.
V36 IT REMINDS OF THOSE PEOPLE IN OTHER BOATS ON THE SEA OF GALILEE THAT EVENING WITH NO WHERE TO TURN FACING THE SAME STORMS, BUT WITHOUT JESUS IN THE BOAT, FENDING FOR THEMSELVES. MANY OF US LIVE OUR LIVES LIKE THIS, NEVER TURNING TO JESUS CHRIST FOR HELP.
• I REMEMBER MEETING ROB FROM LONDON WHO HAD GIVEN UP ALL HOPE …. HIS LIFE HAD BEEN A SAD CYCLE OF ABUSE, DRUGS AND SELF HARM AND THE HARM OF OTHERS; HE HAD RESIGNED HIMSELF TO UTTER HOPELESSNESS. I PLEADED WITH HIM THAT GOD CARED ABOUT HIS PREDICAMENT BUT IT FELT TO NO AVAIL HE WAS LOST AT SEA WITHOUT JESUS.
• SURVIVAL GUIDE 5 - ‘JESUS CARES ’ V38 -39
THE DISCIPLES THOUGHT JESUS WAS UNCONCERNED “DON’T YOU CARE IF WE DROWN?” THEY BELIEVED THEY WERE GOING TO DROWN! AND THEY WERE AT THE POINT OF DESPAIR, BELIEVING THAT JESUS DIDN’T EVEN CARE. DOES GOD CARE, ABOUT YOU?
DOES GOD CARE? ITS A VALID QUESTION ISN’T IT WHEN WERE GOING THROUGH THE STORMS OF LIFE AT TIMES LIKE THIS JESUS CAN SEEM DISTANT. . YET IN REALITY HE DOES CARE THE BIBLE TELLS US. PHIL 4:5 THE LORD IS NEAR, DO NOT BE ANXIOUS BUT LET YOUR REQUEST BE KNOWN TO GOD. AFTER ALL JESUS WAS WITH THEM IN THE BOAT WASN’T HE .......
LOVE OF GOD TO THE INDIVIDUAL ( FIFTY POUND NOTE ILLUSTRATION)
HERE IS A VERY VALUABLE LESSON. NO MATTER WHAT I DID TO THE MONEY, YOU STILL WANTED IT BECAUSE IT DID NOT DECREASE IN VALUE; IT’S STILL A FIFTY POUND NOTE. MANY TIMES IN OUR LIVES WE ARE DROPPED CRUMPLED AND GROUND INTO THE DIRT BY THE DECISIONS WE MAKE AND THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT COME OUR WAY. WE FEEL AS THOUGH WE ARE WORTHLESS. BUT NO MATTER WHAT HAS HAPPENED OR WHAT WILL HAPPEN, YOU WILL NEVER LOSE YOUR VALUE. DIRTY OR CLEAN, CRUMPLED OR FINELY CREASED YOU ARE STILL PRICELESS TO YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER WHO SENT HIS SON JESUS TO DIE FOR OUR SINS. THE WORTH OF OUR LIVES COMES NOT IN WHAT WE DO OR WHOM WE KNOW, BUT BY “WHOM WE ARE LOVED.”
C. TEN BOOM WHOSE FAMILY DIED IN RAVEN HURST CONCENTRATION CAMP SUFFERED IMMENSELY UNDER THE HITLER REGIME SAID “NO MATTER HOW EVER DEEP THE PIT GODS LOVE IS DEEPER STILL.”
THE SAFEST POSITION IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM IS WITH JESUS . THE DISCIPLES EXPERIENCED HIS CARE V39 HE DEALT WITH THEIR FEARS. AND HE CAN DEAL WITH OURS TOO JESUS CARES ABOUT YOU.
• SURVIVAL GUIDE 6 – ‘CALL OUT TO JESUS’ V38.
JESUS REALLY DOES CARE ABOUT YOUR PREDICAMENT IN YOUR SINS. HE DIED THAT YOU MIGHT BE FORGIVEN, HE ROSE AGAIN THAT YOU MIGHT LIVE, HE IS WAITING FOR YOU TO CALL TO HIM AND BE SAVED!
THE DISCIPLES TURNED TO JESUS IN THEIR HOUR OF NEED, FRIENDS IF YOU ARE STILL IN YOUR SINS, THIS IS YOUR HOUR OF NEED. LOOK AT THE RESPONSE OF JESUS TO THEIR CRY! DOES HE REBUKE THEM? V38 HE REBUKES THE WIND AND THE WAVES “PEACE BE STILL!” HE SAVES THEM, HE ANSWERS THERE CALL AND HE WILL ANSWER YOURS ROM10; 13. EVERYONE WHO CALLS UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.
OUR GREATEST NEED IS TO REPENT AND BELIEVE THE GOOD NEWS THAT JESUS IS SAVIOR AND LORD! WHEN YOU CALL UPON JESUS HE SAVES YOU FOR ETERNITY YOU RECEIVE FORGIVENESS, FAITH AND THE GIFT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT WHICH ENABLES YOU TO SURVIVE THE STORMS OF LIFE, HE BRINGS INNER PEACE AND CALM IN THE MIDST OF TURMOIL.
MAYBE YOUR STILL NOT A CHRISTIAN AND HAVE NO FAITH WELL THE LORD CAN CHANGE ALL THAT TONIGHT IF YOU ARE PREPARED TO CALL OUT UPON HIM TURNING AWAY FROM SIN AND TRUSTING IN THE ONE WHO CAN TRANSFORM AND BRING PEACE TO A TROUBLED LIFE. DO NOT SAIL YOUR OWN BOAT, ANY LONGER RECEIVE FAITH AND FORGIVENESS AS YOU CALL UPON HIS NAME.
• SURVIVAL GUIDE 7 - ‘ EXERCISE FAITH’ V40 DO YOU STILL HAVE NO FAITH
HE SAYS TO HIS DISCIPLES THIS ISN’T A REBUKE - BUT A CHALLENGE TO US ALL AS BELIEVERS TO EXERCISE OUR FAITH IN THE MIDST OF STORMS WE CAN REST IN THE SOVEREIGNTY AND POWER OF GOD TO KNOW THAT IN ALL THINGS GOD WORKS FOR OUR GOOD.
STORY END: IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY THERE WAS A SUCCESSFUL ATTORNEY IN CHICAGO BY THE NAME OF HORATIO SPAFFORD. HE WAS INTELLIGENT, SUCCESSFUL, AND GODLY. EARLY ON IN HIS SUCCESS, HE CAME TO THE REALIZATION THAT HE NEEDED TO HAVE BALANCE BOTH IN HIS HOME AND CHURCH AS WELL. HE LOVED THEM AND HE LOVED HIS CHURCH. ALSO, HE WAS A CLOSE FRIEND OF D.L. MOODY, THE GREAT EVANGELIST. THIS GUY WAS TRYING TO BUILD A SOLID SPIRITUAL LIFE.
IN 1871, SPAFFORD’S REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT WAS TOTALLY WIPED OUT DURING THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE. SEVERAL MONTHS BEFORE THAT, HIS ONLY SON HAD DIED. WANTING TO GET THINGS TOGETHER, SPAFFORD PLANNED A TRIP TO EUROPE WITH HIS FAMILY, AND THAT TRIP WAS GOING TO COINCIDE WITH AN EVANGELISTIC CRUSADE OF D.L. MOODY. AT THE LAST MINUTE, A BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DELAYED HIM, SO HE SENT HIS FAMILY AS SCHEDULED, AND HE WAS GOING TO CATCH UP WITH THEM LATER.
HOWEVER, THE SHIP THAT THEY WERE ON GOT HIT BY AN ENGLISH VESSEL, AND IT SANK IN JUST TWENTY MINUTES. ALL FOUR OF HIS DAUGHTERS DROWNED. HIS WIFE SURVIVED THOUGH AND WAS TAKEN TO WALES. FROM THERE SHE SENT HER HUSBAND A MESSAGE WITH THE WORDS, “SAVED ALONE.” RIGHT AWAY HE BOARDED A SHIP TO MEET HER. THE CAPTAIN KNEW HIS SORROW, SO AS THEY WERE TRAVELING, HE STOPPED THE BOAT OVER THE PLACE SPAFFORD’S DAUGHTERS HAD DROWNED.
HE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND WHY ALL THIS HAD TO HAPPEN. BUT THAT DAY HE TRUSTED IN THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. AND AS THAT SHIP WAS STOPPED, IT WAS THERE THAT “SORROWS LIKE SEA BILLOWS ROLL” AND IT WAS THERE THAT HE KNEW GOD “REGARDED HIS HELPLESS ESTATE” AND ALL HE COULD SAY WAS “IT IS WELL, IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL.” THIS EXPERIENCE LED HIM TO WRITE PROBABLY THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL SONG IN HYMN BOOKS TODAY.
SO MAYBE YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN AND STRUGGLING WITH STORMS OF LIFE RIGHT NOW..... REMEMBER JESUS IS THERE WITH YOU, HE CARES, YET AT TIMES JESUS PERMITS US TO GO THROUGH STORMS IN OUR LIVES, WHICH WE CANNOT UNDERSTAND, JUST LIKE THESE DISCIPLES, YET THEY MOULD US INTO THE PEOPLE HE WANTS US TO BE, AT THE TIME THERE NOT PLEASANT BUT THEY ARE FOR OUR ULTIMATE GOOD.
