We all face storms in life. No one sail through life without any difficulties.
• What is important is not how bad the storm is but how you are going to respond in it.
• You can either respond with fear, just like the disciples. Or with faith, like Jesus.
• You can either respond with your own efforts, just like the disciples did. Or with faith in the power of God to calm the storm, the way Jesus did.
In the passage we read today, after a long day of teaching, Jesus gave His disciples a command to go to the opposite shore.
• It was also a word of promise – they will surely end up on the other side.
• As the ship left Capernaum, Jesus who was weary, went to sleep. While Jesus was asleep a storm came up.
• This was no ordinary storm. In the boat, among the disciples were at least four seasoned fishermen. They had seen storms before. They had survived storms before. They knew what to do in a storm. But this was different.
They were afraid. Their knowledge, skills and experience were no longer able to help.
• That’s how we usually respond to problems – we try to solve it our own way. We say we know what to do, we feel we have the experience.
• Only when we come to the end of our rope – when we realise that both our knowledge and experience cannot help, then we cry out to Jesus. Then you see people praying.
Jesus just kept on sleeping through their struggle. The disciples woke him up in fear.
• He got up and rebuked the wind and waves. Everything died down immediately and was completely calm.
• Men struggles but the Lord just spoke the will of God. “Quiet! Be still!”
• There is authority and power in Jesus’ words.
Then Jesus turned to His disciples and said, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (v.40)
• Jesus just unlocked the key to overcoming the storms in your life.
• It has nothing to do with the storm; it has to do with what is in your heart.
• Jesus expected something. He expected faith from His disciples.
This was not the first time the disciples saw Jesus’ performing a miracle.
• Didn’t they remember that Jesus cast out the demon from a possessed man?
• Didn’t they see how Jesus healed a leper and made him clean? And the paralysed man who was lowered down from the roof on a mat, stood and walked?
Jesus expected them to trust their heavenly Father, the way He trusted Him.
• He had His absolute trust in God. He kept on sleeping through the storm confident that His Father was watching over Him and is completely in control.
• That is why He so at peace. He knows He is not alone, and has never been alone.
The disciples do not have such a faith, and that’s why they were filled with fear.
• Faith in God would have overcome their fear, because faith and fear cannot dwell in our heart, at the same time. Do you notice that?
• Listen again to what Jesus says, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (v.40)
• In order words, you are afraid because you have no faith in God. If you have faith, you need not be afraid.
• Faith pushes push fear out of your heart.
So the real problem with the disciples was not the storm, but their unbelief.
• Unbelief will bring fear, because you are on your own. You can only depend on your limited knowledge and experience.
• If you have faith in God, you need not fear. Not because you are strong, but the God who is with you is strong.
• We do not have to worry about what we cannot control, because the storm we are facing is in the hands of one who is in full control.
The real issue with the problems we face in life is often not the problems themselves. It is our unbelief.
• We just could not believe that God is good enough, or merciful enough, or gracious enough, or loving enough, to be bothered with our problem.
• We find it hard to really trust that what He said He will do, or that what He has promised will hold true.
A man falls off a cliff but miraculously catches a branch on the way down. He begins yelling, "Is anyone up there?"
An answer comes back. "Yes."
"Who are you?"
"I am God, and I am going to save you."
"Wonderful. What should I do?"
"Let go of the branch."
After a long pause, the man yells, "Is anyone else up there?"
We have to believe that God is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He’ll do.
We tend to believe what we see more than what we cannot see.
• We look at the world and believe that it is more real than God’s presence.
• But the Word of God says in 2 Cor 5:7 “We live by faith, not by sight.”
• We cannot believe our eyes. Heb 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
In fact, the disciples’ unbelief is more dangerous than the storm.
• Someone said, "A person does not drown because he has fallen into water; he drowns because he is not able to get out of the water."
• Men have been known to drown in shallow water because they believed they were in deep water. They panic because they thought the water was deep. If they had only tried standing up they would have realised that their heads would have been well above the water level.
• God has made provision for us not to drown during the storms of life. Trust Him.
• Jesus is in the boat with you.
And He has given us the authority to pray in His Name when we needed help, and see that His will be done.
• Jesus said to His disciples in Luke 10:19 “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”
While Jesus was on earth with His disciples, He was able to exercise power over the enemy and circumstances, not because He was God.
• Some people say, “Of course, He can do anything He wants because He is God.”
• This is not true. While He was on earth, Jesus was living as the perfect man in complete trust of the Father.
• He was able to be victorious because of His total reliance on His heavenly Father.
• It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that He was able to overcome temptations, heal the sick and command the winds and waves to be still.
• The Holy Spirit was the source of all His power during His earthly ministry.
If Jesus was constantly in contact with His Father and did everything according to His Father’s will, we are to do the same.
• We are to put our trust in God and lean on Him.
• Pray and experience the power of the Holy Spirit in the midst of our storms.
• Zech 4:6 This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.”
Just as Jesus expected faith from the disciples, He is expecting that from us today.
• We need to confront our problems with an unwavering faith in God.
• We are to respond to the storm the same way Jesus responded to the storm - trust God.
The difference between the Christian and unbeliever is not that one has faith and the other does not. They both have faith.
• The difference between the two is the object of their faith.
• Do you believe God, or do you believe in yourself? Are you trusting Him, or trusting in your own efforts and experience?
As I was preparing this sermon, I came across Jeremiah 32:17 “Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”
• This thought came to me – if you put things into perspective – the storm in the Sea of Galilee – is just one droplet of water in the sight of God!
• The storm is so big in our eyes, but it will look so small in God’s eyes.
• Our problems often look so big. But really, nothing is too hard for Him. But we need to trust Him.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). Without faith, you will fear.
• The Bible says faith comes by hearing the Word of God.
• Many people today would rather believe the advertisements they see than believe what the Word of God says.
• They would rather believe the salesman who offers a magic stone that can cure all their diseases than believe the Word of God.
TRUST THE WORD
Two men were sent to check a rumour that iron lay beneath the surface of a certain piece of ground. One, a scientist – he was conscious of his own limitations, took along some instruments. The other, a self-confident young man, said, "I believe what I can see; and what I can’t see I won’t believe." He walked rapidly over the field and did some digging, and said, "Iron? Nonsense! I see no iron; there is no iron here." And that is what he stated in his report.
The other man did not trust his eye at all but looked at his instruments. The needle on one pointed to the fact that a rich deposit of iron did lie beneath the earth’s surface. As he made his report he said, "My eye couldn’t see it, but my magnet discerned it."
Our instrument is the Word of God. With this, we can see Him with eyes of faith. We know He is there because His Word says so. And we believe it!
We can overcome the storms of life because He is present with us, He has the power to help us, and He has promised in the Word that we will “go over to the other side.” (v.35)
• I am confident today because of His presence, His power and His promise to me.
• What kind of storm are you going through right now? Are you facing a relationship problem? Are you having some financial difficulty? A health problem, you’re diagnosed with an illness? Or are you facing a secret storm, something that you cannot tell anyone? Do you feel that you are sinking under this problem?
Jesus says, “Do you still have no faith?” (v.40) Do you still have no faith?
• I hope you will hear His voice today.
• Nothing has changed. He is with you (right in the boat of your life). He has the power to help you. He has promised to see you through, over to the other side.
• Can you trust Him?
Dear friends, you’ve got to have Jesus Christ in your life to make it through the storms.
• He can help you, but you need to invite Him into your life.
• Receive Him as your Saviour and Lord. He died for your sin. Believe in Christ and you will be forgiven of your sin, and He will bless you with a new life.
• You don’t have to walk this road alone. He loves you and He wants to walk with you.
• Pray and accept Jesus Christ into your life today.
In closing, let us read Isaiah 26:3-4 together:
3 You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.
4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD, is the Rock eternal.
