Mark 4:35-41 35
On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side." 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" 39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"
Difficult times or "Storms" are a normal part of life. We all go through problems from time to time. During those times we will respond in one of two ways. Either we respond in fear, or we respond in Faith. Fear has the power to produce all kinds of ungodly behavior in response to tough times such as anger, doubting, worrying, depression, etc. On the other hand Faith will produce a peace that guards our hearts and minds as we make it through. We must grow in Faith in order to handle difficult situations.
Jesus rebuked His disciples because they had fear instead of Faith during the storm: "Why are you so afraid? Why don't you have any Faith?
In this popular narrative we see:
1. The Reality of Storms "A Great Storm Arose"
a. Storms are inevitable - as long as we live and breathe we are going to go through stuff in this lifetime
b. Storms can come unexpectedly - situations can happen suddenly and without warning
c. Storms come in all different shapes and sizes -Some problems are big, some are small
2. Two possible Response to Storms
a. We can respond in fear (" Why are you afraid?")
b. Or we can respond in faith ("How is it that you have no Faith?")
3. To trust God is to trust His attributes. Four attributes of Christ that the disciples lacked Faith in during the storm:
a. They did not trust in His Word
"He said to them..Let us go to the OTHER SIDE 4:35
Storm or no storm they were going to make it to the other side because Jesus gave them His Word. Therefore getting through the storm was a guarantee. We need to trust and take God at his word in order to be able to get though tough times with confidence. What promises are you holding onto? Do you believe them or do you believe the circumstance? You might be going through a storm, but God's word and His promises to you dictates that you will not drown, but you will get to the other side. The other side is your destiny, not the storm.
See: 2 Cor 1:20 "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God
b. They did not trust in His Presence
"Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 4:36"
This was no ordinary man! The disciples should have taken comfort in the fact the Jesus was with them in the boat. We need to understand that no matter how bad the situation gets, that God is with us through it all. God's presence may not keep the storms from coming, but we can be sure that we will get through because He is with us.
See: Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers they shall not overflow you
c. They did not trust in His Providence
" And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" 4:38
Providence speaks of God's care and concern for us. The Disicples questioned Jesus' care for them. How often have we wondered if God cares about what we are going through? We must understand that even though God is almighty God, King oF Kings, and Lord of Lords, that he cares about every detail of our lives. He sees what we are going through and He understands our pain. We can trust that God cares.
See 1 Peter 5:7 "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
d. They did not trust in His Power
"Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 4:39"
The disciples had been following Jesus for a while, and had seen him perform some great miracles. Based on what they experienced, they should have realized that His power was greater than the storm. Do you believe that God is more powerful that anything that you might be going through or will ever go through?
4. The solution? Grow in in Faith
41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"
In the last verse we see that the disciples did not know Jesus as much as they should have. They asked "Who can this be that even the seas obey him" This explains why they had so little Faith. They did not know Him. I fear that many in the church call themselves Christians but do not really know him. Many do not have a relationship with God that is real, personal, and increasing in intimacy. Growing in relationship with God is extremely vital to increasing in our Faith. For us to get through storms, the level of our Faith must match the intensity of the storm. Great storms require Great Faith!
Understand that the disciples had some measure of Faith or else they would not have followed Jesus to this point. Matthew 8:26 puts it this way: "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" It is not that they had NO FAITH, they had LITTLE Faith. They trusted Jesus just enough to follow him up to this point, but had not grown in their Faith in Him enough to handle a GREAT storm.
Romans 12:3 speaks about having a measure of Faith. Jesus himself speaks about having the Faith of a Mustard seed. While Faith as small as a mustard seed can do great things, the fact that it is a seed implies that Faith needs to grow.
We had enough Faith to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and get through the door of salvation. And we might have enough faith in God as Christians to believe he exists, to pray sometimes, go to church once in a while, or believe in heaven, but do we have GREAT faith to handle GREAT storms in this life? We have to get to know God through relationship in order to trust him more and more. We all realize how hard it is to trust someone that we do not know very well. But trust develops as we spend time with them and get to know them. Increase your Faith by growing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ!!
How can we increase in Faith through relationship with God? Relationship is about having the right priorities
1. Prioritize His Word - Stay in it
2. Prioritize Prayer - Pray often
3. Prioritize fellowship with other believers - forsake not the assembly
