Stormy Weather
March 24, 2020
Mark 4:35-41
When I was growing up I loved watching horror movies. They were amazing! I loved them! My style of horror movies was watching Creature Features when I was growing up. They were on almost every Friday night. They had titles like Frankenstein, the Werewolf, the Mummy and those kinds of movies. Those were horror movies back in the olden days.
Today’s movies bring too much fear to me. I won’t watch them. I’ve seen a couple of the oldies, like Friday the 13th and Halloween and I couldn’t sleep for days. So, I don’t watch them.
Why am I talking about horror movies? Well, it kind of feels like we’re living in a strange type of horror movie right now. I’m not trying to paint a bad picture for you, but we’re in scary and uncertain times. We really don’t know what tomorrow will bring or what the next bit of news is going to look like.
Yet, the Bible tells us, “Do not fear.” But for some of us, we feel like we’re living in fear. Fear of going to the grocery store. Fear when we cough or sneeze, fear of opening our mail, there’s a state of fear all around us.
But the Bible says DO NOT FEAR!! It means we are not to allow anxiety or worry rule our lives or take root in our hearts. We are not to be people of panic. We are to be a people of faith.
In Romans 8:1, Paul told us we’ve been justified by God, that we are no longer condemned. We trust that we were chosen by God, before the creation of anything, so we shouldn’t fear His rejection. We know with Christ as our Shepherd, we need not fear the valley of the shadow of death. In Psalm 121, the psalmist tells us God is the Maker of heaven and earth watching over us, so we need not fear anything.
We don’t want to be afraid, we want peace. We want that peace from God which surpasses all understanding. We want that peace to guard our hearts and minds. Peace seems so passive, yet, it’s an extremely powerful word.
Yet, here we are and many of us are struggling with fear and anxiety. So, I want to share a story with you about some guys who were totally scared and freaked out about something that was happening in their lives.
We’re going to be looking at a story from the Gospel of Mark, in chapter 4. Jesus and the disciples had been tremendously busy doing ministry. Mark 4:1 starts out by telling us - - -
1 Again Jesus began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.
The crowds were huge, there were so many people, it was easier for Jesus to teach from a boat. There was no rest . . . until finally late in the day, Jesus gave the disciples an offer they couldn’t refuse. Let’s listen to what happened in 4:35-41 --
35 On that day, when evening had come, Jesus said to the disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.”
36 And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was. And other boats were with Him.
37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.
38 But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
39 And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”
41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” – Mark 4:35-41
It was the end of a busy day and Jesus said to the disciples, let’s go to the other side, we can relax, eat and hang out. Sounds like a great plan. Let’s look at what really happened - - -
The key to understanding this story lies in one important question. Whose idea was it to get in the boat in the first place?
Go back and read the text. The answer is very plain. At the end of a busy day, a day where they spent hours ministering to the needs of people — after giving and giving, it was Jesus who said, “Let’s go across to the other side.” I’m sure the weary and tired disciples were thrilled at the offer.
The crowds were growing with each passing day. Everywhere they went there was a crowd. They came to listen, learn and find healing from the Master. Day after day they came, wanting to hear, desperately wanting to be near Jesus.
Several of the disciples were fishermen who intimately knew the Sea of Galilee. And that night the skies promised smooth sailing from the west to the east. They had made that journey many times in their boats and they looked forward to some R & R.
It started out great. As the boat left the western shore, the lake was so calm Jesus decided to go to sleep in the stern, resting on a cushion. It’s not unusual for storms to suddenly emerge on the Sea of Galilee. All was calm one minute and before they knew it they were engulfed in a storm. The winds picked up, the clouds gathered and the waves were crushing the boat and water was filling it.
As the water entered, the disciples furiously tried to bail it out but the water rushed in faster than they could bail it out. The boat bobbed up and down as wave after wave crashed into it. Nothing could be more terrifying than to be on a boat in the blackness of night as it takes on water and slowly begins to sink. Remember, these were fisherman . . . too.
Finally, the disciples woke Jesus up, asking him a question we’ve all asked in times of desperation. In their FEAR, they cried out ~
Lord, do you not care that we are perishing?
Literally, the disciples were asking . . . Lord, don’t you care that we are about to be utterly destroyed? We are about to be killed in this storm?
It’s not different from the questions we ask the Lord when we’re feeling that way. We’ve been down that road before. We’ve asked . . .
Lord Jesus, don’t you care that my child is sick?
Lord Jesus, don’t you care that my marriage is falling apart?
Lord Jesus, don’t you care that my friends have deserted me?
Lord Jesus, don’t you care that I have no money?
Lord Jesus, don’t you care that I feel so alone?
Lord Jesus, don’t you care that I want to give up?
Lord Jesus, don’t you care that my spouse died?
Lord Jesus, don’t you care that I lost my job?
Lord, don’t you care about this corona virus?
Lord, just say the word and I believe it will be gone!
And finally, sometimes we’re simply crying out . . . HELLO?! ANYBODY HOME?
We feel like our questions and prayers are not being answered.
We’ve asked that question in a million ways a million times. We never question the Lord's compassion and presence when things are going well. But God's compassion isn’t measured by our circumstances nor is His kindness limited to our understanding.
God cares just as much when the storms are raging as when the seas are calm. His mercy is not limited to the shining sun or the stillness of the waves.
So, Jesus wakes up - - and spoke three words: "Peace, be still!"
And just like that the storm ended. It’s really encouraging that Jesus rebuked the storm — and not the terrified disciples. To them He simply said, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" There’s a lesson in those words we need to learn.
The disciples were afraid because they were used to being in control of life. They knew how to handle hard situations. They weren’t weak. They were tough men! And yet, when put in a life-threatening situation beyond their control, their faith turned to fear.
Instead of putting them down, Jesus simply says, "Have you still no faith?" The answer is - - - - well - - - - yes - - - and - - - no. The had faith in Jesus. They truly believed in Him. But their faith, though real, was not fully developed or full grown.
And how do you get the faith that enables you to survive the storms of life? The only answer I know is to get in the boat with Jesus and ride with Him wherever He wants to go. Even when it makes no sense to us . . . if He calls you . . . He will go with you!
Sometimes we need to go through the storms in order to discover our faith. We wish we didn’t need to go through storms. We wish they didn’t exist. We wish we didn’t have to go through hardships to grow and mature and discover more about ourselves and life . . . but the fact is there are storms in life.
Sometimes we create them
Sometimes others create them
God knows about the storms . . . all the time.
NO storms are a surprise to God. NO storms are a surprise to God. The corona virus is not a shock to God. He knew it was coming.
So it is for all of us who follow Jesus. There are no shortcuts in the storms of life.
The storms of life are not a detour.
They are not a mistake.
They are not a trick or a trap.
They are not sent to destroy you.
So that you will not miss the point, let me say it again. Who told them to get in the boat in the first place? Jesus! It was His idea all along. Did He know about the storm in advance? Of course He did. And He told them to get in the boat anyway. Did He warn them in advance? No, because that would have ruined the lesson they needed to learn. After all, if you knew you were going to enter a stormy time, would you really get in the boat? No way!
All of us have moments — most of us have many of them — when we feel utterly alone and forgotten by God. When life crashes in around us, even after we’ve tried to do all the right things in all of the right ways, there are still times when we feel God has is out helping someone else. There’s no avoiding those moments of utter despair.
In those moments we have a choice to make. Either we choose to believe that the Lord is not surprised and will use the storm for His own purposes and good will ultimately come out of the storm. And that may mean – we never know the good, but we trust that good will come.
OR we choose to believe that the Lord has abandoned us. And we become bitter and distant from the Lord.
I don’t believe we can manipulate God into avoiding the storms or somehow making them suddenly disappear. If anything, this story is meant to teach us the opposite.
Sometimes our path takes us into the storm. Sometimes we see the clouds gathering and know it’s coming. More often the winds suddenly rise up and our life, which had been so smooth and so well-planned, suddenly turns upside down and we begin to sink beneath the waves.
Here are a couple things to remember - - - If you are with Jesus . . .
– The boat will never sink
– The storm will not last forever.
We seem to think that if we are Christians, we should have some type of exemption card, kind of like a DO NOT GO TO JAIL card in Monopoly. Bad things should not happen to us. And when they do we’re shocked, wondering ‘how could this happen?’ I paid my insurance, I went to church, I gave my money, I helped and served, I’ve been kind to my neighbors. So . . . why, why is this happening to me? Isn’t God supposed to watch out for me? Doesn’t He protect those He loves?
Ah, yes, He is. It makes no sense at the moment — and maybe it will never make full sense . . . yet we are called to trust in Jesus all the time. To trust that His plan is the perfect plan. His plan is better than our plan.
Are you in a storm at this very moment? You’re not there by accident but by your Father’s design. He does not intend to hurt you even though you feel like screaming because your pain is so great. You’re not alone though it may feel that way. You may have lost everything, but you have not lost the Lord. He is still with you. He promises never to fail you or abandon you.
Here’s the point folks - - - in the end, the disciples were filled with awe. It’s a reverent awe in Jesus. Suddenly, and they’ve never seen it before, the wind and waves, nature is obeying Jesus. That’s only something God can do. They’ve been given a fresh revelation of the goodness and the greatness of God. He most certainly was with them in the storm and He can rebuke the storm and be with you at the very same time.
Who is this Jesus? He’s more than a teacher and mentor and leader, He’s more than a friend, He’s more than a healer, He’s God.
They didn't ask for the storm, and they certainly didn't enjoy the storm. They didn't really feel close to Jesus in the storm. It challenged them to the very core. But after Jesus stilled it, they came out of that storm with a fresh understanding of God and a greater confidence.
Fear not. Keep believing. The Master of the sea is with you!
What a Christ we serve! Even the winds and waves obey Him! Trust that the Lord is with you! He is fighting for you! He is your redeemer and you are His child, holy and dearly loved and worth dying for. Know that Jesus is with you in the midst of the storms. The cornoa virus didn’t shock Him, your hardships and struggles are not too much for Him! He’s got this! Will you trust that ALL IS WELL and all will be well with your soul!
