THE CHRISTIAN’S NEVER-ENDING ADVENTURE
Jesus Rules No Matter What – Mark 4:35-41
A mother was delighted to tell about the night she and her nine-year-old daughter were home alone when strong winds began to blow and the old house began to creak. The moon was shining but the ominous howling of gale-force winds left them feeling a uneasy and afraid.
As the mother tucked her daughter into bed, the little girl, seeing the moon through her bedroom window, asked her mother, “Is the moon God’s night-light”? The mother smiled and replied, “Well, yes, you could say that”.
Then her daughter asked, “Does God turn out his light when he goes to sleep?” “Oh, no,” said the mother, “God never sleeps.”
“Oh,” said the child quietly, “Well, then, if God stays up all night, there’s no sense in both of us staying awake.” And, with that bit of assurance, the little girl turned over in her bed, pulled the blanket up around her neck, and fell asleep.
Why was this child able to go to sleep with no further anxiety about the howling wind? In her childlike manner, she felt assured that there was nothing to be afraid of because God was awake and in charge.
Jesus’ disciples were frightened by winds that had stirred up a storm while they were in a ship crossing the Sea of Galilee with Jesus on board. Yet, even though the Master was with them, fear took hold and, because Jesus was asleep in the stern of the vessel, they panicked and awakened him.
As we consider how Jesus dealt with the disciples and the perilous situation they found themselves in, we learn that we as Disciples of Christ can trust Jesus in the storms of life - Mark 4:35-41 . . .
What an amazing display of divine power! Our Lord overruled the powers that be – in this case, violent natural forces!
However, if we see this miraculous occurrence only in the literal sense - that an actual physical storm was stilled to demonstrate divine power over nature (what a wonderful sight it must have been) we would miss a far greater truth.
In a symbolic sense, what we see here is a valuable lesson about the calming of our fears and anxieties due to the Lord’s presence. What this says to me is:
To go on a never-ending adventure with the Lord Jesus is to go in peace -even in a storm. In His presence, following in His steps, we have peace of mind, heart, and soul - even in the worst storms of life.
Jesus gives us peace: in the storm of sorrow . . . when life’s problems weigh us down with uncertainty . . . when anxiety attacks us and we panic.
Clearly, this story about what happened to the Disciples even though Jesus was with them reminds us that the storms of life come even to followers of Jesus who are living in obedience to Him.
Dutifully, our Lord’s inner circle had been with Him when He taught a large crowd from a makeshift pulpit on a ship. Devotedly, they stayed with Him to go to the other side of the Sea. Yet, they were not exempt from crisis; nor are we.
The storm that came up suddenly - a typical occurrence on the Sea of Galilee -symbolizes what happens when you go on an adventure with the Lord: problems arise out of the blue, bad things happen unexpectedly, anxiety takes its toll . . .
How to deal with the storms of life is the challenge we face every time a crisis occurs. Will we fear the worst or calmly deal with it? If you’re like me, the first emotion you feel is fearful anxiety; your initial shock begins to wear off only when you remind yourself of the presence of God the Father who never sleeps. God in charge!
Because of our devotion to the Lord, and our dependence upon Him in every situation in life, we come to our spiritual senses; then we can deal with our situation because we have learned that our Lord is not only with us but active in life storms.
“For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
The fact that Jesus is not bodily with us in our storms of life is not for us to worry about. By faith we accepted Him as Lord and Savior; by faith we are being saved from eternal separation from God to eternal connection with Him; by faith we follow Him; by faith we trust Him to lead us through the valley of the shadow of death all the way Home!
So, we must ask ourselves the exact same questions Jesus asked His anxious followers: “Why are you so fearful?” --- “Do you still have no faith?”
You see, folks, faith and fear cannot exist at the same time in one’s mind or in the heart of a believer. To renew one’s faith in God is to eradicate one’s fear.
If we seriously consider the disciples’ question -“What manner of man is this?”- we eventually see the wonder of what God can do; wonder no more Who Jesus is: The Son of God – a realization that leaves us filled with awe, exclaiming adoration, as did the psalmist: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name!
This is the Son of God – affirmed at his baptism by God the Father who told everyone to “Listen to Him”; and now, in a storm of life, once again affirmed by His authority over nature; more importantly, making the point that God is in charge . . . of whatever, wherever!
Since the Lord God (the Omnipotent One with power over all things) never sleeps (even though Jesus in His humanity slept and His disciples also sleep from time to time, often at inopportune times) the lesson we must take away from this story is clear: Disciples of Christ must trust Him in all things! A point of clarification:
Believing in something or someone intellectually and trusting something or someone spiritually are not one and the same.
The question is: Do we trust enough to test it? Do we trust Jesus enough to trust Him all the way?
The question of trust challenged me on my trip to Ireland, when I visited the northern tip of the country at a point where the land juts out into the North Sea, and I had to decide whether to trust a rope bridge spanning a treacherous cavern, to cross over to the other side.
Having researched the history of the bridge - how it was built and by whom, consistency of the material used, expertise of those who built it, number of visitors who had walked across the bridge over the years - and finally observing others as they crossed over, I felt it safe for me to follow in their steps.
Now, based on research and observation, I believed in its existence and its functionality, but not until I was willing to test the bridge did I experience the thrill and wonder of it all!
Still somewhat hesitant, I took hold of the hand rail, stepped onto the bridge as it swayed in the wind, walked across to the other side, then, with a big sigh of relief, perched myself on a huge rock overlooking the awesome sight of both the vast expanse of ocean and the depth of the gorge over which I had walked – then the thought struck me that I must walk back across that bridge!
For a few moments, I felt a bit anxious once again, but then it occurred to me, “The Lord my God has been, and still is, with me!” The Lord promised to be with me all the way! So, with pep in my step, I walked back across unhesitatingly and confidently!
Folks, with pep in our step, let us continue our never-ending adventure with Christ. We know He calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee. We have experienced His presence during times of crisis in our own lives. Our wish for all who say they believe in Him is that, in every storm of life, they also trust Him who never sleeps.
Henry W. Longfellow’s experiences of multiple storms that had taken away from him those closest to him left him with a sense of despair when, on Christmas morning in 1864, he heard the church bells ringing.
With a renewed sense of hope, and a burst of poetic inspiration, Longfellow composed the poem that was later set to music in the form of a Christmas Carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”:
“I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play; in music sweet the tones repeat, ‘There’s peace on earth, good will to men.’
“I thought how, as the day had come, the belfries of all Christendom had rolled along the unbroken song of peace on earth, good will to men.
“And in despair I bowed my head: ‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said, ‘for hate is strong, and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.’
“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: ‘God is not dead, nor does He sleep, for Christ is here; His Spirit near brings peace on earth, good will to men.’” Amen.
