Having Faith in Uncertain Times
Text: Matthew 8:23-34
GIVE THANKS / OPEN WITH PRAYER
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last couple of years, I think we’d all agree that it seems like our world just keeps getting crazier and crazier. Pandemics and lock-downs, riots in major US cities, politicians trying to defund the police, food shortages, high gas prices, rising inflation, men competing in women’s sports, incriminating laptops and diaries and possibly election fraud. And to top it all off, Russia invades the Ukraine. And that’s not counting everything that’s maybe going on in each of your own lives.
To use an analogy – it’s like a storm raging all around us.
A few years ago, my family and I were on our way home… I don’t remember where we had gone (maybe Enid) and we were driving back home, and we ran smack dab into a terrible storm. It was at night, and the rain was coming down so hard you couldn’t see anything. The wind was blowing hard, rocking my pickup back and forth, tree limbs were flying across the road, visibility was non-existent. I initially pulled over and thought, we’ll wait it out. But then I turned on the radio and it said we were basically right on the edge of a tornado. None of us could see it… the wind, rain, and darkness made it impossible to see anything, but you sure could see the tree limbs whistling past our truck. And in that moment, all of my military training kicked in and I said, “We’re getting out of here – in a chaotic, dangerous situation, MOVEMENT IS LIFE.”
And by God’s grace, we made it home, alive and unharmed. And even my truck was ok.
Well we’re in a situation like that in our world today. Instead of rain beating down on us, it’s one attack after another on our values, our beliefs, and our world view. Instead of actual wind whipping us from side to side, it’s winds of false doctrine, and false teaching, and misinformation, and lies trying to blow us about. Instead of trees and limbs falling all around us, it’s the pillars of our society that are being torn down and uprooted. And it may seem like one political party or the other is to blame, but the Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:12 that we “Do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
So what are we to do? That’s the real question for you and me today. What should we do? What can we do? How do we navigate our way safely through this storm that’s raging all around us?
Well I’m glad you asked. If you have your Bible’s go ahead and open them up to Matthew 8. I’m going to be reading through verses 23 all the way to the end of the chapter. So, Matthew 8:23-34. Please follow along as I read from God’s Holy Word (READ TEXT).
Now before we unpack this, let’s set the context up. Just prior to this, we read about Jesus cleansing a leper… that’s Matthew 8 verses 1 through 4. Next Jesus heals a centurion’s servant (vss. 5-13). And Jesus doesn’t even need to see the servant or touch him. He just says the word and the servant is healed. Then Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law, along with many others who were sick and He cast out demons (that’s verses 14-17). So basically what’s happening here is that we’re being shown a display of Jesus’ power, and His love, and grace, and mercy. Whether it’s curing incurable diseases, or general healing, or casting out demons. This is a display of God’s power, love, grace, and mercy. So what Matthew is doing here is painting a picture for us. That Jesus has all power and authority. Power over sickness and disease, and even time and space don’t diminish His power. He can just say the word and a person can be healed. He’s got power over incurable diseases – things that no doctor can cure… Jesus can cure. He’s got power over nature. No human being can control nature. But Jesus has all authority and might. And he’s got power over demons… even a legion of demons.
And I just want to tell you this morning… He’s still the same.
Our God is the GREAT I AM – He is the same yesterday, today, and forever! He is ALL MIGHTY
He is the Sovereign Lord over all things! And in this picture that Matthew has painted for us, he has shown us that Jesus is sovereign over every circumstance, and sufficient for every circumstance that life can throw our direction. He’s sufficient… He’s enough… He’s all you ever need.
So this passage starts with Jesus and the disciples getting into the boat, and as they’re heading out across the Sea of Galilee this huge storm comes upon them. Now for those of you who aren’t familiar with the geography of Israel or of the Sea of Galilee, here in the US we’d probably call it a lake… It’s about 13 miles long, and 8 miles wide… compared to Lake Michigan, it’s tiny. Lake Michigan is 307 miles long, and over 100 miles wide at its widest point (just to give you a little perspective). So it’s not a huge lake or sea… It also sits several hundred feet below sea level, and it’s surrounded by mountains… so the Sea of Galilee is basically a wind chamber. It’s the perfect place for storms. And that’s what happens. Jesus and His disciples get in a boat; they’re headed across the sea when all of a sudden a massive storm hits. The text tells us that the waves were coming over the sides of the little fishing boat, and flooding it. And it must’ve been bad, because these guys – the disciples made their living on that lake. They’ve probably seen storms before. A lot of them were professional fishermen. But this is so bad they think they’re going to die.
And I want us to see the lessons in this as we move through it.
These guys were being faithful. It’s not like they’ve sinned and brought this upon themselves. They were following Jesus. They were with Him. He’s right there in the boat with them, and they’re trying to do what He has told them to do… go to the other side of the Sea. And in their obedience, the storm comes.
So the first lesson is this: following Jesus, and living for Jesus, and obeying Jesus does not exempt you from storms. In-fact; they might come because of that. Now why do I say that? 2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus WILL BE persecuted”. Just prior to this, not only do we see Jesus doing all sorts of miracles, and healing, but there a section there where a man comes to him and says, “Jesus I will follow you.” And Jesus says to him, “If you do, there are times when you might not have a bed.” Verse 20, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” In other words, you might have to choose between your own personal comfort and following Jesus. There’s also another reason why I say, when you’re following Jesus that the storm might come… think about this;
Jesus and the disciples are in the boat, and they’re headed to the other side… and we know what’s on the other side, because we just read the text. There’s a couple of demon possessed guys over there. There are a couple of guys on the other side who are under the complete sway and dominion of Satan… They belong to the devil, and Satan doesn’t want Jesus anywhere near them. He doesn’t want Jesus rescuing them out of the kingdom of darkness. What does the storm do? It makes you afraid. It’s gets your eyes off of Jesus because you’re afraid of the winds and waves and uncertainty all around you. Satan wants you to think that the storm is bigger than God. He wants your eyes on the storm, and your focus on the storm, because what that does Church is make you ineffective for the cause of Christ. He wants you so worried about the economy, how am I going to pay my bills? He wants you so worried about the moral collapse of society – that you place all your attention and focus on those things, and you end up in despair, and ineffective. Basically you lose your saltiness.
Thankfully; the disciples do the right thing. They go to the Lord. They wake Him up, and Jesus asks them “Why were you afraid?”
“Uhm… Jesus, the waves are coming in the boat! We’re taking on water fast! We’re going down!”
REALLY?
And this is our next lesson from this passage… A lot of times, we believe in Jesus, and we believe Jesus… TO A POINT. We say things like, “Well yeah, Jesus can heal the sick… but…” Or, “Jesus can deliver me from sin… but…”, “Jesus can take care of my finances… but…”, “Jesus is in control of my future… but…”
There’s no buts about it. Jesus is Lord over ALL!
How often do you trust in the Lord to a point, but then start putting limits on Him? We say, “well I’ve got to help Jesus make this happen.” Now we’d probably never actually say that with our mouths, but our lives and our actions show that’s often times what we actually believe.
So sometimes that storm… whatever it is… it might be from our enemy, trying to get us off mission, and off track, and get our eyes on what’s going on around us – the cares of the world and deceitfulness of riches choke out the Word and make it unfruitful… but God can use that storm as well.
He can use it to show us that in and of ourselves, we are incapable of navigating it. He can use it to get us to call out to Jesus in acknowledgement that we can’t do it on our own.
You know, there’s been several surveys’ recently that show a huge decline in prayer amongst professing Christians. People just aren’t going to God. Instead they have this false sense of self-reliance. Which is really just pride. It’s pride because a person is in effect saying, “I don’t want to ask for help, or admit that I need God’s help. I don’t want to humble myself and go to God in prayer.” It’s pride or its willful rebellion… because the other reason folks don’t go to God in prayer is because they don’t want to hear the answer He’ll give them. “I want what I want God, and I don’t want you to tell me no, so I’m not going to pray… I’m not going to talk to my heavenly Father, because I don’t think I’ll like what He has to say.”
But that’s a sermon for another day… the point I’m trying to make here is that the devil might send a storm, but God is sovereign over that storm, and God can and will use it for His purposes. And I think it’s pretty clear here that one of the purposes of this storm is to get the disciples to see and realize that Jesus is Lord over all… even the weather.
You see; if you go back up to verse 18, Jesus had already given the command… the orders if you will, to go to the other side. In other words, it was His will, and His command. And that brings me to my last lesson from this passage today…
If it is God’s will for you – “Why are you afraid?”
If it is God’s will for you, He will bring it to pass. Isaiah 55:11 says, “So shall My Word be that goes out from My mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
Psalm 115:3, “Our God is in the heavens, and He does all that He pleases.”
Jeremiah 32:17, “Ah! Lord God! It is You who have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! NOTHING IS TOO HARD FOR YOU.”
In our text here, Jesus sternly rebuked the wind and waves, but also rebuked His disciples… not in the same way… it was a loving rebuke. He asked them “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith.” My question for you this morning is this – IS Jesus asking the same thing to us? “Why are you afraid?”
Are you afraid of the economic situation? Are you afraid of what your future might or might not hold? Are you afraid that our nation seems to be going down the toilet?
What’s the answer?
Go to God! Go to Christ! Humble yourself and pray; seek His face, and repent. He is a good God, who loves you with an everlasting love. He sent His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus, to die on the cross for your sins… to take the punishment of God’s wrath against your sin, upon Himself.
The storm is going to come, and it’s going to rage, but if you’ve built your house upon the Rock, it will not fall.
Have you done that? If not I pray that you would. And I pray that if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior that you would talk with me, or another believer before this day is over.
Let’s pray. /// CLOSING
