Listening for the Right Sound
I used to go coon hunting in my younger days. Now for those of you who don't know about racoons, they are nocturnal animals. So you hunt them at night. I never had a coon dog but had friends who did. We would hunt on Charlotte’s family farm. Highway 61 ran right through the middle of it.
I spent a lot of time on that property hunting and cutting wood and I knew just about every square foot of it. But when you are in the same woods in the middle of the night with nothing but moonlight to guide you (at times only a flashlight) everything looks different. I have one brother in law who would get totally lost and I don’t think he would have ever found his way back home if he had been alone. He tried to walk according to what he could see.
I learned pretty quickly that in order to keep my bearings I had to depend on more than just my sight. I listened. Even if we were a ½ mile or more from the highway I could still hear the highway noise. Others could hear the highway noise but couldn’t determine what direction it was from. But I determined from the onset that I would keep the noise in my mind regardless of how far away we got.
In our passage today I want to share a story that involves hearing the right voice and how we are called to respond to it.
Mark 4:35-41 NIV
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Prayer: I know
I. The sound of Jesus’ voice can be drowned out by the busyness of life.
I want you to get this… the last thing Jesus said before they headed out to cross the lake was…
“Let us go over to the other side.”
When we think of Jesus’ disciples we think of the twelve that He called to be apostles. But there were others that were disciples that we just don’t hear about. After a day of ministry among the crowds, when Jesus said, “Let us go over to the other side.” The twelve were in the boat with Him. They were going cause Jesus said so. But there were others that made up their minds that where Jesus goes I’m going too. Verse 36, There were also other boats with him. They were going to stay within hearing distance of Jesus.
But for others, the sound of Jesus’ voice was drowned out by, I’m so tired. I just can’t do it. Or, I don’t have time or I don’t have any qualifications for ministry. Or how about this one, “I ain’t going over to that gentile place across the lake. Nope, not gonna mix with that bunch.
They couldn’t hear the voice any longer and lost their sense of direction.
But Jesus knew exactly what He was doing. He had an appointment across the lake and wasn’t going to miss it.
John 5:19-20 NIV1984
19 … “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.
Did Jesus know that there was a storm coming? It didn’t matter.
Did Jesus know what he was going to see on the other side of the lake? That was the Father’s plan.
II. The Sound of Jesus’ voice can be lost in our circumstances.
37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” The KJV says that the “waves beat into the boat…” Here's a thought for you… the word “broke over” in the NIV and “beat “ in the KJV is the Greek word “epiballo” In classical Greek literature this word is never used except as the intended blow thrown at another person or object. Epiballo is a compound word. Epi meaning “upon” and ballo meaning “a deliberate strike”
So let me ask a question. Who was Jesus going to have an encounter with on the other side? A guy with a legion of demons in him. So this storm that was targeting this boat with deliberate blows, was it just a natural occurrence or was there something or someone else behind it? Well, Mike, the devil can’t control the weather… tell that to JOB.
Job 1:18-19 NIV1984
18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you! ”
When God’s people begin to move upon the devil’s territory he becomes very defensive. He doesn’t like it and will do everything he can to stop you.
III. The Sound of Jesus’ voice can be lost in the attacks from the enemy
Ephesians 6:2,
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Meanwhile, Jesus was asleep… on a cushion… in the back of the boat. “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
But what had Jesus said?
“Let us go over to the other side.”
They had allowed the waves and wind to influence them to the point where they could no longer hear Jesus’ voice. They had stopped listening and had begun to rely on themselves and then when they realized they couldn’t bail themselves out of this one, they turned to Jesus… but not for help. They turned to accuse Him. “Don’t you care?”
Jesus could sleep because He was tired…
Jesus could sleep because He was confident that He had heard from God.
Jesus was asleep because He knew that nothing would prevent Him from crossing over.
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Jesus didn’t work – He spoke… He addressed the source of the problem…He rebuked the wind and said to the waves…
Then He addressed the disciples… “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
pistis (piy'-stis) n.
1. a trust.
2. a firm persuasion, a confidence
Up to this point, in their time with Jesus they had seen Him cast out demons, heal multitudes, heal a leper, a paralytic, a man with a withered hand. He had turned water into wine in Cana, and raised a widow’s son from the dead.
And now He had told them – we’re going across the lake and when it didn’t happen quite the way they thought. ?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Let’s get back to coon hunting.
On those cold dark winter nights there were plenty of other noises to concern yourself with… the bay of the hounds (you could tell what was going on by the sound of the dog – a trail bark, a tree bark, an I don’t know bark… the wind… the covey of quail that you just jumped up and scared the tar out of you… or the turkey that you roosted that sounded like a 747 flying over you.
But I never lost the sound of the highway. The sound that led me back to where I needed to be regardless of all the other distractions.
The voice of the Lord is continually calling us closer to Him.
Isaiah 30:21 NIV1984
21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Stop. Listen.
And move toward the sound that will bring you closer. Every step you take in the right direction, the sound becomes clearer; the Lord’s voice more distinct.
Let’s see if this sounds familiar
Romans 8:14 NIV1984
…because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.
“Let us go over to the other side.”
