THE STORMS OF LIFE
TEXT: Mark 4:35-41
PROP: We must remember to have faith in Jesus.
Let me tell you about a man named Steve. Steve was living what some people might call the American Dream. He had a great wife and two wonderful children. He lived in a beautiful house on a quite street, and had a job that most people would love to have. However, upon coming into work one day, Steve found out that his job in management had been eliminated. And as the bills grew higher and higher so did the tension between Steve and his family. The things that Steve and his family are going through could be summed up in four words, and they are “The Storms Of Life.” And that’s what I want to talk about today!
Have you ever experienced storms in your life? Those times where things just didn’t make sense. Times where your problems seemed so big and your faith seemed so small. Times where you felt so swamped and so afraid that you were going to be taken over by the storm. I think we have all had feeling like that! Jesus’ disciples were no different. If you have your Bible turn to Mark 4:35-41. And lets just see how the disciples dealt with the storm.
*Read Mark 4:35-41*
After reading this text, there are some major points that we can apply, between our Spiritual Storms and the Disciples Physical storm. The first point that I see, is that:
I. THE STORMS WILL COME!
-- Even if everything is going great right now, I want you to remember to have faith in Jesus, because the storms will come. It only takes a split second for everything to change for everything to be flipped upside down. Maybe you lose your job, or a family member is in a serious accident, or a tornado rips apart your house, you fill in your own personal storm, because the list goes on and on and on.
-- For the disciples it wasn’t a spiritual storm, but rather a physical storm. When they left the docks that evening, everything was fine. However it only took a split second for things to go horribly wrong. The winds picked up and the waves crashed over the boat, and the disciples were afraid. When the storms come they bring emotions of fear, anger, frustration, and uncertainty.
-- If we know that the storms will come, we have to ask ourselves the next question- How do we deal with these storms when they come? The first thing we need to do is to never give up. We need to take the storm that is plaguing our life for what it is, and that is a test or trial or temptation. We must remember to never give up!
-- The next thing we need to do to deal with the storms is to keep focused. It’s so easy when times are hard to lose our focus from the things that are really important or the tasks that we need to accomplish. And isn’t that how Satan traps and entangles us? By putting other things in our life to break our focus and to make us lose sight of our goal. Sure it is! That’s why we need to keep focused.
-- The third and final thing we need to do in order to deal with the storms in our life is that we must remember! We must remember to have faith in Jesus! With faith in Jesus we can be assured that no matter how bad things get, the storm will not stick around forever. And that leads us to our next point.
II. THE STORMS WILL GO!
-- I don’t know about you, but I have ever seen a storm that struck around forever. I know that when we have a lot of snow and it’s cold and miserable outside, it feels like the storm may last forever, but what eventually happens? The SUN comes out, the temperature rises the snow melt and before we know it, the storm is over. We can always take hope in the fact, that no matter how bad things get, the storms will pass.
-- Jesus’ disciples saw the same things. They thought that this storm may last forever, or at least long enough to put an end to them. But what do we see from the story, the SON not the SUN come out and calms the winds and the waves and the storm that they were so worried about is over.
-- And isn’t that the way it usually goes! When we realize that we can’t do it on our own, that’s when we ask for help. That’s when we start looking for Jesus. And why do we do that? We do that because we know that Jesus will always be there to calm the winds and the waves of our spiritual lives. He will always be there to strengthen and comfort us.
-- But one question that I have, is what do we do with Jesus after the storm is gone? And here is an answer that I think shouldn’t be missed. We must remember to put our faith in Jesus! Now you might be asking yourself, why should I put my faith in Jesus? The storm is already over. Well the storm may be over, but Jesus is still there! And that leads us to our third point.
III. JESUS ALWAYS REMAINS
-- Just because Jesus is there in the storms of your life, that doesn’t mean that you can’t look for Him in the good times. It doesn’t mean that you should only ask for His help and guidance in the bad times, because He wants to be there when things are going great. He wants to share in your joys as well as your sorrows. When I tell you Jesus always remains, I mean always!
-- When we look at the disciples in the story, at what time did they go and get Jesus. It was when times were really bad, it was when they had no place else to turn. I think that is something that each and everyone of us should think about!
-- I like the poem called Footprints. For those of you that have never heard it, it goes like this. *Read the poem Footprints*.
-- A lot of people feel that the greatest phase in this poem is the last one where the Lord says “it was then that I carried you.” And while I agree that it is a wonderful phase, it’s not the best part to me. The best part to me is during the rest of the mans life, there were two sets of footprints in the sand. The two sets of footprints in the sand remind me that we must put our faith in Jesus. For the simple fact that Jesus is always there! For the simple fact that Jesus love is always there! For the simple fact that His peace and patience and kindness is always there! And most of all for the simple fact that Jesus Always Remains!
Conclusion:
-- Lets revisit our friend Steve. Since we last saw Steve, everything has changed. He found a new job, and has rediscovered his relationship with Jesus. Steve summed everything up in this way. “When everything was going great, I thought I could do it all on my own. I thought Jesus was only there to help in times of trouble. However when the storms hit my life, I began to read the Bible and I found out that Jesus always remains. He is there in the good times as well as the bad. And all I had to do is remember to put my faith in Him.”
-- I think Steve is on the right track. When the Storms come we must remember to put our faith in Jesus, because He will help us through tough times. When the storms go we must remember to put our faith in Jesus, because He will help us put our lives back together, strengthening and encouraging us alone the way. And finally we must remember to put our faith in Jesus, because Jesus Always Remains! Won’t you let Him in during the good times and the bad. I would challenge you today to always let Jesus remain in your life.
