Story
Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. They set up their tent and fell asleep.
Some hours later, Holmes woke his faithful friend up.
"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."
Watson replied, "I see millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?" asked Holmes
Watson pondered for a minute.
"Astronomically speaking, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.
Astrologically, it tells me that Saturn is in Leo.
Horologically, it appears to be approximately a quarter past three in the morning.
Theologically, it’s evident the Lord is all-powerful and we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, it seems we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. “
The after a pause, Watson said: “Well, Holmes, what does it tell you?"
Holmes was silent for a moment and then he said.
"Watson, can’t you see that someone has stolen our tent."
Link
Life is very complicated affair. Problems arise and issues occur in our lives that often place extreme pressures on us.
We often complicate things though. We often do what Watson did. Tried to reason and explain and analyze everything.
Satan tries to complicate even the most simplistic of problems just for the advantage of disillusionment we often face.
Our two readings this evening were both examples of where problems seemed unsolvable. But in both instances the resolutions was simple. Do we Watson or Holmes the solutions to our storms?
Critical Comment
You see if we liken our life’s problems to the storm.
WE
Like the disciples, we often become fearful when the storms of life howl and the waves threaten us because we think WE are in control. We think WE can save ourselves. We think WE can fix the problem on our own. We think WE have all the answers. We think it all hangs on US.
We keep one hand on the rudder, just in case God doesn’t know where he is going. We complicate things.
The disciples panicked. They thought they had to use their sailing skills or try to bail the water etc etc…. They placed undue pressure on themselves to solve the problem. They forgot that God was in control.
God is in Control
We often forget that.
We must remember in the storms of life, amid the chaos of suffering, through all the temptations that we face, in the unexpected hurricanes and tornados that blow against us, God IS present and God IS in control.
We may think he is asleep and he is going to leave us to drown or bail the water out of the boat ourselves, But we need to become faith-filled and not fear-filled.
Stress Management
2 vs 98
40% is spent worrying about things that never happen
35% is spent worrying about things that can not be changed
15% is spent worrying about things that turn out better than expected
8% is spent worrying about things that are so petty that they don’t matter at all.
We do much better when we fill ourselves with faith rather than fear. But How? Lets have a look at the story again. Lets have a look and see what we can learn from what happened that day on the boat.
How to rely on God as our Port from the Storm
This was no ordinary storm – They Panicked
They were panicked - "The disciples went and woke Him saying, `Lord, save us. We’re going to drown."
These guys were not novices. They’d been out on this sea lots of times. They’d been through many storms, but evidently this one was life threatening and had them scared.
Some of the disciples were experiences fisherman, they knew storms, but here they were scared. They had not been in a storm like this.
Mark describes it as “a furious squall” that came up and “the waves broke over the boat.” They were on the Sea of Galilee (as we can deduce from the first verse of the next Chapter). The Sea of Galilee is actually quite famous for the speed that these squalls spring up – coming down from the Mount Hermon range.
They had never seen a storm like this. Did Jesus bring this storm up specially did he make this storm to prove a point we don’t know. One thing is for sure the disciples thought… “We are goners! We’re gonna die!” That shows the intensity.
The word that describes the storm in this passage is the Greek word “seismos” from which we get the word “seismology” or “seismograph,” which is an instrument that registers the intensity of earthquakes. This was a major, major storm.
Because of that they panicked. They got uptight. They got afraid. That is our typical reaction when a storm comes. We make it a Watson problem.
But there is an alternative to being filled with panic. There were two reactions to the Storm. The Disciples panicked….Jesus was asleep at the stern.
I find this a wonder picture of what Jesus can do in our lives. There are times, when furious storms just spring up in our lives and we are at a loss what to do. We cannot easily still them, we generally panic.
Jesus contrasts Disciples Panic
I CAN BE FILLED WITH PEACE. Look at the contrasting reaction of Jesus in v. 38 "But Jesus was asleep on a pillow." Sleeping in a storm? You talk about peace!
Uncomplicated Trust
This is a picture of complete trust in God. Jesus was not worried at all by the storm. He was teaching us a lesson by sleeping.
Nothing ever surprises God.
“God, I’m going bankrupt!” He knows.
“God, I’m having problems!” He saw them coming.
Nothing ever surprises Him. *
Loss of Sleep
Jesus was sleeping in the storm
Isn’t that ironic. What’s the first thing that goes out the window when we are stressed? Sleep.
That’s how you know when you’re in a storm. When we’re in storms, we lay awake at night, tossing and turning, going over it in our mind, trying to figure it out, worrying,
Yet Jesus can go to sleep anywhere. That’s what I call peace of mind.
I can be in panic or I can be at peace when I face a storm. The fact is, sometimes sleeping can be a statement of faith.
You say, “God, it’s too big of a problem. I can’t handle it. It’s Your problem now. I’m not going to worry about it. I’m going to bed.” That’s a statement of faith.
“God, I don’t know how You’re going to work this out, but I’m going to go to bed. I leave it in Your hands.” It’s a statement of faith instead of worrying.
Where in the world do you get that kind of peace in a storm? You get that kind of peace when you apply the principles taught in this passage. How do you make it through a storm? When it seems like your ship is sinking, what do you do? They are simple but they are profound.
1. REMEMBER GOD’S PRESENCE.
That He is near you, that He is with you, that you are not by yourself.
The disciples had nothing to fear. Jesus was in the boat. Do you think God was going to let the boat sink with Jesus in it? That in itself should have calmed them.
Do you think God will let your boat sink when you have Jesus Christ on board? That in itself should calm you
When you awake in the morning say to yourself “There will be nothing I will face today or any other day for the rest of my life that I face alone. God is with me. Jesus is in my boat.”
We often think we’re all alone. We think that God is far away. God has promised every one of his crewmen "Lo, I am with you always." God has promised, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Isaiah 43:1-2 "Fear not…When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you!"
What a promise! You don’t need to worry if Jesus is in your rocking boat.
2. REST IN GOD’S PRECISION (CARE).
Once you are aware of that presence, rest in that presence and care.
God cares about what you go through. – How do I know that? All you have to do is read the Bible. Read the 7000 promises in this book, then tell me God doesn’t care. He does.
Don’t think he is too big to worry about you. He is big enough to be bothered. 1 Peter 5:7 - "Cast all your care on Him because He cares for you."
The one thing that the disciples did right in that story is that when they got afraid, they took their fear to Jesus..
He’s the only one who can do anything about it.
3. RELY ON GOD’S PROVIDENCE.
When I say doing anything about it, I am talking about relying on Gods providence. I am talking about relying on the solution from God as the best possible solution for the situation.
Why They Woke Him?
The disciples had never seen him control the elements before. Notice that they became afraid when he did it. They did not wake him to see a miracle, if they had Jesus would not have rebuked them and said they had a little faith. They were probably bailing water and needed his help. They wanted to know why while they were working at trying to save their lives, he was sleeping. They wanted him awake to bail with them. But Jesus gets up and does not treat the symptoms, He cuts to the chase and solves the real problem.
Mark 4:39 "Jesus got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still.’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm." Jesus stood up in the boat in the middle of the storm and said, “Quiet! Be still!”. That’s literally what He said. Instantly, it was quiet.
There was actually two parts to the miracle in this story. First, there was the wind stopping. But anybody knows that even after the wind stops, waves will continue for a period of time. But the sea became as glass. So He talked to both of them and they became quiet.
Primary Questions
Do we simply profess to need help from Christ? –We just wake him up but have no idea how he will help?
Do we bring our concerns to Christ in prayer – and ask him to help us with the baling? Ask him to help us with the solution that we have planned?
Or do we bring our concerns to Christ in prayer; asking and believing that he can ACTUALLY still the storm, raging around us. Knowing that he has greater insight to the problem and knows the root of the issue and can still that storm quickly and effectively.
Yes once the strom is stilled, we still may need to do some work. After Jesus stilled that storm the disciples would still probably have had to bail the water that was in the boat, but they could do that with joyful hearts, knowing that the root cause of the problem had been resolved by Jesus.
Action
What’s rocking your boat? What’s flooding your ship? What kind of storm are you going through?
Is it a strained relationship?
Is it a financial difficulty?
Is it a painful memory that’s got you so tied up that you can’t see anything else?
Is it a health problem?
Is it a secret storm?
Something on the inside?
An emotion that’s overwhelming you?
Guilt?
Grief?
Anger?
Bitterness?
Jealousy?
Worry?
Conclusion
*Maybe you feel like the circumstances of life are tossing you back and forth and you feel like you’re just a little toy boat out there in a big ocean and you’re getting bashed back and forth every day. And you’re thinking, “I’m going under! I’m not going to make it!”
Some of us come here today with a storm raging in our life. Others come knowing friends or loved ones who have a storm raging, whether that be a health problem, a marital problem, an addiction problem or even the storm of an imminent death.
If that’s the way you feel, then God wants to say to you today, “No matter how big the wave is, Jesus can rebuke it.” And He wants to calm the storm in your life. He wants to say, "Peace! Be still!" Only Jesus Christ can calm the restlessness in your life right now. Quit looking for somebody else to be your solution. Quit looking to some experience to be your solution. There’s only One Person that can calm storms - Jesus Christ.
