When Jesus Comes In Your Storm

THE PROBLEM THEY SUFFERED

Just hours before, the disciples had a completly different frame of mind. They were psyched.They were energized and confident, ready to take on anything.

Jesus had just fed thousands with a boy’s lunch, and the crowd erupted with messianic excitement. People surged forward, ready to make Jesus king by force.

And the disciples?

They loved every second of it.

They could see themselves in positions of glory—

royal rings, servants, authority, the inner circle of the new kingdom.

Peter picturing himself giving commands.

James imagining a sword at his side.

John dreaming of Roman soldiers bowing before the Messiah.

They were riding a wave of triumph so high

they could already feel political victory in their fingertips.

But that was eight hours ago.

Because suddenly—abruptly—Jesus broke the moment.

Matthew writes:

> “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat

and go before Him to the other side.” (Matthew 14:22)

No explanation.

No discussion.

No softening of His tone.

He forced them away from the applause.

He pulled them out of the spotlight.

He shut down their fantasies of earthly glory.

And He sent them straight into a storm.

Not accidentally.

Not unknowingly.

Intentionally.

This isn’t “Blessed are the meek” Jesus.

This isn’t hillside-teaching Jesus.

This is the Jesus who refuses to let His disciples stay in shallow water.

This is the Jesus who knows storms reveal what sunshine never can.

And as the disciples push away from shore, everything begins to unravel.

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1. THEY WERE FAR FROM SHORE — ALONE IN THE MIDDLE

Matthew says they were now “in the midst of the sea.”

John says they had rowed twenty-five or thirty stadia—

three to four miles.

The Sea of Galilee is only seven or eight miles across.

Under normal conditions, a fisherman could row that far in about an hour.

But it is now three in the morning—

and they are only halfway.

That means they have been rowing

six to eight exhausting hours

and have gone nowhere.

They are too far to go back.

Too far to go forward.

Stuck in the place every believer knows too well:

The middle.

Not the beginning of trouble,

where hope is fresh.

Not the end of trouble,

where resolution is near.

But the lonely, grinding middle

where strength collapses

and questions multiply.

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2. THE WIND WAS AGAINST THEM — PROGRESS IMPOSSIBLE

Matthew adds:

> “The wind was contrary.”

It fought them.

Resisted them.

Pushed them backward.

Every stroke of the oar

cost twice the effort

and gained half the distance.

This wasn’t rowing anymore.

This was survival.

Some of you know this feeling:

You work and nothing changes.

You pray and nothing moves.

You fight and nothing improves.

You try to be faithful and life pushes back harder.

Contrary wind has a way of defeating confidence.

And their confidence was evaporating.

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3. IT WAS THE DARKEST HOUR — THE FOURTH WATCH

Between 3am and 6am the night is at its coldest,

its quietest,

its blackest.

They cannot see each other.

They cannot see the shoreline.

They cannot see their way forward.

They hear the waves

before they ever see them.

They feel the wind

before they understand it.

This is where fear breeds.

This is where doubt whispers.

This is where faith feels thin.

Some storms attack your circumstances—

the worst storms attack your clarity.

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4. THEY WERE EXHAUSTED — PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY

Imagine them by 3am:

hands blistered and bleeding

shoulders burning

backs aching

soaked to the skin

shivering in the cold

muscles trembling

lungs tight

heads spinning with confusion

This isn’t fatigue.

This is collapse.

And here is the truth:

Jesus did not come in the first watch.

He did not come in the second.

He did not come in the third.

He waited until the fourth watch—

the end of their human strength—

to come with divine strength.

Storms reveal where we end

and He begins.

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5. THEY WERE IN AN EMOTIONAL FREEFALL

This is the part we often overlook.

Eight hours earlier,

they were dreaming of thrones.

Now they are:

confused —

“Why did He send us out here?”

doubting —

“Did we misunderstand Him?”

frustrated —

“Nothing is working!”

angry —

“What kind of Messiah leaves us alone?”

murmuring —

“This isn’t what we signed up for.”

They’re disappointed.

They’re hurt.

They’re questioning everything.

The royal high is gone.

The kingdom fantasies vanish.

The excitement evaporates.

And they are left with raw, bitter reality.

Eight hours earlier they were planning glory.

Now they’re just trying not to die.

And the most painful truth of all:

They were in this storm

because they obeyed Jesus.

Not because they sinned.

Not because they rebelled.

Not because they lacked faith.

They were suffering for one reason:

Jesus said, “Go.”