Where Did These Storms Come From? Mark 4: 35-41

Billy Graham once said. “The storm was raging. The sea was beating against the rocks in huge, dashing waves. The lightning was flashing, the thunder was roaring, the wind was blowing; but the little bird was sound asleep in the crevice of the rock, its head tucked serenely under its wing. That is peace: to be able to sleep in the storm!”

Where do the storms that we face come from? What causes the rough seas and howling winds to blow through our lives? Why are we so fearful, so afraid when they come?

Read the passage: Did you notice verse 35. Jesus said to the disciples, “Let’s go to the other side.” They get out, heading for the other side and a storm suddenly comes up. Now these men are professionals and they have had to deal with rough weather before but there was something different about this storm. This was possibly the worst storm any of them had ever seen and it scared them tremendously. Where is Jesus? The Bible says that He was in the stern or the rear of the ship…ASLEEP. [Follow with what happens through verse 39…]

Have you ever prayed a prayer like that? “Lord do you even care?...”

What makes you afraid, when you’re in a storm?

Notice what Jesus said to them in verse 40 “why are you so afraid?”

How is it that seeing all that you have seen and hearing all that you have heard, you still live in fear!?

Is it that you still don’t believe in me or maybe you haven’t learned to trust me?

Do you know that Jesus has never known fear? The way Mark uses the word fear in verse 40 is terrified…Again, let me ask you. What makes you afraid, when you’re in a storm? Or maybe I should ask it the way Jesus did. “WHY are you so afraid?”

Where do storms come from?

1. Storms come from my own rebellion or disobedience:

This is deliberately living outside of the will and plan God has for His people

I think about Jonah, who found himself in a storm that was caused by his own rebellion. He was going to prove to God that he was not going to go to Nineveh. Verses 3-5 tell us that Jonah went down to Joppa and went down into the ship and when the storm came he went down into the bottom of the ship. When the sailors realized it was Jonah who was causing the storm they threw him down into the ocean.

See when we rebel against God the only way we can go is down, down, down.

2. Sometimes storms are caused by others, in your life:

Just like Jonah brought the storm onto the passengers and crew of that ship, people around you can be the cause of the storm you are facing right now.

The people on the ship were innocent but they were caught up in Jonah’s storm and you may not have done a thing wrong but someone around you is rebelling and now you are caught in it.

3. Storms come simply because we live in a fallen world:

Storms don’t have to mean that God is angry with me. Sometimes we rack our brain trying to figure out what we did that made God so mad. We even go back to something we did as a child like cheating on that math test in the 3rd grade and we believe that God is finally punishing us for that.

Sometime we don’t have to do a thing and a storm will pop up, just because we live in a fallen world.

Mat 5:45 “…He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

4. Some storms are caused by the devil:

The storm, here, seems to be a supernatural storm. Notice that Jesus “rebuked” this storm.

The way in which He uses the rebuke here is the same way that He uses it every time He rebuked the demons.

If you don’t believe that Satan will bring a sudden storm into your life, just try to spend more time with God. Try to be more obedient to God. Try to witness more.

1Pe 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

Did you know that having Jesus in the boat with you never exempts you from a storm? You may not think that is fair and you may even complain about the number of storms you have already gone through.

Wouldn't it be great if all we had to face was 1 storm and when we made it through and received our testimony we never had to worry about another one?