What to do when God seems silent.

The great flood of 2016: 10-15 billion in property damage. Nearly 150,000 homes. The day felt normal, everything was under control. Trying to put blankets down to stop the water. My dad was absent and we couldn’t contact him.

What began as a calm day quickly got out of control because of the storm. To make matters worse, I had no access to communicate with my dad...

When you least expect it, life will hurl storms your way. Many will be small enough to manage. Others will be tough but you’ll feel close with God, and he’ll guide you through. But what do you do when the storm is to strong for you to manage and God seems silent?

In tonight’s story, the disciples find themselves in this exact problem. In the end, we will learn two practical steps that we can take when God seems silent during life’s storms.

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. How would you be feeling if you were the disciples in this scene? It is dark. The day was spent doing hard work of teaching massive crowds, healing people, and trying to understand Jesus’ complex parables. At their weakest moment, Jesus asks them to take another journey across the sea of Galilee. And Jesus’ himself was tired. After all, he was the one who was doing all of the teaching. They obliged to take him as he was, tired.

Like a beautiful woman, the sea of Galilee was both beautiful and dangerous. "The Sea of Galilee lies almost seven hundred feet below sea level. It is surrounded by highlands. To the northeast is Mount Hermon, which rises over nine thousand feet above sea level. When the cold air from Mount Hermon meets the rising warm air from the sea, it often results in a storm that sweeps down on to the lake from the heights." Ross H. McLaren

Let’s recap, all the disciples have done so far is follow Jesus’ direct orders to cross the sea, and it lead them straight into a storm.

37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. God hurled a storm at Jonah’s boat because he was fleeing from God’s will. In contrast, these disciples are experiencing a storm despite following Jesus’ will.

Sometimes, you will face storms in life even when you’ve taken the right path. Those problems are the hardest to understand. But if anyone is going to rise up to help you, Jesus will, right?

38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. Um, did we read that correctly? Jesus was asleep on the cushion?

How would you have reacted during a life threatening storm? Maybe you would try to control the situation. “Peter, grab the sail!”. Maybe, you would tremble in despair, “Thomas, stop doubting.” These men were professional fishermen! They practically lived on the water, but there was something different about this evening. There was something different about this storm. And there was something different about Jesus. He’s asleep!

Think about all of the things that could have kept Jesus awake… Pastor David Guzik wrote, “He could worry about the religious and political leaders who plotted against Him. He could worry about His family who thought He was crazy. He could worry about the overwhelming crowds with their overwhelming needs. He could worry about the disciples He chose. He could worry about the future, because He knew what His destiny was.”

Instead, Jesus is calmly sleeping, while his disciples are seemingly perishing.

If some of you were to be honest about how you feel about God, the word on your heart would be: bitter.

Your parents marriage is an overwhelming storm. And God seems silent.

Your anxiety is sinking your life. And Jesus seems to be sleeping.

You try to have faith, but it feels like God doesn’t care.

That is exactly how the disciples felt....

And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Notice, what they didn’t say: “Jesus, grab a rope to help us.” “Jesus, if you’re able to do miracles for the multitudes, can’t you do one miracle and save us?” Nope, they immediately questioned his heart for them and forgot all the power he displayed in the weeks leading up to this event.

Your faith in God needs to go from your head to your heart. It needs to migrate from theory to experience. Here’s why: you may feel close to God for weeks, but when your ship is really sinking, it can make you have doubts you’ve never considered.

Because they finally went to Jesus for help. They quickly learn, that Jesus’ calmness didn’t indicate a lack of care. His calmness was a result of his control over the situation.

39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Winds didn’t wake him. Water didn’t startle him. The pitiful cry of helpless disciples sparked him to immediate action. And notice, the first thing he rebuked wasn’t the disciples for waking him, but the storm for unsettling the faith of his followers. As Eugene Peterson wrote, “The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass.”

The wind and waves shifted from mimicking the internal fear of the disciples to the internal calmness of the Christ. And now, in his calm confidence, he turns to his disciples...

40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

Let me give you a challenge, next time there is a terrible storm in Chester, go outside and command the storm to stop. You know what will happen? Nothing. You know what should happen? Your neighbors should recommend a counselor. In this scene, the disciples recognized that the man sleeping in the boat with them was also God. They shifted to fearing death, to being in awe over the one who put waves in their place through a single command.

When my family got pulled over by police in Costa Rica: My dad having two wallets. Two results: I had no a fear of corrupt police. I was in awe of my dad’s wisdom.

With the storms that you are facing, are in fearful of the size of the waves or in awe of the control of your savior?

If you’re still fearful because God seems silent. Here are two things you can do to help this week: cry out and calm down.

Cry Out

Though their yell for hope was an expression of doubt, they went to the right source for saving.

Some of you are freaking out, scared of drowning, and mad at God. But you haven’t actually gone to him for help. You haven’t even spoken to him. You think that he’s asleep, but you’re the one that has been silent.

Did you notice that the beginning of the passage mentioned several boats that ventured onto the water that memorable evening? Those other boats didn’t have Jesus in the stern! I wonder what how they must have felt as they saw Jesus’ boat freaking out?

Church, if you have trusted in Jesus, he is in your boat. He has the power to help you. He cares about your needs. Let’s be examples of faith by crying out to him in faith when the waves get tall rather than wrangling the boat in our own strength.

Be Still

I want you to be so confident in God, that you can sleep well during storms. Not because the storms aren’t happening, but because you are more in awe of God’s control, then you are afraid of the winds roar.

How was Jesus able to sleep during this storm?

I believe it is because he trusted in God. Notice, his promise in the beginning of tonight’s text: “Let us go across to the other side.” He didn’t say, let’s see if we can make it to the other side. He said, let’s go. We will make it to the other side.

If you have trusted in Jesus, he is in your boat. No storm will be strong enough to make him sink. You will make it to the other side. Follow the example of the storm, “Peace! Be still!”