Mark 4:35-41 "Calming the Storm"

Good Morning Calvary Chapel Lake City!

This past week the WHOLE COUNCIL OF GOD was read publically… from Genesis to Revelation…

What a week where EVERY WORD was read in Warsaw, IN…

Great work everyone who attended and participated in reading, praying, and administrating…

And, Ty… to you especially… great work being obedient to the stirring on your heart by the Holy Spirit and His word.

When are we doing this again? Next year?

Well, let’s continue our journey verse-verse through the Gospel of Mark. Please turn in your Bibles to Mark 4. Mark 4:35-41 today. An application rich passage.

We left off where Jesus had an action packed day of ministry moments, confrontations, teachings…

Some call this the “Long Day of the Lord.”

And, you’ll notice in V35 we’ll pick up STILL on this same day. V35 reads, “On the same day, when evening had come...”

What an amazing example Jesus set before us on this day.

It’s no wonder we will also read that he sleeps in this account today.

As we finish Chapter 4 today, a quick reminder about another detail of our context… Jesus had been teaching in Parables.

Jesus threw natural truths alongside spiritual truths… which meanings were veiled to those who did not believe.

In then in private conversation, Jesus would interpret the parables to the disciples.

Ten parables in all teaching about the Kingdom of God… about people who would hear the word of God, accept it, and bear fruit… and those who would not.

Such beautiful lessons! And, we love a good teaching… UNTIL life gets REALLY DIFFICULT… and then we are tested as to what kind of disciple we really are!

Well… today… we are going to see that the Disciples are going to find out… what KIND of DISCIPLES they were!! Because today… Jesus will lead them onto the sea and into a storm!

And, even more significant then what they learn of themselves… is what they learn of Jesus… as they observe Him, “Calming the Storm”… our sermon title today.

Let’s Pray!

Mark 4:35-41 “On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” 36 Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. 38 But He was in the stern, [the back of the boat] asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” 39 Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. 40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Just 7 verses today, but a lot to observe and take in. On this same day of much ministry, Jesus instructs the disciples, “Let us cross over to the other side.”

Which raises the question, where were they heading?

A quick cross reference in Luke 8:26 (when they get to the other side) tells us, “...they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.”

So, this gives us their destination and their launch point.

Many scholars believe… with good reason… that they departed from the City of Capernaum… their headquarters in the Galilee Region…

And, sailed across the Sea of Galilee to the country of the Gadarenes… also known as the country of the Gergesenes…

Only about a 5 mile voyage.

You can see on this map that sailing to the other side should not have been a daunting journey… at least not for the professional fishermen.

The Sea of Galilee… is really not a Sea like the Mediterranean, Black, or Caspian Seas… or even our Great Lakes… it’s much smaller…

But, still it has an area of 64 square miles.

Here in town… Winona Lake is 3.43 square miles. So, the Sea of Galilee is a large… Lake… it’s more like a lake… actually it’s called the ‘Lake of Gennesaret’ in Luke 5:1.

Overall the Sea of Galilee is 8 miles wide (East to West) and 13 miles long (North to South), reaching depths of 157’, so it’s big… no doubt.

And, this is the body of water Jesus is referencing crossing over in V35…

These words “Let us cross over to the other side” jumps out for a few reasons…

One… it just a daunting phrase… because we know they are going into a storm…

But, also, we know what awaits them on the other side… the demoniac of Gadara!

This “other side” feels eerie almost.

But, also its a phrase that the disciples needed to hold onto.

Because who spoke this phrase? Jesus.

And, “Scripture cannot be broken.”

When Jesus… who is the Living Word (In the beginning was the Word…) when the Living Word speaks… it’s as good as the written word…

And, a big issue… a big failure of the disciples… is they will forget to hold onto these words of Christ.

A storm will come, and they will panic… and they will falter because they will forget what Jesus said…

Which is “Let us cross over to the other side”… NOT “Let’s sail out… capsize and perish.”

Now look… I know we can’t hold it against a loved one if they say, “Let’s go for a drive” and there’s an accident… there’s no way to predict that…

But, we can hold Jesus to a higher standard… and the disciples could have also, because they witnessed His predictive powers time and again…

So, when He said, “Let’s cross over...” they should have held to that.

When we forget God’s word, we put ourselves in a dangerous position to falter in faith.

I love the example of Abraham who did it right… we read about His faith Abraham in Heb 11 how when God told him to sacrifice Isaac… Abraham held onto God’s promise “In Isaac your seed shall be called.”

Abraham knew there was a future plan for Isaac, but there was a dilemma… God told him to sacrifice Isaac.

So, how did Abraham reconcile this? Heb 11:19 states he concluded “…that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead…”

Isn’t that such great faith? Abraham concluded that it was more likely for God to do the impossible… to raise Isaac from a sacrificial death… then to break His promise.

And, that landed Abraham in the Faith Hall of Fame… Hebrews 11.

So, how about us? How about when we read about promises in His word… do we hang onto His word?

Do we believe His promises? Can we take His word at face value and trust it? Can we walk by faith and not by sight.

When we read declarative promises in scripture like “Lo, I am with you always”… or I will never leave you nor forsake you”… it’s imperative that we believe.

FOR IF WE don’t hang onto His word… we are no different than the disciples who forgot the words of Jesus… “Let us cross over to the other side.”

Don’t forget that in the Parable of the Soils… which Jesus just taught in the scene prior… the thing that distinguished the good soil from the other three not-so-good soils… was the good soil… which was the good heart ‘heard the word, received it, and then bore fruit.’

Truly take the word in… incorporate it into your soul… have faith in it… and put it into practice.

Because, like Abraham… or like these disciples… there comes a day when all the great teaching of Jesus… all the great teachings in the word of God…

There comes a day when we must put His word into practice… and His word becomes so real when a trial comes.

Well, continuing on in V36… the disciples and Jesus depart…

Mark 4:36 “Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him.”

According to Mark 4:1, the boat had become Jesus’ place to teach from… and the phrase “as He was” here in V36 denotes Jesus was already in the boat.

The Holman Christian Bible translates V36 “they took Him along since He was already in the boat...”

The disciples leave the multitude… get into the boat with Jesus… and take Him along to cross to the other side.

And, some from the multitude follow… “other little boats”… a small flotilla of boats were with Him.

We hear nothing else about these boats… so perhaps they follow for a bit and then turn back.

If they represented any of the not-so -good soils… it would not be surprising that they did turn back…

It is not uncommon for people to follow Jesus for just a short while… and to lose interest quickly… “the cares of this world choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.”

What happened to the other little boats?

What also strikes me about this verse is the phrase “they took Him along...”

This phrase seems backwards to me. Should we ever be taking Jesus along with us? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

Kind of reminds me of that “Jesus is my copilot” bumper sticker. Remember those? How many of you had one of those on your car?

There was an alternate bumper sticker that came out after that and it said, “If God is your co-pilot, switch seats.”

Personally, I like that one better. I always want Him in control… leading my life… guiding Me… directing my steps…

If you hate both of those bumper stickers… I want to give you one more option…

It goes… “Save Gas… Walk with Jesus.”

That has very little to do with our teaching today…

But, it does fit with the reality of our current high gas prices…

So, you’re welcome for that ‘bonus bumper-sticker.’

Back to Mark… when V36 states “they took him along…” it feels almost the verse it implying these professional fishermen are taking control… steering the ship…

Luke wrote, “…as they sailed He fell asleep.”

Did they say something like....? “Jesus, you’re a carpenter and a Rabbi… so just go rest in the back of the boat. We got this. Take a nap. We’re the experts of the sea. We’re not going to let you steer.”

And, if we’re honest… don’t we have this same attitude sometimes? Aren’t their times when we are totally in our element and feel self-sufficient?

We feel like Jesus can take a backseat in our boat…

It’s great to have Jesus along… it’s great when He can fit into my life…

This becomes an issue of lordship… who is the real Lord of my life? Who’s really leading? Who’s in control?

Do you allow Jesus to steer the ship… or would you prefer Him in the back sleeping?

The disciples are about to find out a hard lesson… they’re going to learn about their lack of control in the midst of a trial… and that Jesus is truly Lord… the only One who can lead them out of the trial.

And, the trial for them comes in the form of a “great windstorm.” Look again at V37…

Mark 4:37 “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.”

It’s fascinating that this storm comes at the end of the Long Day of the Lord… after Jesus had taught the disciples so many things about the Kingdom of God… and trusting the word of God…

And, NOW, Jesus is going to take the Disciples to a place where they can put what they learned into practice.

They will go from a time of teaching to a time of testing. From classroom theory to practicum.

Mark describes this storm as a “great windstorm”…

Matthew emphasizes how quick it came upon them writing in Matt 8:24, “And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so the boat was covered with the waves.”

Luke recorded how the storm hit and how their lives were in danger… in Lk 8:23 he wrote, “And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.”

Note that Luke wrote “a windstorm came down” which is a very accurate depiction of what happens on the Sea of Galilee… where the sea can turn quickly from glass to wave swells…

What’s tricky about sailing on this body of water… is sudden storms are not uncommon due to the geography of the region.

It sits at 695 feet below sea level (making it the lowest freshwater lake in the world).

And the cliffs along the eastern shore reach heights of 1400’ and along the southern shores of 2500’.

Plus, about 150 miles north of the sea stands Mount Hermon… with it’s snow covered peaks… at 9200’, and when cold air comes down (Just as Luke wrote)… and collides with the warm air over the sea …the sudden change can produce violent storms.

… as Matthew recorded “And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea...”

It’s interesting that the disciples are even in this place.

Another consideration… another way to look at this storm is that the Disciples find themselves in this storm due to their obedience to follow Jesus.

Matt 8:23 records, “Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.”

The disciples follow Jesus… He said, “let us cross to the other side”… But, He never said it would be smooth sailing…

Regardless, the Disciples “launched out…”

They were following Jesus… they got in the boat with Him.

And, often when you get in the boat with Jesus… when you obey His words and follow Him… turbulent days and experiences follow.

In Jn 16:33, Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

If you’re a Christian, you shouldn’t be surprised when a storm comes upon you… when a trial arises…

And, there are all kinds of reasons why we may find ourselves in a storm…

Warren Wiersbe, who went home to be with the Lord in 2019, he hinted at this when he wrote, “Jonah ended up in a storm because of his disobedience, but the disciples got into a storm because of their obedience to the Lord.”

Wiersbe mentions storms of disobedience… and storms of obedience… and I would add that sometimes there are storms of instruction.

The disciple here in Mark 4 find themselves in a life-threatening storm due to their obedience to follow Jesus and to be in the boat with Him.

You could be right in the center of God’s will and also in the center of a storm…

You could listen to God’s words and follow Him and still experience turbulence in life.

I’ve been in several storms in recent years and I’m still in the boat with Jesus… and neither of us are getting out.

We know the direction we are heading… He’s steering… and I’m happy to do whatever to support my Captain.

And, in the midst of the storm… I often find myself come to a place where I cry out to Him.

And, anytime we surrender and cry out to God… and fully depend on God… we grow in relationship with Him.

As difficult as storms are… they truly are effective at bringing us to this place of brokenness… and utter reliance on God… which we need in life.

For Jonah, the storm was different. God directed Jonah to go to Ninevah… and Jonah was disobedient… he sailed the opposite direction from God’s will.

God brought a storm and a great fish to bring Jonah back on course.

3 days and 3 nights he spent in the belly of a great fish…bleached white…a terrible experience.

Amazingly, God would even use Jonah’s experience later as a type for Jesus in the tomb.

Remember Jesus’ words in Matt 12:39-41? “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here.”

But, the storm Jonah experienced… frankly… it was unnecessary… and was a direct result of his disobedience…

I would caution you… if God is stirring your heart… and opening doors… you keep walking through the doors God opens until He shuts them.

And, sometimes He does… sometimes He opens doors to prepare our hearts… and then He closes a door and redirects.

When God stirred our hearts for the Philippines… and then my Pastor said they would pay for every expense to fully support us… those to me were open doors with a big neon sign pointing to the Philippines.

But then, our missions sending agency wanted us to wait.

And, my Pastor, who referred me to that sending agency, released me from them citing scripture and telling me, “You knock on every other door, and if every door closes… you stay. But, if another door opens, you go.”

The very next door opened, and two other missionaries who heard about the sending agency said, “It’s probably just God redirecting.”

God will see your obedience to walk where He leads… and to flex when He redirects.

We need to keep in perspective that He is leading and we are following, and if He says “stop” or “go left or right”… that’s ok.

How did Paul respond when God redirected him?

Remember the Macedonian Call account during Paul’s Second Missionary Journey in Acts 16:6-10? Let me read it to you, “Now when they [Paul, Silas, and Timothy] had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. [closed door… redirection] 7 After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. [closed door… redirection] 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately [immediate obedience] we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

Paul could have pressed forward into these regions that he desired to go to, but then he would have been disobedient to the leading by the Holy Spirit… and would have been outside of God’s will.

It would have been Paul’s will and Paul’s desire… and the plan would have had far less impact than God’s plan.

Paul desired to reach regions in Asia Minor where the Gospel was already spreading.

God wanted Paul to go to a whole new continent… Macedonia… where the Gospel had not yet been heard… and where cries for help were being lifted.

God has a better plan than my plan or your plan… and we need to get out of the way and let Him move how He wants… and in His timing.

Sometimes our disobedience falls in the form of moving too quick. I see many well meaning and zealous Christians move too quick.

They move in their timing instead of waiting on the Lord… and this is also a mistake… this can also bring a storm because of disobeying God’s perfect timing.

Again, the question is… who’s in charge? Who’s steering the ship?

One final type of storm, I would like to mention… I’ve given examples of storms of obedience (like our disciples here in Mark 4)… storms of disobedience (like Jonah)… but there also are storms of instruction.

This is the kind of storm where God is perfecting us.

At the end of this storm in Mark 4… they ask this question about Jesus, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

This storm brings them to a place where they are looking deeper at who Jesus is in their lives.

Maybe He’s NOT just a great Rabbi… a great Teacher… maybe He’s more.

In a couple chapters from now… in Mark 6… we will find the disciples again in the middle of a storm… in obedience to the Lord… and this time Jesus walks out to them on water…

At the end of that account, the disciples don’t ask, “Who can this be…?”

Matthew records they “worshiped Him saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

And, in that storm they come to a place where the storm instructs them and reveals to them truly who Jesus is.

He is the Son of God… which in Jewish reckoning equated Him with God.

Sometimes, storms in life come with a purpose… to instruct us and lead us to recognize who the Lord is… and understand Him deeper… and trust Him deeper…

These kind of storms perfect us and conform us into the image of His Son.

God doesn’t just create storms to flex His muscles and scare us… there’s purpose in the storm.

And, so the disciples find themselves in one such storm… a great windstorm… a sudden great tempest… cold and coming down from the mountains above…

The boat is covered with waves… filling with water… they were in jeopardy (danger for their lives).

Some of these men were professional fishermen… and I imagine they did what they knew to do…

Taking charge… instructing the other disciples… “Matthew, Thomas, Nathanael- bail water… Simon hold this rope… Judas and Philip… help me with this sail…”

Were they arguing? Were some of them panicking and freezing up?

It would seem that for a while the disciples trusted in their own resources to keep the boat afloat.

And when storms suddenly come… quick and fierce in our lives… don’t we do just the same?

We can sell this asset… we can cut this debt… I’ll get a second job… we can freeze our bills…

We get so caught up and anxious about our situation…

We become just like the disciples… doing whatever we can to keep the boat afloat!

And, how often is our greatest resource overlooked?

How often do we forget about the God-Man sleeping in the back of the boat…?

The One who can calm the storm.

The disciples trusted in their own skills and their own power… and only when the situation reached absolute desperation did they turn to the sleeping Carpenter.

Listen to me… that sleeping Carpenter in the back of the boat… He needs to be your first line of defense for the storm.

He’s bigger than your resources… He’s wiser than your whole network… He can calm the storm with just a word.

Call on Him… just like we see the disciples do in V38…

Mark 4:38 “But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

Matthew records they cried out, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

And, Luke recorded them saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”

Essentially… the same cry… for one’s “Lord” is their “Master.”

And, here the disciples have come to the end of themselves…

They’ve exhausted their resources… they don’t know what to do… they feel they are at their end.

And, so often this is why God leads us into storms…

Because in our self-sufficiency, we so often shove Jesus to the back of the boat and tell Him to go to sleep.

And, the storm brings us to a place where we can realize that we NEED A SAVIOR… that we can’t do it on our own… and then we cry out to Him.

This past Friday night I met a man who was undone. Sobbing… he told me his story… me a complete stranger and he told me he was at “rock bottom.”

Mistakenly, he asked, “Why is punishing me?” He was in a storm. And still… God sent His people to bring him food and to share the Gospel…

And, in the middle of this storm, as this man cried out to God… he also came to a place where he said, “Yes” to Jesus!

And, if rock bottom is what brings one to that place to accept Jesus as Savior… maybe the storm is the best thing that happened in life.

The disciples cry out to Jesus, and it’s amazing that He responds at all.

After this long day of the Lord, Jesus… in His humanity… needed rest…

I love Mark’s note that Jesus was “asleep on a pillow.”

And, He’s is such deep sleep that even this violent storm does not awake Him.

But, at the sound of His disciples… He awakes. The Good Shepherd responds to His sheep…

He doesn’t shew them away… He doesn’t hit “snooze” on His alarm.

He responds to them… just as He hears you when you cry out.

People often accuse Jesus of sleeping through their storms… of being absent… of not caring… but, how many of those same people do their part to cry out to Him in the middle of their storm?

In Matt 7:7-8, Jesus instructed us to be persistent in crying out to Him, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Ask, Seek, and Knock are all written in the “present, imperative”… these are to be continuous actions…

Keep asking… keep seeking… keep knocking…

Be persistent in your requests to God… just like the widow in the Parable of the Unjust Judge.

Cry out day and night to Him… He tells us to do so!

In Matt 11:28-30, Jesus instructed, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Cry out to Him… He doesn’t want us to tackle the storm in our own strength.

If you’re in a storm and you’ve not cried out to Him at all… you need to take that step.

And, if you have cried out to Him, and it seems as if He is still asleep… don’t lose heart… there may be another reason for His silence… something bigger that He is doing in you… or even for those around you.

God surely is mysterious in His ways, but don’t lose heart. Don’t lose faith. Don’t fall away.

It’s comforting for us today to know that even though the Disciples question “… do You not care that we are perishing?”

It’s comforting that Jesus responds to their plea despite them questioning Him.

They don’t come to Him with a prayer, but with a complaint… and still He responds.

He can handle our questions, our complaints… and our doubts… and He’s gracious despite us.

It’s comforting that despite the Disciples failing this test miserable, He will not forsake them.

He’s patient with us and merciful…

Which He demonstrates to His disciples in V40…

Mark 4:40 “Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.”

What a glorious moment… in the middle of this life-threatening storm… as they fear for their end…

The disciples turn to Jesus… and with just a few words… Jesus calms the storm.

And, He demonstrates His divine power… even over nature itself.

Luke wrote, “He rebuked the wind and the raging of the water”…

Interesting that Jesus rebuked the storm.

The scholars at Dallas Theological Seminary had an interesting note about this word “rebuke” that Jesus literally “ordered” the storm silent and the phrase could be rendered “Be silent! Be muzzled and remain so!”

Further, they wrote, “This verb, “be muzzled,” was somewhat of a technical term for dispossessing a demon of his power (cf. Mk 1:25) and may suggest that Jesus recognized demonic powers behind the ferocious storm.”

And, we can think back to Job 1, when Satan was permitted to test Job…

One of his attacks was a ‘sudden great wind’ (Job 1:19) that destroyed a house… killing all 10 of Job’s children.

So, this storm being of a demonic nature is plausible indeed.

But, destruction would not come upon the Disciples… Jesus said “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.”

In Ps 89:8-9, Ethan the Ezrahite in his contemplation of the greatness of God wrote, “O LORD God of hosts, Who is mighty like You, O LORD? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. 9 You rule the raging of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them.”

With a word… Jesus was able to calm the sudden raging sea on the Galilee, and He can calm the storms in our life as well…He has the power…the authority over both.

And, then Jesus turns to His disciples and asks…

Mark 4:40 “But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

Mark and Luke place Jesus asking this question AFTER He rebukes the storm.

Matthew flips it and records Jesus asking this question FIRST… and then has Him rebuke the storm… which feels a little more dramatic to me.

Time would stand still to me in that moment…

Many scholars see this as a double rebuke… first to the storm… and then to the disciples…

They were in a storm… they were being tested…

And, they didn’t hold onto Jesus’ word “Let us cross over to the other side...”

They woke the poor guy up! That certainly deserved a rebuke!

And, they come to Him complaining that He doesn’t care.

Jesus’ question is valid! They were lacking in faith.

Mark records Jesus asked, “How is it that you have no faith?”

Almost as if faith was not present.

Matthew records Jesus asked, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?”

Which would imply some faith was present, but it was small.

Luke spins it this way… with Jesus asking, “Where is your faith?”

As though they temporarily lost their faith in the midst of this storm.

Three Gospel writers with three different angles… or perceptions of how Jesus asked this question.

And, Twelve disciples each with probably a different measure of faith in this very moment.

Regardless of where exactly they were in their faith… for sure their faith was being challenged.

Could they remember Jesus’ teachings in the parables and be good soil that heard the word, accepted it, and bore fruit?

Jesus would use this momentary lapse of faith… to build their faith…

The disciples forgot Jesus’ word… they were self-sufficient… they feared the storm… and questioned if Jesus cared… a miserable failure.

But, Jesus still sees the potential in them…

He may have justifiably rebuked them, but He also saved them from the storm… and demonstrated His authority and power were greater than the storm.

And this will lead the disciples to greater faith, as we see their response in V41…

Mark 4:41 “And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

Seeing Jesus calm the storm caused an awestruck response in the Disciples…

Mark wrote they “feared exceedingly”… Gk. megas phobos. A mega phobia…

They were terrified, which could be rendered “awestruck.”

Matthew and Luke also record they “Marveled” by def. “amazement, wonder.”

This is a normal response when man encounters God…

Numerous times in scripture, other men respond the same way.

When Isaiah had a vision of the Lord on the throne he cried out “Woe is me, for I am undone!” (Isa 6:5).

When Ezekiel saw the glory of the Lord, he wrote “I fell on my face...” (Ezk 1:28).

When John had a vision of the Lord, he “fell at His feet as dead.” (Rev 1:17).

When you encounter God in a very real way, it is normal to fear and marvel…to be awestruck.

In this storm, the disciples were still learning who Jesus was… they were in process… as are we.

And as they feared and marveled, they said, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!”

The disciples ask the most important question one can ask… “Who is Jesus?”

Let me tell you who He is…

He’s the Christ… the Messiah… the Savior…

He’s the King of Kings and Lord of Lords… the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End…

He’s the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

And, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

And, He’s the One who calms the storm.

Let me close with this appropriate reading from Ps 107:23-31 “Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters, 24 They see the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep. 25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind, Which lifts up the waves of the sea. 26 They mount up to the heavens, They go down again to the depths; Their soul melts because of trouble. 27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits’ end. 28 Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses. 29 He calms the storm, So that its waves are still. 30 Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven. 31 Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men!”

Let’s Pray! Lord we do give thanks to you now…

Storms in life are never easy… nor is the refiner’s fire… but there is purpose.

When you reach the other side… you’ve grown in the Lord… you’re less like your old self…

And, your testimony becomes a powerful witness to all who would hear.

Trust in the Lord’s process… for He is good!

God bless you as you enter this week ahead!