Faith in the Midst of the storm

Mark 4:35–41 (ESV)

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 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. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 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?”

Introduction

I want us to take a deeper look into this passage in Mark 4 this morning.

and if you will ablige me I would like to share with you something that I feel like the Lord has been speaking to me personally..

Storms

Most of you know that Krista, Myself and our family have been walking through a difficult season in our lives..

we have been navigating stormy weather if you will

and frankly it has been quite difficult.

But I know that there are many others in this room this morning who are also in boats navigating stormy weather..

Your walking through your own storms..

Your own difficulties and trials..

Encourage

this morning I want to encourage you as I believe the Lord has encouraged us.

To put your faith in Him and hold tight..

for he has not forgotten you..

rather, he is in the midst of your storm with you..

He is the peace and guidance in your storm..

and he will see you through..

The Storm

When we come into verse 35 of mark chapter 4

we find a well known story that I think many of us can related with..

the disciples are with Jesus

He has been telling parables and teaching..

and he tells the disipcles..

listen, get into the boat were going to go to the other side of the sea.

And they do as he says..

and as they make their way across the seas, themselves and other boats as well..

A great windstorm arises

and the waves begin to get large…

and threaten to overtake the boat.

Sea of Galalee

If you have ever looked into the make up of the terain around the sea of galilee..

you find that the sea is set 696 feet below sea level

Further more its surrounded by moutainous terrain and valleys

the wind gets caught in these valleys and it funneled down onto the sea

and so the seas is known for violent downdrafts, winds, and unexpexted storms.

and that is seemingly what has happened here...

and i want to point out that this story suggests through that this was not a small storm..

Seasoned fisherman

we know that many amoung the subjects of our passage are seasoned fisherman..

they had been on the sea many times

undoubtably in storms before..

but this storm was so bad..

that they were terified..

so terrified..

that they believed there were going to die..

I remember a few years ago we went on a family vacation..

and kristas brother dwayen, myself and her dad decided we were going to go fishing for mahi mhai..

and when we got to the boat that morning..

the waves were 6 feet high..

and I remember looking out at those waves and thinking..

man those are some big waves..

and going out they were..

but that captian didnt think that at all..

he has been on the seas..

and he wasnt shaken..

These guys were shook..

this was a bad storm..

they were worried that the circumstances of the storm were going to take them out..

Perishing

and so like any good man does in chaos..

they panic..

and look around and find Jesus..

sleeping.. in the bow..

and they shake him awake.

and look what they tell him..

Mark 4:38 (ESV)

But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”

they accuse Jesus by saying.. do you not care.. that we are perishing..

Were about to drown..

and your sleeping..

do you not care?

Have you ever experienced a storm in your life?

have you ever expereinced a storm in your life?

Nature

many of us have been in some crazy storms in nature..

weve seen hail and winds and maybe some scary things..

Personal storms..

but have you ever walked through a stormy season in your life..

maybe something unexpected..

something happened on your journey.. and the winds began to pick up..

the waves began to roll..

the sun, hid behind the clouds that were rolling in..

what is a storm?

you see a storm in life is when things get real all of a sudden..

when Life gets hard..

its gets difficult..

a doctor gives you a diagnosis..

someone suddenly and unexpectedly dies..

You unexexpectedly lose a job..

the country goes into a recession..

or a pandemic..

You find out your spouse has cheated on you..

You know..

those times in life.. where life gets hard..something excrutiatingly hard

and seemingly out of no where and the winds begin to blow..

the storms of life..

we all expereince storms as one point or another..

Easy to accuse god of not caring..

and just like the disicples it can be really easy to assume god simply doesnt care about our storms..

that he is appathetic..

simply because we are in them..

and he has allowed them.. .

and he seems like he is alseep..

so we say things like.

why would bad things happen to good people..

Why would god allow a christians to suffer sickness…

why would god let this happen to me?

we wonder why god would allow us to go through storms..

Everyone goes through storms..

but I want to remind you this morning that the bible never promised we wouldnt go through storms..

Matthew 5:45 says its rains on the just and the unjust

and Jesus promises in John 16:33 that in this world WE WILL HAVE TROUBLE..

Bad things happen to everyone..

rough days come for everyone..

this is life..

Storms come in everyones lives.

so we shouldnt be surprised when we encounter a storm in life..

Because the question is not whether you will encounter a storm..

the question is how will you act when you do..

Jesus Chastizes them for their recation..

The disicples encountered a storm..

a very difficult storm..

one that threatened to take there lives seemingly..

and there recation was something that not very foriegn to many of us..

it was panic.. anxiety.. strife.. and sheer neglect for who was in the boat with them..

as when they wake Jesus up..

Jesus chastizes them..

Jesus stands up and calms the seas..

He speaks peace to the seas..

and then chastises them for their reaction..

look at what he says..

Mark 4:40 ESV

He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

Jesus tells them why were you afriad..

Jesus implies that instead of fear..

at this point..

after all they had seen with him..

Their response rather should have been faith..

BE CLEAR

To be clear..

Jesus is not chastizing them for their simple fear of the storm…

He is not disciplining them for their recognition of the danger in the situation..

Jesus is chastizing them for being afriad of the storm.. WHEN THEY WERE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE ONE WHO CALMS THE STORM..

Jesus is essentially telling them..

Listen guys.. why are you afraid..

im right here..

and im not worried about this..

have some faith..

us

You see when we face storms in life..

we have two options of how we can respond..

we can respond as the disicples did..

in panic, fear, anxiety, stress, and strife..

or we can simply look to Jesus and faith.. and keep moving forward..

one leads to stress, fear, and anxiety..

the other leads to peace..

so how can we have faith in the midst of our storms?

So how can we have faith in the midst of our storms?

I think we see three practical things in this passage that we can do in the middle of our storms

some of which we learn from the disicples mistakes..

and some of which we learn with them..

the first is this..

We focus on the “Presence” of Jesus in our storm

the disicples..

Jesus was in the boat with the disicples when the storm arose.

Mark 4:36 (ESV)

And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him.

One of the reasons I believe The disiples faith failed them was because there focus was on the storm instead of the savior.

their forcus was on the wind..

it was on the waves..

it was one the water..

It was one the boat..

but..

in the middle of the storm, they forgot just who was in the boat with them

they seemed to forget the miracle worker

the seemed to forget the signs and wonders…

the teaching and parables..

all they could see was the winds and the waves and they forgot who they were journeying with..

Us..

When we encounter storms..

we have to continually remind ourselves of Gods presence in out life..

because he is in the boat with us as we navigate them..

Psalm 46:1 ESV

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Matthew 28:20 ESV

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Hebrews 13:5 ESV

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Isaiah 43:1–2 (ESV)

But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

We do no navigate these things alone..

but the one who has all authority over heaven and earth is in our boat..

He will with us..

and the bible says he if for us, not against us..

We can have comfort..

Have you ever been in someones presense that just made you feel comfotable because they were there..

you knew if anything happened they had your back and you were gonna make it throught the situation?

the bible says that Jesus is with us..

He is in the middle of the storm..

the author in the finisher of our faith is in our storm..

AND HE IS NOT SIMPLY PRESENT..

BUT HE IS WORKING..

SO AS WE FORCUS ON HIS PRESENCE

WE DO THE SECOND THING..

We cling the “Promises” of word in our storm

The disicples

Though we might not see it at first glance..

Jesus made a promise to the disicples when they got into the boat.

Mark 4:35 (ESV)

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”

you say pastor, that doesnt sound much like a promise, it sounds more like and idea..

But when you remember the charator of god..

the nature of Jesus..

One who never lied..

Who never had a world to fail..

We can take hear that this is a promise..

but JESUS SAID.. WE ARE GOING TO THE OTHER SIDE..

it was decided.

Let us go across to the other side was the promise that the storm would not overtake them, but they would see the other side.

the disicples didnt perceive this..

they didnt catch this promise..

if they had there would have been no need to fear..

for they would have known that Come what may, they would see the other shore..

Promises in our storm

contrary to what you may believe..

god is not absent in your storm..

he is working behind the scenes to bring you through..

You and I have promises to stand on..

the hang onto in the storm..

find one.. and cling to it..

in acts 27 paul is going through a litteral storm..

he is being carried to rome to stand before ceasar..

and the boat that is carrying them is caught up in a feirce storm that last for many days..

but in the middle of the chaos god speaks a promise to paul that not a soul will pership..

the ship is run aground..

and the boat is breaking apart..

and as the wreckage comes apart

the people of the ship begin to grap hold of peices of the ship

and they are carried safely to land..

and not a single soul is lost..

WHEN YOU ENCOUNTER THE STORMS OF LIFE AND ALL HOPE SEEMS LOST..

WHEN THE BOAT BEGINS TO BREAK APART..

ITS TIME TO GRAB HOLD OF APIECE OF THE WRECKAGE AND CLING TO THE PROMISES OF GOD

AND THEY WILL CARRIED YOU THROUGH…

find one like:

Isaiah 43:1–2 (ESV)

But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

FIND ONE LIKE

Romans 8:28 (ESV)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

FIND ONE LIKE..

Isaiah 61:3 (ESV)

to grant to those who mourn in Zion—

to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,

the oil of gladness instead of mourning,

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;

that they may be called oaks of righteousness,

the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

FIND ONE LIKE

Isaiah 41:13 ESV

For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”

Find the promise of god and cling to it like its all you have left.. because it may be all you have left..

and left the lord carry you back to shore…

CLING TO THE PROMISE!

Recap

We focus on his presence in the midst..

We cling to the promise of his word..

and finally

in the middle of our storms..

We dwell in the “Peace” of god through our storm

The disciples..

I love what happens when they finally turn from their focus on the cercumstances..

and call grab hold of Jesus and give him their attention..

They call out to him..

and the first thing he does is speaks peace..

look what it says..

Mark 4:39 (ESV)

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.

Imagine

can you imagine that?

think about it..

seasoned fisherman..

in a storm so bad they think it will take them..

and three words from Jesus..

two in hebrew..

and all of a sudden theirs no wind.. no wave… and the suns back out..

this week they called and they told us that the genetic tests for the baby came back conflicting..

one said one thing and the other said another..

and now the doctors because of some other things think the baby may have a genetic condition..

and were praying thats not the case..

were praying god will bring back a victorious report of health..

but ill tell you what..

I agonized about that for a bit..

this whole thing…

but then..

tuesday in prayer..

man the lord just spoke peace in me..

and I believe he did in krista..

and not.. were not on the other shore yet..

but man the waves and the winds for the last few days have been calm..

Us

in the middle of the storm..

we can do just what Jesus did..

take a napp..

Jesus was asleep in the boat.. not because He didnt care.. but because he knew the outcome..

he wasnt worried about the wind and the waves..

he new what happens next..

Philippians 4:6–7 (ESV)

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

John 14:27 (ESV)

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Isaiah 26:3 ESV

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.

when we walk through storms we have to learn to dwell in the peace of god..

not in the circumstance of the situation..

Closing

if you will learn to focus on his presence..

to cling to his promise..

and to dwell in his peace..

it will enable you to keep faith during the storm..

instead of be overwealmed by the circumstance..

remember what Jesus said in matthew 7?

Matthew 7:24–25 ESV

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

Learn to stand on Jesus..

**Music**

for the last few weeks I have been consumed with one thought about both our situation.. and the this story..

and it revolves around the outcome of this story..

Jesus got into the boat..

and promised they were going to the other side..

the storm threated to distroy that plan..

but God had another plan..

and brought them through..

and when they reached the other side one of the greatest miracles in the bible takes place..

the deliverrance of the demoniac..

Our storms have purpose

I dont know what you walking through..

but I want to remind you god doesnt waste the storms of our lives..

he uses them to grow us..

and something beuatiful will come from your storm..

it may not be the outcome you wanted or thought..

but god will do something beautiful on the other side..

are you walking through a storm today?