“You Can Trust Him”

Introduction

Have you ever found yourself stuck in a storm? Not an actual rain, thunder, and lightning type of storm, but have you ever found yourself in a spiritual storm. Storms will come into our lives as Christians in the form of a challenge or some type of adversity. They can come from sickness, fear, anxiety, worry, anger, confusion, low self-esteem, and even depression. Sometimes it can seem like the storm will never end, like the dark cloud above you will just not go away. Surely, we all as Christians and even young Christians have found ourselves in a storm. But, there is some good news tonight: Your storm has purpose. God allows us to go through storms, not to hurt us and discourage us, but so that we would trust him in the storm. When it seems like all hope is lost, what you can do when you’re going through a spiritual storm is trust in Jesus, and allow me to tell you a little bit more about that.

Text Context

Matthew 14 picks up at a high point of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus has just finished doing one of his most famous miracles: feeding the five-thousand and now Jesus has to deal with the crowd of the five-thousand. John 6:15 says that after Jesus fed the five thousand, him being all-knowing, he knew that the crowd would try to come after him, take him by force, and make him their new king. They had just seen him take a small amount of food, and somehow feed five-thousand people from it, so they wanted to make him king, but Jesus knew that they wanted an earthly kingdom. They didn’t understand that his kingdom was not really of this world…and at this time, the disciples think that they are superstars.

See, Jesus is at a high point, so he is popular. Everybody has been talking about Jesus and the disciples had been with him all this time and had just seen him do one of his greatest miracles, so in a way, they are feeling themselves a little too much, but what Jesus was about to do was test them on their trust and faith. I know we may feel ourselves when things are going well in our lives. We have our stuff together, we are organized, we’re ready for tomorrow, but I want to tell you, don’t get beside yourself, because sooner or later, you are going to be tested.

So Jesus decided to send his disciples out to a boat, he dismissed the crowd, and he went up by himself on a mountainside to pray. While the disciples were out there, a strong wind had come and the boat was starting to be pushed around by the waves. Now see, these were disciples of Jesus, the true Son of God. They were once with him and now they are in a boat, by themselves, and the waves are starting to push the boat around. Can I tell you that just because you are a Christian and a follower of Jesus does not mean that you won’t have any storms. Peter said in 1 Peter 4:12 “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you.” Jesus is not protection from trouble, but he is protection in trouble.

So here they are, on a boat, on the sea, by themselves, in the dark, in a storm, with no Jesus. The disciples did not understand that Jesus was testing them. It is said in Mark 6 that they did not understand the significance of Jesus feeding the five-thousand. The feeding of the five-thousand was not about the food itself, but it was about Jesus’ authority. If Jesus could take five loaves of bread and two pieces of fish, and feed five-thousand people, then he can handle anything.

So here they are out on this boat, and shortly before dawn, Jesus comes out walking to them, and they are so scared, because they’ve been out on a boat, by themselves, in the sea, in a storm, without any type of security or protection, so when Jesus starts to walk towards them, their first thought is a ghost. But Jesus reassures them that it is him. But Peter shouts out and says “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus says “Come”, and Peter starts to walk towards him, but as he walks towards him, note that Jesus knows what he’s doing. As he walked towards him, he saw the wind, he became afraid, and he started to sink. He asks Jesus to save him and Jesus reaches out his hand and says “You of little faith. Why did you doubt?” After that, they all got out of the boat and those who were in the boat started to believe. And the men of that place recognized Jesus, sent word out to the surrounding country, and everybody who touched the hem of his clothing were healed.

Message

This story shows us that when storms come, you’re by yourself, instead of worrying, all you have to do is put your trust in Jesus.

Body of Message

We see three reasons why you can trust Jesus in your storm.

He is in control.(v. 25)

It is believed that Jesus sends these disciples off probably some time around seven to nine o’clock. Later the text says that Jesus came out to watch them on the sea in the fourth watch of the night. See, there were four watches or four time periods in the night. The first time period is from 6pm-9pm, the second time period is from 9pm-12am, the third time period is from 12am-3am, and the fourth time period is the darkest time period of all, and that period is anywhere between 3am and 6am, which suggests that the disciples were out there on a boat by themselves for 6 hours, if not more, and Jesus shows up literally in their darkest hour.

Now imagine being on a boat, by yourself, for 6 hours in the dark, without any protection. At this moment, the disciples’ greatest fear was that the boat was going to turn over and that would be the end of them, but Jesus does something amazing here and walks out on the water. If he had gotten a boat and sailed out to where the disciples were, there wouldn’t have been any difference between him and them, but to show that he has everything under control, in their time of need, Jesus does the extraordinary and walks out on the water. You have to understand that even when you think he’s not, God is in control of everything that happens in your life. He’s in control even when things seem dark. He’s in control even when there are things we don’t understand. If we trust him, he will do something amazing in the midst of our storm. Jesus has everything under control.

What Jesus did was not only amazing, but it was unexpected. You have to understand that God is able to do the unexpected. When things don’t work out as you plan and when your expectations aren’t met, you should understand that God does the unexpected. We sometimes become discouraged when life doesn’t meet our expectations. We want something to happen this way, but it doesn’t, and so we may become discouraged. We believe things are supposed to turn out a certain way, but life doesn't work that way. We need to know that God is able to do the unexpected. We may discover that the unexpected can outdo our expectations. The unexpected can be greater than what you originally planned to happen. The disciples did not know what Jesus was going to do or even if Jesus was going to come, but he does something greater than riding out to sea on a boat, he walks out to them, which was unexpected. Sometimes the unexpected can be greater.

EX: I was preaching at a back to school even on Saturday, and my friend Josh Hoover, who is a minister at Hampton University in Virginia, came to hear me and before I got up to preach, we were talking about college, and he told me that he wasn’t really thinking about going to Hampton. He said he was thinking about going to Morehouse College, Howard University, and/or Duke University, but in a way, he said God did the unexpected and sent him to Hampton, because what God was going to do for him was unexpected, but it was greater. We have to understand that we may want things to happen in our own expected way, but God is able to do the unexpected. He can do exceedingly, abundantly, above all we can think and ask for, why, because he is in control.

He is with you.(v. 26-29)

When Jesus came out to his disciples walking on the water, they were terrified, thinking he was a ghost. Jesus responded by saying, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Jesus was literally saying “Don’t be scared. I am.” The language Jesus uses is similar to when Moses told God that if he went back to the Israelites, they would ask for his name, and God told Moses to tell them “I am who I am.” What Jesus says shows us that he not only is in control of your storm, but he uses your storm to show you who he is. The storms we go through not only show us who we are and the condition of our hearts and faith, but they also show us who God is. Every storm is a perfect opportunity that God uses to show us that he is at work in our lives and that he is with us. We may feel that we are in a big and impossible storm, but Jesus comes to us in the middle of all it all and says, “Don’t be afraid. I am.” He is the one who can calm down every storm and give us strength and peace to go through the storm and make it out of the storm unharmed. He tells the disciples, “Don’t be scared. I am.” I am! So may I ask: why are you worrying?? Why are you so shaken up and nervous? God is trying to tell you that he is who he is.

Jesus says I am. I am the God that without any stepladder or paint brush painted the sky blue. I am the God who got you through the last grade. I am the God who was, is, and will forever be with you. I am the God who is able to make ways when there are none. You’re sitting here worried about this storm, but who do you think made this storm? Jesus knows that they’re struggling, and I believe that Jesus does not keep us from storms, but he lets us know that he is with us in them. God wants you to know that he has never left your side. The Lord promises that we can always run to him when we are afraid and anxious, when we are confused or sad, or overwhelmed or discouraged. Wherever you are, he is always there with you. And I get it. Sometimes, we are like these disciples: scared. Some of you may be like me and are a little bit nervous about starting school. We are a little worried about our classes and if we are going to pass or fail them, but we have to understand that God is always with us and will never leave us. The same God that was with you then is the same God that is with you now. The same God that was with you in elementary school is the same God that will be with you in middle school. The same God that was with you in middle school is the same God that will be with you in high school. Jesus is with you.

He is with us so much that he is our strength. God is with you so much, that when you feel weak and tired, he is there to be your strength. The Bible says that when Peter saw Jesus walking on the water, he wanted to be sure that it was Jesus, so he said “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Peter really did not say “Lord, if it’s You”, Peter really said “Lord, since it’s You, command me to come to You on the water.” Recognizing that it was Jesus, Peter knew that he could join Jesus on the water because of his strength and authority. See, strength is not something God gives you, it’s just who he is. So the closer we get to God, we connect ourselves to the main source of strength and when you face your storms, you may feel as if you don’t have any strength in you. Sometimes, storms can be so overwhelming and discouraging that they make us feel drained and tired, but God is y0ur strength, and as you trust in him and grow in your relationship with him, you experience his strength in you. When you don’t trust in him and his power, then you will keep being drained and feeling weak, but since he is you strength you can trust him and know that he is with you.

He won’t let you sink.(vv. 30-33)

Peter learned that he had to trust Jesus, but he found out the hard way. When he stepped out of the boat and saw the wind, he began to sink. He cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus then reached out his hand and saved Peter and said, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” Now, Matthew wants us to know that this miracle was made possible by Jesus' power and not Peter’s. Before you look down on Peter, keep in mind that he was the only one who stepped out on faith to do the impossible, while the other disciples just watched. Jesus said to Peter “You of little faith”, not you of no faith. Peter had a little bit of faith. What I took from this is that God will not let you sink, only if you have some faith and trust him. Peter stepped out on faith, it wasn’t a lot of faith, but it was a little bit of faith. Can I tell you that even in your storm of confusion or your storm of discouragement, all you need is a little bit of faith. Jesus said to his disciples in Luke 17 that if you have faith the size of a small mustard seed, then it will go a long way. Jesus knows that just a little bit of faith could go a long way.

EX: This year, God does not expect you to be the smartest, he does not expect you to be the strongest, the most stylish, or the most organized, or have it all together, but he just needs you to have a little bit of faith, so that you can step out and trust him. You need to have faith and trust Jesus.

But this had me confused because the Bible says that when Peter saw the wind, he started to sink. This confused me because how do you see wind? This does not mean that Peter literally saw wind. This means that Peter felt the effect of the wind and the waves all around him, and he kinda let that get to him, so he fell. Now see, Jesus won’t let you sink, but sometimes he will let you fall. Some people say that Jesus won’t give you more than you can handle, but he will give you more than you can handle to show you that he can handle it for you. God lets us fall and experience pain and heartbreak and failure. He lets us get those parent-teacher calls, he lets us go through some hard times, he lets us experience failure, not to hurt us, but because he knows that it will only make our faith stronger and allow us to become closer to him. God will let you fall, but he won’t let you stay down, but he will pick you up where you have fallen.

When Jesus rescued Peter, he said “You of little faith.” Why was Peter’s faith little? Peter’s faith was little because he took his eyes off of Jesus. See, Jesus was the object of his faith, and when Peter stopped looking at Jesus and started focusing on the storm, he fell and started to sink. Sometimes in our situations and in our storms, we may put all of our focus and all of our energy on the situation and how we are going to make it out. How are we going to pass, how are we going to finish. We can sometimes look and depend on our friends to help us or even look and depend on ourselves to get ourselves out and as long as your faith is in your circumstances, or as long as your faith is focused on anyone or anything apart from Christ, then it won’t matter how much faith you have because you will sink sooner or later, but when your eyes are on Jesus, you can rest assured that he will not let you sink.

EX: My Mom has been watching the Olympics non-stop, and one of the game is Swimming, and one thing that I’ve noticed about each swimmer is that when they dive, them swim underwater, but then they get up and they keep their eyes focused on the wall, because their main goal is to make it to the wall, and they keep their focus on the wall, they don’t look beneath them or around them, but they have 100% focus on the wall.

When you’re going through your storm, you don’t have to look down or look at around you at all of the things that are happening, but in the midst of your storm, just keep your eyes on Jesus. Hebrews 12:2 tells us to be “keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith”. Just keep your eyes on Jesus, and when you step out on faith and keep your eyes on Jesus, he won’t let you sink.

Conclusion

As we go back to school, I cannot tell you that you aren’t going to face any storms, but I can tell you that there is somebody in your storm. There is somebody who uses your storm so that you can trust him. This somebody is in control of your storm. He is able to do something amazing in your storm, but he is also able to do the unexpected, and sometimes the unexpected can be greater than what you already expected. This somebody is with you in your storm. He promises never to leave us or forsake us, and he is with us so much, that he is our strength, and the more we trust in him and lean on him, the more we experience his strength. But then, this somebody won’t let you sink. All you have to do is have a little bit of faith to step out on, and when you step out on faith, keep your eyes on Jesus, because on Jesus, then you won’t sink. You can trust Jesus in your storm.