Jesus is Lord Over Hardships

Introduction

Learning Spanish - don’t like that Staci is better than me.

Who would you be without the challenges? Who would you be if everything was handed to you on a silver platter? If you never had to struggle? If you never had to suffer? The hardships are not pleasant, but they are necessary.

Who would you be without the challenges? If you never had to struggle or suffer? The hardships are not pleasant, but they are necessary. You need to the difficulties because they make us look to Jesus and say, “I can’t do it. I need your help.”

“God will never give you more than you can handle…” Simply not true. The disciples were sent into a situation that they could not handle. And, Jesus was not with them! (At least not physically…)

Life is difficult, and it seems like we face one difficulty after the next. However, Jesus intentionally sends us into situations that are more than we can handle to make you into the person that He wants you to be.

Want to be very specific this morning: three reasons why Jesus sends you into difficulties. Story is similar to Jesus calming the storm in , but some unique truths.

Jesus sends you into difficulties to protect you from pride.

Vs. 45 - Immediately, Jesus puts disciples in a boat - why? - Jesus did not come to be the king the people wanted. He came to be the king the people needed.

Jesus knows what will happen - if the disciples stick around with the crowd, they will want the same thing the people want - Jesus to be crowned king - And, as His disciples, they would be at the center of His Kingdom - they would be in His royal court - it would be great!

Jesus knows a storm will come - but a greater storm than the storm on the sea will be the disciples viewing Jesus in the same way the crowd views Him - defying the will of God.

A greater storm than the storm on the sea will be the disciples seeing Jesus for who they want Him to be and not seeing Jesus for who He really is.

Jesus sends them alone - different from the first storm when Jesus was in the boat with them. Now, from the disciple’s perspective, Jesus is nowhere to be found.

Jesus goes to pray on the mountain - Mark describes Jesus praying on three occasions. Each time, at night, alone, with disciples failing to understand His mission. What is Jesus praying? For Himself - that He would not give into the temptation to be the king the people - to bypass the cross and take up His throne now. For His disciples - that they would not give into the temptation to join in with the crowd’s longing to make Jesus the kind of king they wanted him to be. For the crowds - He had compassion on them - that they would see Him as the kind of shepherd that they needed.

Jesus prays, the disciples sail. Making headway painfully - stormy night - wind against them - they are inching along - Fourth watch = 3:00 - 6:00 in the morning. If Jesus sent out in the first watch - they might have been struggling for 7-8 hours.

Undoubtedly, disciples felt abandoned. Alone - if Jesus was present He could stop the storm, but He wasn’t present.

Why does Jesus wait? Not all the details, but I can guess:

He saw - from the shore? He’s Jesus! Not for one second were they out of His sight. () He was in control, accomplishing His purpose in their lives in the storm.

Why does Jesus wait? Not all the details, but I can guess:

They needed the struggle - beginning to get prideful. Casting out demons. Preaching the kingdom. Spending time with One whose power was unmatched. They were probably thinking they were pretty important. Seven or eight hours of rowing reminded them they were not as important as they thought they were.

They needed to know they could do nothing apart from Jesus () - Humbling: one day casting out demons, the next day professional fishermen can’t even make it across the lake. Reminder that they were powerless and anything they were accomplishing was because of the power of Jesus.

Undoubtedly, disciples felt abandoned. Alone - if Jesus was present He could stop the storm, but He wasn’t present.

He saw - from the shore? He’s Jesus! Not for one second were they out of His sight. () He was in control, accomplishing His purpose in their lives in the storm.

Jesus will send you into challenges to protect you from your pride. I know you don’t like the struggle, but you need the struggle. You need to know that you are powerless and He is all powerful. You need to know that you are finite, and He is infinite. You need to know that you are not in control, and He is in control of everything. You need to know that you are not the most important person on the planet, He is!

Jesus is using the difficulties to humble you - to help you see how much you need Him. Are you in a season of difficulty? Maybe your season of difficulty has been designed by Jesus to protect you from a prideful heart that says, “I can do all things without Jesus.” (Hudson - today we do things your way, tomorrow we do things my way… That’s a prideful heart…)

Jesus sends you into difficulties to remind you there’s nothing to fear.

Fourth watch - Jesus walks on the water. (Did Mark get it wrong? Was he walking on the shore and it just looked like He was walking on water?)

He meant to pass them by - (; ) - Jesus wasn’t trying to fool the disciples. He was communicating that He was God - the God who ministered to Moses and Elijah. Now, the same God who ministered to Moses and Elijah is present with the disciples in the flesh to minister to them.

But, what would you think if you saw someone walking on the water towards you? Fear! They thought they were seeing a ghost.

Jesus speaks: “It is I, do not be afraid.” In Greek, “It is I” = I AM - the name of God. Another reminder - God is present - no need to fear.

Jesus gets in the boat, the winds cease, and the disciples were amazed - they still don’t understand the significance of the loaves. They aren’t putting together what Jesus is trying to accomplish.

Do not fear - numerous times in Scripture. Why? Because we fear all kinds of things. We fear the unknown. We fear the future. We fear disease, being alone, not being in control, our circumstances, etc.

At this moment though, it wasn’t their circumstances that the disciples feared. Bible simply says they weren’t making much progress in the storms. No indication that their lives were in danger. They feared Jesus! Why? Mistaken identity: they simply didn’t know who He was. You fear what you don’t know.

Perhaps our biggest fear isn’t the current struggle we’re in - perhaps we fear Jesus Himself. We fear trusting Him. We fear faith - why? Mistaken identity. We don’t really know Him, so we don’t trust Him.

Maybe this morning you fear faith because you do not trust that Jesus knows what’s best for you.

Maybe you fear living by faith because of what it might cost you: your comforts, your control, your stuff. (Going to pastor Westside in Ponchatoula)

Because you fear faith, you never walk by faith.

Story doesn’t end here. Matthew gives us details that Mark doesn’t () - Peter speaks up. Now, why doesn’t Mark include these details? Peter influenced Mark’s writing - maybe Peter was embarrassed by it, or he didn’t want the focus to be on him.

“Jesus, if it’s you, command me to come to you...” Jesus, “Come on...”

Peter overcomes fear and walks by faith. For a moment he puts aside his fear of faith and believes this is the Son of God who does the impossible. He steps out, eyes on Jesus, and walks on water. From a human perspective, it wasn’t logical, it wasn’t safe, it wasn’t comfortable - but in that moment - to be close to Jesus was far better than staying in the boat - it was worth the risk.

How do I overcome my fear of faith?

Get to know Jesus for who He is - you fear faith because you don’t really know Him. Your Christianity is shallow and weak - you don’t pursue Christ in intimacy because if you did you would be growing in your desire to know Him.

Know that being close to Jesus is far better than being away from Jesus. In this moment, Peter knows that in the storm, the safest place to be is in the presence of His master. When you know that His presence is the safest place, you’ll risk your comfort, your safety, etc. There’s always safety in pursuing Jesus even in your most difficult circumstances.

Take the risk of faith. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. What step of faith towards intimacy with Christ is Jesus calling you to take right now? Do not fear.

Jesus sends you into difficulties to show you that He is your great deliverer.

Jesus knows Peter will falter. He knows that we will all falter. We will not walk by faith perfectly.

Peter lets fear of his circumstances creep in and takes his eyes off of Jesus. The moment you take you’re eyes off of Jesus you are in trouble.

The moment Peter takes His eyes off of Jesus, He begins sinking, and He immediately cries out, “Lord, save me...” Jesus doesn’t say, “Peter, you should have kept your eyes on me.” Instead, Jesus immediately grabs Peter by the hand and brings him in the boat.

He uses it as a teaching moment. “You of little faith. Why do you doubt?” Peter had faith, but Jesus wanted him to have more faith. He delivers Peter and says, “you need more faith.”

You’re in difficulties right now - extreme hardships - and some of you need to cry out to Jesus this morning, “Deliver me.” Maybe that’s what Jesus wants for you in your hardship - for you to see that He is the only answer, the only deliverer. Deliverance might not mean escape from your hardship. More likely, deliverance for you will mean a greater measure of faith. For you, the prayer is, “Jesus deliver me from my unbelief. Deliver me from my hard heart. Deliver me from my lack of trust. Deliver me from my lack of desire to know you. Deliver me from my pride. He will. He delivers. Pray that He would deliver you from yourself.

Maybe what you need this morning is not deliverance from your difficult circumstances but deliverance from eternal hell. Maybe you’ve never experienced salvation in Christ. Today, know that Jesus died and rose again so you could be delivered from what is destroying you: your sin. - if you will cry out to Jesus, you’ll be saved and brought into a relationship with Him.