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Introduction
Has there ever been a point in your life where you felt completely isolated and abandoned from everyone?
Maybe you even felt that God had abandoned you.
You began to question whether God was even interested in you and in what you were going through.
Maybe you cried out to God, either verbally or internally, and said, “Do you even care?”
You are not alone.
The prophet Jeremiah said in :
There was a point in his life that he was so forlorn that he thought, “There is no hope for my life.
It’s perished.
It’s gone.
I have nothing to look forward to, and God certainly is not interested in my life.”
Job was so distraught that in he said:
Job is wishing he had never been born.
Both of these men had faced some seemingly insurmountable circumstances and felt as if God wasn’t even there.
Then in our text today, in , we find that Jesus and His disciples that had spent the better part of their day in a boat, just offshore, as Jesus taught the multitudes on the shore.
It’s now evening, they are all exhausted and Jesus tells the disciples to push away from shore and sail to the other side.
We pick up the story in verse 35.
READ
In verse 38, we see the disciples, afraid for their life, go to Jesus and say, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?”
They are asking: “What’s wrong with You?
What are You doing sleeping during the storm?
We need Your help and we need it now, but You’re asleep?
Do You even care what happens to us? Are you even interested in what happens to us?”
These men found themselves in the middle of a storm where they are afraid for their lives and are thinking that Jesus is not even interested in what happens to them.
Maybe you’re there today and you’re asking God, “Why are you letting this happen to me? Do you even care about what happens to me? Are you even here?”
Maybe you’re there today and you’re asking God, “Why are you letting this happen to me? Do you even care about what happens to me? Are you even here?”
I want to preach a message to this morning on this topic, “When You Feel God is Not Interested.”
Remember this:
Sticky Statement: Even in the midst of the storm, God is there and He cares.
Pray
Transition:
Some people get the idea that storms come into their lives only when they have disobeyed God, because God is against them, or because God is not interested in them.
But this is not true.
The storms that we face all serve a purpose.
As we begin today, I’d like to use an acronym with the word STORMS to help us understand the types of storms that come into our lives and why we can respond to our storms with faith rather than fear.
This is not an exhaustive list of the types of storms that we face, but it is a list of storms that we commonly face.
The first source of STORMS we’ll look at today is:
S - STRESS
Often, stress is the result of self-imposed levels of achievement that we just don’t measure up to or achieve.
Job-related problems might be the source of the stress that is in your life.
Family problems, problems between husband and wife, parent-child relationships struggles, health, and many other types of difficulties come at us, or come after us, as we try to run away from them.
Stress can also come from unfair expectations that we put on ourselves or from our environment.
Let me share some Scripture with you, that if you do, will help you with your stress.
Don’t allow stress to control you or dominate your life.
Give it over to the Lord.
Another source of STORMS is:
T - TRIALS
There are always circumstances that are beyond our control.
These are often the things that we didn’t know about and didn’t plan on happening.
They are usually the things that catch us by surprise and when they come and often bring heartache.
It’s when those trials and heartaches come that it becomes easy to question God and say, “God, why did you allow this happen to me?”
What does the Scripture say we should do in regards to our trials?
What does the Scripture say we should do in regards to our trials?
Trials are meant to strengthen our faith and increase our ability to endure future trials and temptations.
Rather than asking God, “why,” purpose to count it all joy!
Another source of STORMS is:
O - OTHERS
Have you ever had a problem with somebody?
We all have people problems.
Have you heard the statement, “Ministry is people and people are problems.”
Hence, if you work with people, expect problems.
Maybe you’ve thought, “If I don’t work with people, I wouldn’t have any problems.”
Well, you’d be wrong…there’s still you.
We’ve all had or currently have problems with others.
People problems often result in feelings of isolation and self-pity.
Maybe you’re thinking, “Well, if that’s the way they are going to be, I don’t need to be around them.”
You might try for a while to avoid an others storm by sitting somewhere else or completely avoiding them.
Maybe your others storm is at church so you look for another church or you avoid church all together.
Maybe your others storm is at work, so you look for another job.
Maybe your others storm is at home so you only go home when you have too.
Do you see the common solution many use for an others storms?
AVOIDANCE
If your solution to others storms is to avoid others, you’ll never see the storm calmed.
But understand that often, solving the problem may cause additional hurt and pain but will begin the process of healing.
You’ll never resolve a problem by avoiding it and often solving the problem will cause additional hurt and pain.
“Sometimes the hurts are there in order to ultimately help us.”
What is the first step in healing when you’ve been hurt by others?
Our next source of STORMS is:
Our fourth source of STORMS is:
R - REASON
So, Jason, are you telling me I shouldn’t reason things out?
No! But what I am saying is that spending time just sitting there trying to figure out the reason for that storm can actually intensify the storm.
Why?
Because we actually start questioning God, demanding that He tell us why He allowed this storm into our lives.
When you begin asking all kinds of “Why” questions, you begin thinking about the wrong person…yourself.
God would have us do the opposite…He would have think on Him and His Word.
Demanding that God tell us the reason for our storm while we’re in the middle of it is one of the greatest tools of Satan and it weakens our faith.
Rather than asking “Why”, you have to discipline yourself to keep your eyes focused on Jesus instead of on yourself or the storm.
When you and I find ourselves in the middle of a storm, it is really of no value to us to know the reason.
What we want is a place of peace and rest.
This is only found when our eyes are kept on Jesus.
When you and I find ourselves in the middle of a storm, it is really of no value to us to know the reason.
What we want is a place of peace and rest.
This is found only when our eyes are kept on Jesus.
Another source of STORMS is:
M - MONEY
You may be sitting here today and thinking, “That’s one storm I’ve never had because I don’t have enough.”
Well that’s exactly what I’m talking about, the storm is there.
You may think, “Certainly, if God were really interested in me, He would help me with my finances.”
That seems to be the mentality of many.
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