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Introduction:
As we approach the end of the year, we naturally examine what has
happened in our lives. We think about the good and the bad; what
we have learned and what we need to learn. As I reviewed this year
and the years leading up to it, I recalled some pretty devastating
occurrences. Some of us and our family members endured lengthy
illnesses. Some of our spouses and parents died. Some continue to
deal with issues of cancer or heart problems. Some have repeated
debilitating pains and illnesses. Some of us have lost our jobs.
Some of us have incurred major healthcare expenses. Some of us
have learned of major tax issues that have put us into debt. Some
of us have faced major marriage problems. Some of us have watched
as children or other family members made devastating mistakes
affecting the whole family. We have faced major congregational
issues. Some of our friends have fallen away. Some have simply
left (and not always on positive terms). Some of us have faced
multiple issues. Some of us have faced all this and more. How easy
it is to become discouraged. Have you ever asked God, “Do you
not care about what is happening to me?” We have a tendency to
look at the Bible stories through rose-colored glasses, thinking
the disciples in the Bible were always strong enough to know Jesus
cared. However, that is not true. The Bible characters often felt
exactly like this. Consider Abraham who couldn’t understand why
God wouldn’t accept his son Ishmael. Consider Moses who
complained about having to deal with all those people. Consider
David who wrote Psalm
22, which began, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken
me?” Consider Job. Consider Elijah who wanted God to kill Him
because of Jezebel. There is nothing we have felt or said to God
that our Bible heroes didn’t feel or say. There is one story on
which I want us to focus. It is the story of a storm and of
disciples who thought Jesus didn’t care. We can learn some great
lessons from this story in Mark
4:35-41. Discussion: I.
The Story: Mark
4:35-41 A.
We will focus on Mark’s account. However, the background
of this story is set best by Matthew. Matthew
8:18-22 describes Jesus’ teaching just before He got
into the boat. A scribe wanted to follow Jesus, who essentially
responded, “Are you sure? If you do, you will lose all your
comforts. I don’t even have a bed.” Then a disciple said he
wanted to follow but had to bury his father first. Jesus
responded, “If you want to follow Me, don’t let anything get
in the way, not even family.” Following Jesus was a major
commitment. Vs.
23 specifically says, “When He got into the boat, His
disciples followed Him.” The disciples did more than get in
Jesus’ boat. They made a commitment, following Him despite the
sacrifice and challenge. Surely Jesus would keep them out of the
storms. After all, they were the special few completely committed
to Him. B.
However, Mark
4:35-41 presents a different story. As was wont on the Sea
of Galilee, winds rushing down from surrounding hills and
mountains caused a sudden gale. Keep in mind, Jesus and the
disciples were not in an ocean liner, but a fishing boat. The
waves were atrocious. They crashed over the boat as it rocked back
and forth. If the boat didn’t capsize, it would sink. The life
of every person on the boat was in danger. I have no doubt the
experienced fisherman, Peter, Andrew, James and John, were
shouting orders. Some of the disciples were busy trying to steady
the ship. Others were busy bailing water. Every man knew if anyone
was to survive everyone had to pitch in—everyone except Jesus,
who was asleep. C.
Picture the scene. Someone is trying to steer the ship.
Someone is dealing with the sails. Someone is manning oars. Others
are bailing water. Everyone is hanging on for dear life. Then they
notice Jesus snuggled up in the stern, sleeping. They are doing
all the work and He is cushioned peacefully. What is up with that?
The disciples start to yell, trying to wake Him. Someone struggled
to Him, shook Him awake and said, “Teacher, do You not care that
we are perishing?” It is as if to say, “Hey, wake up and do
your part or we are all going to die.” D.
Jesus awoke. Instead of grabbing a rope, oars, sails or a
bucket, He simply spoke to the wind. “Hush, be still.”
Immediately, the wind stopped and the water calmed. Can you
imagine the look on Peter, Andrew, James and John at that moment?
In shock, they continued to bail water, but with one eye on this
Man who just stopped the wind by speaking to it. Jesus said,
“Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?” But
the disciples were afraid, saying among themselves, “Who then is
this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” II.
Lesson #1: Storms happen to committed disciples. A.
Too often our American citizenship hinders our
Christianity. Because we live in the age of plenty and of rights
and entitlements, we have the idea if we have made the right
choices we should be immune to storms. If we have decided to make
a commitment to Christ, He should maneuver the storms around us.
We should be able to walk without an umbrella because we always
avoid the rain. That is not the case. B.
Matthew
7:24-28
demonstrates everyone will endure storms. The question is whether
or not we have built our house in a way that can withstand them.
We know about persecution. In Acts
14:22, Paul explained entrance into the kingdom comes
through much persecution. II
Timothy 3:12 says all who desire to live godly will suffer
persecution. But surely Jesus will protect us from the storms of
just plain old suffering. Actually, Ephesians
5:15-16 says otherwise. The days are evil for us, just as
they are for all. We have no idea what today will bring. We will
all face storms. We lose jobs. Our business ventures fail. We get
sick. Family members die. Children disappoint. Family and friends
take advantage. Storms happen to committed disciples. Don’t get
me wrong, a lot of good things happen to us and we need to count
our blessings. Yet, we need to face life with our eyes wide open.
Storms happen to committed disciples. III.
Lesson #2: Storms happen in order to drive us to Jesus. A.
The disciples were doing all they could, but they
couldn’t do enough. They turned to Jesus. Apparently, they
didn’t expect Him to do what He did (cf. vs.
41). However, this Man had demonstrated control over the
fish in the sea. He had shown authority over demons. He could heal
the sick. He could do amazing things. Surely He could at least
help. Without this storm, Jesus would merely have slept in the
stern and the disciples would have been happy to let Him. They
would have traveled across the sea confident in their own sailing
ability. But the storm drove away all conception of
self-sufficiency. They needed Jesus. They were driven to Him by
the storm. B.
Storms happen to drive us to Jesus. Again, our Christianity
is impacted by our American mentality. In America, we are
self-sufficient. We pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. We spend
most of our time convincing ourselves we are strong enough to
handle what we face. When others face storms, we spend most of our
time trying to convince them they are strong enough to handle it.
Storms do not come to convince us of our own strength. Storms
happen to drive us to Jesus. In II
Corinthians 12:7-10, Paul discussed one of his personal
storms. He had a thorn in the flesh. The whole point was to remind
him how weak he was. Only when he knew and accepted his own
weakness would he turn to Jesus for real strength and power.
Don’t get mad at Jesus over the storms, realize them for the
lessons they are. Use them to turn to Jesus for strength. IV.
Lesson #3: Jesus does care but acts in His own time and own
way for our good. A.
Was Jesus sleeping because He was unconcerned? Was He
unaware? Of course not. Jesus does not act on our time table.
While we think Jesus should have kept the storm from occurring, it
was greater for the faith of the disciples to let the storm occur
and then save the disciples. Wouldn’t it build your faith to see
Jesus calm a storm by speaking to it? B.
Jesus did care. But He acted in His own time and in His own
way for the disciples’ ultimate good. I don’t know what
everyone here is facing. I do know this. God does care (I
Peter 5:6). But He acts in His own time and in His own way
for our ultimate good. Consider again Paul’s thorn in the flesh
in II
Corinthians 12:7-10. God could have simply removed the
thorn. He could have removed the storm. But that would have made
Paul more susceptible to self-exaltation because of the greatness
of His visions. We must remember Romans
8:28, which does not say God causes all things. But it
does say God causes all things to work together for our good if we
love Him. No matter what is happening in the storm, no matter how
we think God should act, we can have faith that God will act in
the way that is most beneficial to His disciples in the long run.
Jesus does care. So let’s have faith in Him. V.
Lesson #4: Jesus can calm the storm. A.
The disciples expected Jesus to help. But they had no idea
how helpful He could be. Despite the miracles they had seen,
despite seeing His previous authority over sickness, demons and
even nature, they did not know Jesus could simply the storm. But
He could. And He did. B.
I don’t know what you are facing, but you can have faith
Jesus can calm the storm. According to John
1:1-4, through Jesus all things came into being. If He is
that powerful, how can we doubt that He can handle our storms? No
matter how big they seem to us, they are small to Him. As we
already noted, He may not work on our timetable. He may not work
the way we thought He would. But He can calm the storms. He will
calm the storms when it is most beneficial for us. VI.
Lesson #5: True peace is not living in perpetual calm, but
having faith throughout the storms. A.
As you review the story told in Mark
4:35-41, where is the picture of true peace? Is it in vs.
39 after Jesus spoke and the wind died down and the waves
were calmed? That looks like peace. In fact, the NASU says “it
became perfectly calm.” Is that real peace? No. If you want to
see true peace, look in vss.
37-38. The wind was fierce, the waves were breaking over
the side of the boat, it was rocking and filling up with water.
But Jesus was asleep. How could He do that? The noise, the motion,
the water, nothing impacted His sleep. That is the picture of real
peace. B.
That is the peace we are to work for—peace that passes
all understanding (Philippians
4:7). True peace does not mean having a perfectly calm
life. True peace means enduring the storms in the security of our
relationship with God. The story is told of a young man hired on
as a ranch hand. The rancher hired him because the young man had
given such interesting responses. For instance, when the rancher
asked why the young man was qualified for the job, he simply said,
“I can sleep when the wind blows.” The rancher thought that
odd, but figuring the boy certainly couldn’t be worse than some
other hands he had hired and wanting to find out what that meant,
he hired him. Several weeks went by and the young man had worked
hard and been a great hire. Then one night, a storm came up. The
rancher raced into the worker’s quarters, roused the young man
and said, “Get up, we have to make sure the horses are stabled
properly.” “I already did that, Sir.” “Great, we still
need to make sure the equipment is put away and protected.” “I
already did that, Sir.” “Great, we still need to make sure the
barn is shut up right.” “I already did that, Sir. There is no
need to worry. I told you. I can sleep when the wind blows. I can
do that because I make sure every thing is done right every
time.” True peace does not mean the wind never blows. True peace
means we have already settled our relationship with God and when
the wind blows, we can still sleep. Look at Jesus asleep in the
boat. VII.
Lesson #6: We must allow the storms to strengthen our faith
not cripple it. A.
When all was said and done, though the disciples were
afraid, this storm increased their faith in Jesus. This was not
just an odd event. It was a learning experience. They were
following the Master who could not only teach well, cast out
demons, heal the sick and feed the multitudes. They were following
the Master who could calm the storms. To whom else could they
turn? B.
Like the disciples, we face storms. Don’t let these
storms cause you to turn from Jesus. Let them cause you to turn to
Jesus. Don’t let these storms cause you to doubt Jesus’
wisdom, concern and ability. Let them cause you to trust in Jesus,
knowing He will act in His own way and His own good time so that
it will most benefit us in the long run. Let them be a reminder
that Jesus can, in fact, calm the storms. Don’t let these storms
destroy your peace. Let them provide an opportunity to grow in
your peace with God. Don’t let these storms cripple your faith.
Let them strengthen it. As James
1:2-3 says, count it all joy when you encounter various
trials. They will produce faith and endurance. As Romans
5:3-4, it is through the storms that we learn
perseverance. It is through perseverance we gain proven character.
And through proven character we maintain hope. Hope will not
disappoint because the love of God has been granted to us. We can
rest in that. Don’t let storms cripple your faith. Let storms
strengthen it. Conclusion: If you have ever wondered if God cares, don’t wallow in guilt over those feelings. Recognize you are in good company. I imagine every disciple has felt that way at some time. Instead, simply turn back to God. Let this story be implanted on your heart. God does care. God will act in His time and in the way that is best for us. Strengthen your faith. Keep bailing the water. When it most benefits us, God will calm the storms. Rely on Him.
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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