Matthew 8:23-27 Mark 4:35-41 Luke 8:22-25
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23 When
He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And
behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being
covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep. 25 And
they came to Himand woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord;
we are perishing!” 26 He said to them, “Why are you
afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and
the sea, and it became perfectly calm. 27 The
men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds
and the sea obey Him?”
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35 On
that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other
side.” 36 Leaving the crowd, they took Him
along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with
Him. 37 And there arose a fierce gale of
wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was
already filling up. 38 Jesus Himself 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?” 39 And
He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the
wind died down and it became perfectly calm. 40 And
He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They
became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even
the wind and the sea obey Him?”
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22 Now
on one of those days Jesus and His disciples got into a
boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” So
they launched out. 23 But as they were sailing along
He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and
they began to be swamped and to be in danger. 24 They
came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!”
And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped,
and it became calm. 25 And He said to them, “Where is
your faith?” They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, “Who then
is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”
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What to do in a storm?
We live in a world that has been cursed because of the fall of man into
sin. In this kind of world, it is
important to remember that storms will come into our lives. Sickness will come, loved ones will die, jobs
will be lost, disaster will strike and relationships will be broken. The question is not “if” storms will come;
but when and for how long. As Jesus and
His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee; a terrible storm hit that
threatened to kill them. The disciples
were working furiously to stay afloat while Jesus was asleep. This caused the disciples to doubt His care
for them. When they woke Jesus up He
rebuked the storm and then He rebuked the disciples for their lack of
faith. There are several lessons we can
learn from this experience that will help us when the storms of life hit.
GOD WILL PERMIT STORMS: Storms should not take us by
surprise. The sinful world in which we
live is prone to produce storms and God will allow that to happen. We must never think that God has lost control
of the events of the earth because our circumstances are not to our
liking. There are many things in our
lives that need to be changed and storms are one of God’s instruments of change
in our lives. That does not mean we
should become storm chasers and go out looking for trouble. It does mean that we should expect to face
difficulties in life. When that happens,
we should remember that God is in control and that He is at work. This is not always an easy attitude to have
but it is an important truth to remember when a storm begins to brew in our
lives.
GOD IS PRESENT IN STORMS: One of the hardest things about
going through a storm in life is that is usually seems like God is nowhere to
be found. In this case, Jesus was asleep
in the boat, seemingly oblivious to what was going on around Him. Too often we jump to a conclusion that
presumes God’s absence simply because we are facing hard times. It is especially vital that we remind
ourselves of God’s presence with us as we face storms. It may feel like He has abandoned us, that He
does not care or that He has fallen asleep on the job. None of those feelings are ever true. The disciples woke Jesus by questioning His
care for them. Jesus didn’t rebuke them
for waking Him but for doubting Him. We
can talk to God in the midst of the storm, tell Him how we feel and ask Him to
resolve the problems we face. Remember
He is with us and He does care no matter what circumstance we face.
GOD HAS POWER OVER STORMS: When Jesus woke up He simply
spoke to the wind and the waves and they obeyed Him. God has absolute power and is the sovereign
God of the universe. Nothing that happens
is ever out of His control or beyond His ability to resolve. One day He will simply speak and all the
graves will be emptied. He who can bring
the dead to life is certainly capable of resolving whatever issues that happen
in our lives. He created us, knows us,
loves us and we can rest in His care. He
will not always bring an end to the storms we face at the time or in the way we
expect but He does have the ability to do so.
God wants us to learn to trust Him at all times. He will never allow a storm to come into our
lives that is greater than the ability He supplies to stand strong or find a
way of escape.
APPLICATION: Be prepared for difficult circumstances and
suffering to come into our lives. Don’t
doubt God’s love, ability or care when we are called to go through a
storm. Pray for relief, help and the
ability to honor God as we face trials.
Try to discern what God desires for us to learn from the hard times.
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