Jesus and the Storm

I was blessed yesterday to hear a sermon preached by a man who is without doubt in the middle of a terrible storm. Our beloved youth pastor and his wife are watching their beautiful little girl, just five years old, suffer from the effects of a horrible, cancerous tumor that has not only invaded her brain, but has wrapped itself around her spine. It is a devastating attack on this little girl’s body and she is suffering through a horrible battle that is now over a month long. His sermon was about trusting God even in the storm. The text he used for the basis of the sermon is found in Matthew 8:23-27. Take a look.

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him.  And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.  And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.”  And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Many of us are familiar with this passage. I would like to expand a bit on the story in the hopes that in it we can be able to withstand the storms when they come in our own lives. I was intentional in saying “when” they come as opposed to “if” they come, for all of us will face storms of varying intensity in our lives. It was after a difficult storm my family and I passed through several years back that I became called by God to advise Christians that they must build their faith in the easy times, because you don’t want to be looking for your faith when the waves are about to swamp your boat.

The first spiritual lesson to take from this story requires that we accept one important fact about Jesus and that is that Jesus is God. He is part of the triune nature of God in which He exists in three persons. God is Father, He is the Son, and He is the Holy Spirit. The trinity is not a concept that really is explainable in terms of human logic. The trinity is a mystery but it is also a Biblical truth. So as we read this story we must take hold of the fact that the disciples are in a boat with God Himself.

Next we must understand that the Bible is more than a collection of stories. Certainly this story is one that is historically true. But the story also has a spiritual application to our lives and in it God is teaching us important lessons.

Lesson one is that since Jesus is God we can know that He knew the storm was coming. So this begs the question; why would Jesus let the disciples get in a boat that He knew was headed for a storm? The answer can be found throughout the scriptures. Jesus knows that it is in the storm in which our faith in Him will grow. In the story the disciples followed Jesus into the boat. We must see from this the truth that Jesus always does what glorifies the Father and sometimes this seems to us be at our expense. But God is working things out in ways that we just cannot understand.

Then notice something else. Jesus is asleep when the storms hit. What? He’s asleep? As we would react, the disciples are a bit freaked out by this. Doesn’t Jesus care about us? Sometimes in the middle of our storms we think God is asleep. Or we think that He doesn’t care that we are being deluged by the storm and our boat is about to sink. This simply isn’t the way it is. When we read that Jesus was asleep the Bible is teaching us two things. First of all it is showing us that when Jesus came to earth He was both God and man. In His humanity Jesus needed sleep just as we do. But contrary to what some teach, Jesus didn’t stop being God when He came as a man. No, in another of those great mysteries we need to simply accept and stop trying to figure out, Jesus was both man and God. Jesus was asleep in His humanity but He was still God in the sense of being able to control the storms. Here is a good lesson to lay hold of. If you are Christ’s then you can still lie down and sleep even in the midst of life’s storms. How? By believing that Jesus is true to His promise that He would be with you always, even to the end of the age and then knowing He is in complete control of the storm you are in. Jesus didn’t stop the disciples from getting in the boat with Him even though He knew the storm was coming and He does not want us to be afraid to follow Him wherever He takes us, even when that journey is going to encounter storms. We cannot be afraid to live life.

The third lesson we should take from this I have already alluded to. The disciples were still learning this as evidenced by their response as we read in Matthew 8:27,
The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this?—even the winds and the sea obey Him!”

Even the winds and the sea obey Him. Yep, they do. Jesus is God and He created everything in this universe. God is in control. He is sovereign. He is the King of all. Nothing, yes nothing, happens that He doesn’t allow and if He allows it then He must be planning to use it for good.

But we have to believe the truth that God is sovereign. This requires faith. Listen to the response of Jesus after they woke Him up in the boat that day. “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith. Then He showed them that He controls even the winds and sea.

Satan does not want us to live in peace. So he, under the complete control of God (See The Book of Job which explains that Satan isn’t just running around unfettered), implants doubts into our minds. There is a battle for our peace going on but we have been empowered to win the battle. Though Jesus ascended back to the heavens and no longer physically dwells with us in bodily form, He has not left us alone. He has given the Church three things, which give us the ability to dwell here in peace until He returns or calls us home.

First of all when Christ died on the cross He tore the veil that separates us from God and now through prayer we can always enter into the very presence of God through prayer.

Secondly when He ascended Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to actually live inside of every believer. The Holy Spirit empowers us, teaches us, guides us, and comforts us. He even prays for us when we are so distraught we don’t know what to pray for.

Then lastly through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and God’s providential protection, God has given us His Word through the scriptures. In the Bible we can find everything we need to live out our lives. And in God’s Word we are told that faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God.

So take heart this morning and seek God through the hardest of times. But when the storm ends and you are enjoying the peacefulness of a quiet boat ride stay focused on the three resources God has given you. Pray without ceasing, don’t wait until you feel desperate. Walk in the Spirit. Don’t discount the Holy Spirit. He is a person just like Jesus and He lives inside of you. Read your Bible. Keep it handy at all times. Read it all, not just the parts you like. Then believe it. Then when the storm comes, and it will, you won’t have to be afraid.

Trust Jesus. God will bless you in that.