In The Storm

In that.

People are often marked by storms.

When I was in college, I preached at churches primarily around the Charlotte area, but all over North Carolina.

! And one weekend, I stayed with a family overnight.

And I had arrived to their home in the dark.

And the next morning, when I looked out the window in the bathroom, I looked out in the backyard.

I was stunned by the damage that was in their backyard.

And they shared with me how Hurricane Hugo had devastated them.

And over breakfast that morning, they told me about that story.

I went on to New Orleans Seminary.

And while I was in seminary, shortly after I got there, Hurricane Andrew hit South Louisiana.

That's how they say it.

We say Louisiana.

But anyway, if you live there, you'll understand why they call it Louisiana.

But anyway.

But Hurricane Andrew had done a tremendous damage to them.

And I went down and helped clean up and helped tear down houses so they could rebuild them.

And I saw that devastation up close for, I guess, the first time.

I pastored in South Mississippi.

And I always heard people talk about Camille.

And I didn't know who she was at first.

And then I quickly learned she was not a person.

It was a storm.

A catastrophic storm.

A catastrophic storm that hit in 1969.

But at that time, more than two decades later, it had left its mark still.

And people talked about, well, that was either before Camille or after Camille.

I pastored in South Carolina.

I moved back to North Mississippi.

And I heard story after story about Hurricane Katrina.

Yeah.

The news covered New Orleans and the mess of New Orleans at Katrina.

But it went way beyond that as well.

And the Mississippi coast was hit hard.

And the church that I pastored had teamed up with several other churches in that area

and had traveled tirelessly in the aftermath to walk through that.

One of the greatest ministry efforts that that church had ever produced in missions

was through Katrina.

And they've been marked by it.

In September 2024, our whole region was rocked by Helene.

North Carolina still is hurting from it in some parts.

Many of you were marked by that.

Storms mark our lives.

But it's not just natural storms that do it, that leave scars.

There are health storms that do it.

There are relational hurricanes that happen in our life.

There are career tsunamis that hit.

And the kind of earthquakes that come when someone we love, life unravels before us and falls apart.

And we strive to help them put it back together.

I don't need to give you a lot of examples because you already know that.

Because storms mark us.

In our passage today, the disciples are in a storm.

And they had Jesus with them.

But even with his presence, they were still in a storm.

It's found in Mark chapter 4, beginning in verse 35.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

And it says,

And they woke him and said to him,

Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?

And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea,

Peace be still.

And the wind ceased and there was great calm.

And he said to them,

Why are you so afraid?

Have you still no faith?

And they were filled with great fear and said to one another,

Who then is this?

That even the wind and the sea obey him.

When you look at the previous chapters that we've covered,

you find out that Jesus and his disciples had been crowded by people.

And although there would be ministry on the other side of the water,

all indications were that Jesus was looking to get them away from that crowd

as urgently as possible.

Jesus was warned.

They placed him in the stern on a cushion.

That was the seat of honor of sorts.

It was as if they said,

Listen, you rest.

We got this.

They were fishermen.

They felt like they were on their turf.

However, violent storms on the Sea of Galilee are not unusual.

It's not a large body of water.

It's 13 miles long and it's 7 1⁄2 miles wide.

However, its natural setting makes it dangerous.

It sits nearly 700 feet below sea level

at the bottom of a rift between the Arabian Desert

and the Mediterranean Sea.

And it is surrounded by sheer cliffs on the east.

When cool air rushes down from Mount Hermon,

which stands 9,200 feet tall,

and it funnels through the narrow passes around those cliffs,

it collides with the warm tropical air over that lake

and it leads to sudden and violent storms.

That is apparently what happened to them.

After I preached the morning of the early worship,

somebody came to me afterwards and said,

When I was taking a tour in Israel and I got out on that boat

and went out on the Sea of Galilee,

just a little water hit the side of the boat

and the guy turned the boat around and started coming back shore.

And he said, Now, you wonder why I'm doing that,

but if we don't respond quickly, we may not make it back.

And he said, By the time we got back,

he said it was worse than anything I've ever experienced on Joe Cassie.

Just that quickly it happens.

So it's a setup for that,

and apparently that's what happened to them that day.

The waves overwhelmed the boat and water began to fill in it

and they were terrified,

and they were terrified for good reason.

We're not talking about an overreaction here.

These are fishermen, seasoned fishermen.

They're used to such storms.

They're accustomed to the violent temper of this sea.

In reality, even modern-day captains on powered vessels

watch the weather patterns closely on this sea

to avoid the very thing that we read about in this passage.

But what they didn't realize at that time was this.

They had sailed into that storm for a reason.

It was going to be a lesson for them.

And it was not only a lesson for them,

but I believe it's also for us.

And by the way, I've heard this before,

and I've said this before,

and I'll probably say it again, and it's still true.

So I want you to let your guard down and hear it, okay?

All of us are either coming out of a storm,

going into a storm,

or right now in the middle of a storm.

This is common ground.

And we do a lot from Sunday to dress up and look pretty

and look like we got all right together.

All right.

But the reality is,

I learned a long time ago,

there's a pain on every pew.

A storm is common ground.

You don't have to act like you don't know what we're talking about today

because you do.

Or you will

because it's common ground.

So the lessons that they learned that day,

I hope we can learn as well.

When in the storm,

remember some things.

One, remember this.

When we don't think that he cares,

he does.

These were fishermen.

They had been in storms before.

This storm was different.

It was at night,

which makes it worse.

But this storm was extremely violent.

Mark calls it a great windstorm.

Matthew calls it a great shaking.

Even literally a sea quake.

And this matters.

It wasn't like they had caused the storm.

They had not disobeyed.

They had left when Jesus told them to leave.

They went where Jesus told them to go.

Listen to me.

Storms even come when we are obedient.

When they looked to Jesus,

he was asleep.

And they misunderstood that.

They assumed that he was indifferent to the matter.

And they asked him,

Teacher, don't you care that we're perishing?

Now we know that now he never sleeps

and he never slumbers,

but sometimes his silence feels like he's sleeping.

Have you ever felt like you were trying to

wake God up asking him,

don't you care?

I mean, it could be when we feel friendless.

Or it could be when our car breaks down.

It could be when a loved one's sick.

Or when a family's crumbling.

Or when a job's played out.

Or our bank account's drying up.

Or our test result is pending.

And maybe it's not even a prayer.

Maybe it's just a thought.

Does God really care about my circumstances?

And he quickly answered the question in his action.

By the way, in their world and in their culture,

a sleeping deity was not a sign of weakness.

It was a sign of control.

It was not that Jesus was unaware of the storm.

He was at rest in the midst of the storm.

Listen.

He is at rest in our storms.

He's not panicked by the things that panic us.

The storm did not expose his indifference.

The storm showed their spiritual immaturity.

We're not alone when God is silent in our storms.

Actually, he's in the boat

through every wave that we face along the way.

And of course he cares.

And never think that you're alone.

God may be quiet, but he is in your boat

through every wave that you face.

When you don't think he cares, he does.

Second thing to remember in a storm is this.

When we don't think he's in control, he is.

Now, can you imagine this is a sturdy fishing vessel

able to hold several men,

but it was actually no match for a 10-foot wave.

And the boat plunges, nose first, into a wall of water.

The force of the waves tip it dangerously

until the bow feels like it's pointing straight up.

And just when you think that you're about to be

thrown backwards, it pitches you forward

into a valley of another wave.

And hands are everywhere, gripping the mast,

grabbing the rails, desperately trying to pull

everything together, all but one set of hands.

And he's asleep.

He's sawing laws in the stern of the boat.

They're amazed, maybe a little angry,

and they wake him and they ask him if he cares.

And with his voice, the storm is gone.

He simply stands up and says,

peace, be still.

Literally, he's saying, be silent.

Even stronger than that, the text tells us,

literally, it'd be, be muzzled.

It is the same command that he used for the demoniac

in Mark chapter 1 that we looked at a few weeks ago.

Mark 1 · chapter mention

God's in control.

And the disciples would have known Psalm 107

a whole lot better than we would,

where it says,

they reeled and staggered like drunken men

as were at their wit's end.

Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,

and he delivered them from their distress.

He made the storm be still,

and the waves of the sea were hushed.

Then they were glad that the waters were quiet,

and he brought them to their desired haven.

Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,

for his wondrous works to the children of man.

Only the Lord does that.

When he speaks, things change.

And I'll tell you another story

that must have echoed in their mind,

and it's echoed in mine, it may echo in yours,

and that's Jonah, who was running from God.

He got in a boat that went the opposite direction

that God told him to go.

A mighty storm came.

All the men called upon their gods,

but Jonah was asleep.

They wanted to do everything they possibly could,

so they woke him up and said,

why don't you call on your God?

And when they realized that he worshiped the real God,

they panicked.

They didn't know what to do with him,

and Jonah invited him to throw him overboard.

They were afraid to do that

because the God who had caused the storm

was the same God they wanted to appease,

and so they didn't quite know what to do.

He had convinced them to do that.

They threw him over,

and there was a great calm.

I want you to notice in verse 41,

it says that they were filled with great fear.

They were terrified,

terrified, and that's after the storm's gone.

The storm was gone,

yet they were terrified.

Terrified of what?

Of Jesus?

Of his power?

They were no longer concerned about the weather.

They were now focused on Jesus.

They were now beginning to see who he really was.

Only God himself can calm the storms,

and the rain,

and the sea,

and suddenly as they're in that boat,

it dawns on them maybe like it never had before.

He is here,

right here with us,

and he's in control.

Even though we may not feel like it,

he's in control.

And when we don't feel like he's in control,

he is.

The other thing I think we need to remember is this.

When we don't know if we can trust him,

we can.

These men had reasons to not be overwhelmed by the storm,

yet they were.

Storms are a part of life.

They're going to come,

and when they do,

the question is,

are we going to trust God enough

to not lose our faith through those storms?

I think some things that we need to do,

they need to do as well.

One is remember his promise.

He told them in verse 35

that they were going to the other side.

He didn't say,

we're going to try to get to the other side.

That's not what he said.

He said,

we're going to the other side.

Isaiah 43 verse 2,

Isaiah 43:2

the prophet said,

when you pass through the waters,

I'll be with you.

That's what God says to us.

It don't say around the waters,

it says through the waters.

The psalmist says in Psalm 56,

three and four,

when I am afraid,

I put my trust in you.

In God,

whose word I praise,

in God I trust,

I shall not be afraid.

When you do not think you can trust him,

I want you to remember his promise

to you.

But also,

I want you to recognize his presence.

He was with them.

He might have been silent.

It might have felt like he wasn't interested,

but however,

their impression of him

did not change the reality of him.

Did you get that?

Our impression of him

does not change the reality of him.

He was on it.

When I read this,

it reminds me of the upper room.

Christ is in the upper room

with his disciples.

He has ministered to them

for three and a half years,

ministered with them

for three and a half years.

In the latter part of those days with them,

he began to prepare them

for a day when he would no longer be with them.

And he told them

that they were going to come after him

and that he was going to die,

but he'd rise again.

And he began to tell them those things

and they didn't really want to hear it.

They couldn't imagine a change like that.

And so that night

before he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane

and is arrested,

he takes them into the upper room

and he tells them

about how he will soon

no longer be physically with them,

but that does not mean

he would leave them.

He says in that

longest discourse we have

of Jesus at one time anywhere,

it's in John 13 through 17,

most of which at least

was in the upper room.

And he says there,

I will not leave you comfort

lest I'll come to you.

He promises them that.

They may feel like they're alone,

but he's not going to leave them like that.

F.B. Meyer was a great theologian,

contemporary in London

with Spurgeon,

good friends with D.L. Moody.

And he said this,

he said,

they that bear Christ's company

must prepare for squalls.

Yet why should we fear

when the master is on board?

When we don't think

we can trust him,

we can.

We just kind of need

to remember his promise.

He didn't bring us this far

to let us fail

and just recognize his presence.

He will never leave us

nor forsake us.

And when you don't think

we can trust him,

we need to be able

to rest in his peace.

By the time the storm stops,

something else has started.

The wind is quiet,

the waves have laid down,

the danger has passed,

but the disciples

are not relieved.

They are unsettled.

And Mark tells us

that they are filled

with great fear.

They're not fearing

the storm anymore,

but they fear the one

who's standing

in the boat with them.

Storms are terrifying.

But a Savior

who speaks to storms

and stops them,

that's something else

altogether.

Isn't it interesting

that the very storm

that made veteran fishermen

panic made the Lord Jesus

drowsy?

That what put fear

in their eyes

put him to sleep?

That the boat

that felt like a certain tomb

to his disciples

was a steady cradle

to Christ?

It's wasn't that Jesus

was unaware of the storm.

Jesus was at peace

in the midst of the storm.

He also tells them

in the upper room

in John 14, 27,

Peace I leave with you,

my peace I give to you,

not as the world gives

do I give unto you.

Let not your hearts

be troubled,

neither let it be afraid.

The peace he gives,

and I want you to get this,

is not an absence

of storms or trouble.

The thunder is going

to roll in our lives.

It's not the absence

of tough times.

It is the presence

of Christ

through all of us

and Jesus could have

rebuked them harshly.

He could have pointed out

their immaturity,

but instead he patiently

asked them two questions,

not to shame them,

but to invite them

to see what this moment

had revealed.

He said,

why are you so afraid?

Have you still no faith?

The storm did not create

their fear.

It exposed it.

The storm did not reveal

who Jesus was.

It confirmed it.

And the greatest storms

that we face

are not wind

and they're not waves.

They're not even the losses.

They're not even

the disappointments.

They're not even

the diagnoses.

The greatest storm

that we face

is the unbelief

that reveals itself

in our hearts

in the midst

of our hardship.

And the question

of whether we can

really trust the Lord.

And that is the question

that the storms

bring to light.

Isn't it interesting?

Isn't it interesting?

Did Jesus know

this storm was coming?

Before they ever

stepped in the boat?

If you go back

and look,

he had been sharing

with them how faith works.

He had been telling them

how the kingdom grows.

He had been

telling them,

talking to them

about trusting God

with things

that we cannot control.

And now on the water

is a great object lesson

for the disciples.

This storm

is not punishment.

I want you

to understand

something today.

If you've given

your heart and life

to the Lord Jesus Christ,

if you're a Christian

that's dedicated

to following him,

God does not punish you.

Your punishment

has already been taken.

Do you know

who took on

your punishment?

Christ Jesus

took on your punishment

on the cross.

God's not mad at you.

God's not punishing you.

This is not a rebuke.

It is a living illustration.

This is the curriculum

of God.

Not because we deserve storms.

Not because every storm

is caused by sin.

Don't misunderstand me.

Sin causes huge storms.

But not every storm

is caused by sin.

This storm

was not caused

by their sin.

It was not.

But because storms

are often

where our faith

is clarified

and our trust

is formed,

he teaches us

in that.

He teaches us

that we can trust

Jesus

in the storm.

That when we think

he don't care,

he does.

And when we think

he's not in control,

he is.

And so Mark

ends this account

the way life

often happens.

Not with an explanation,

but with a question.

He says,

they ask,

who then is this

that even the wind

and the sea

obey him?

and no answer

was given.

Their eyes

are fixed

upon him

as they marvel

at who they look to.

Their eyes

are fixed

on him

and that is

exactly

where

they needed

to be.

And it's

exactly

where we need

to be.

Fixed on him.

Because folks,

once you know

who's in the boat

with you,

the storm

is not the focus.

The focus

is upon the Lord

who's right there

with you

in the midst

of your storm.

there's some

storms here today.

I know of some.

I know of few.

I don't know of most.

But I know

the storms.

Been doing this

long enough

and praying

for people

long enough,

praying with people

long enough,

talking to people

long enough

to know

there's some storms.

And I want you

to know

that if there's

never been a time

in your life

when you surrender

your life

to the Lord

Jesus Christ,

I don't know

how else

to help you

except to bring

you to the one

who can calm

your storm.

If you've never

asked the Lord

Jesus to forgive

you of your sins,

to come into

your life

and to change

you,

I want you to know

that is the next

step that you

need to do

in your life,

period.

That's where

a relationship

starts.

And if you feel

alienated from God

as if you're

separated from God,

do you know

why you feel that?

Because you are

if you don't have

a relationship

with it.

So it starts there.

and then if you do

know that you have

a relationship

with him,

if you've surrendered

your life to the

Lord Jesus Christ,

you need to remember

some things

for the storms.

You might be in the

middle of one.

Some of you are,

I know.

Some of you are

coming out of it

and you're walking

with a limp.

And then who knows

what tomorrow holds

except the one

who holds tomorrow.

You might just need

to lay your storm

down before the

Lord today.

You've been trying

to control it

yourself.

And you need

to surrender

to him.

I'm here to pray

for you

if you'd like

for me to.

You can lay your

storm down

at this altar.

You can do it

where you stand.

But let's don't

go through these

things alone.

It always amazes

me

that oftentimes

when people go

through difficulties

and storms,

they'll tell me

when we get

through this

we'll be back

to church.

Now I'm not

talking about

something that's

a health crisis

that won't allow

you to be in public.

I'm just talking

about somebody

who's going

through something.

We feel like

everybody can see

straight through us

and they know

everything that's

going on in our

lives and we

just can't face

anybody.

And I'm just

telling you,

there's a Greek

word for that,

baloney.

There's so much

going on in

people's lives

today,

they don't know

what's happening

with you.

And they got so

much stuff going

on.

They ain't got

time to worry

about you.

I mean,

they may pray

for you,

don't misunderstand

me about that,

but I'm just

telling you,

people aren't

sitting back

drinking a

checklist,

are they going

to show up

or not because

I know what's

going on in

their life.

It's just not

true.

That's the

evil one.

God's going

to show up.

And I'll tell

you what he

does,

he loves to

polarize us,

he loves to

isolate us,

he loves to

get us alone

in the hardest

of times so

he can beat

us down.

And the

reality is,

what we need

to acknowledge

more than

anything else

is the one

that is the

master of the

storm is right

there with me.

And he's got a

whole crew of

people that

love me

dearly,

that will love

me through

what's going

on in my

life.

Just drop a

facade.

Be honest

with God.

Be honest

with ourself.

And look

to him.

Heavenly

Father,

I love you.

I thank you

Lord for your

love for us

and I ask

today that

we'll lay our

storm down

before you,

oh God.

That we'll

trust you.

Whether it

appears you're

asleep,

whether we're

waiting for you

to say peace

be still.

God, I pray

that we'll

trust you today

with all of

our lives.

Lead us,

Lord,

to follow

your lead.

In Jesus'

name,

amen.