Message by Rev. Bob Laning
October 9, 2022
Scripture: Mark 4:35-41
Today we will be reminded that God calms the storms when life brings surprises.
We will be looking at Mark 4:35-41 today. This is the story of Jesus and his disciples in a boat, and Jesus calming a sudden, crazy storm. Let’s begin by reading Mark 4:35-41,
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
To begin with…
Again, this is the story of one of Jesus’ miracles–calming a storm on a large lake. This story has several things to show us. The first thing is that God works with us through love。He loves us at all times, even during difficult situations. When we are surprised in life, we pray and ask God to help us. Due, however, to the timing and when circumstances do not change right away, it might seem like He doesn’t care. Or at least is late in helping us.
Secondly, following Jesus requires us to believe that He will ultimately come through for us. In the best time and the best way for us. This requires us to believe that He will come through. This is faith. It requires us to keep going while He works. This can be difficult.
Thirdly, He will do as he has promised, in His way, and in His time. This also requires us to believe in his love for us.
Now for our story. Jesus and his disciples get into a wooden boat like the one above,and start to cross the Sea of Galilee (a large lake in the area).
The Sea of Gallilee is a large, beautiful body of water, in Israel, near where Jesus lived.
Jesus is exhausted, and wants to get away and rest, with his disciples. He sleeps in the stern of the boat. (Here He is least prepared to do anything)
A storm comes out of nowhere and forms with waves of up to 7 feet (about 2 meters). The waves are crashing into the boat and threaten to sink it. The storm threatens to drown all of them, including Jesus. Jesus doesn’t wake up until his disciples wake him. This would appear very strange as Jesus doesn’t wake up even when waves are crashing in the boat, and the boat is tossed about. He should wake up right away and do something.
They are very frightened and accuse Jesus of not caring that they could drown. From the disciples’ reaction, they don’t believe that He cares to help them. Perhaps they even think that He can’t do anything. Does this look and feel familiar? Jesus’ reaction to his disciples yelling at him and accusing him of not helping them was, “Where’s your faith”? Jesus is frustrated with them. “Where’s your faith?” This is a strange reaction from Jesus when they are all about to drown. But Jesus stays calm and is not frightened. He then shouts sternly, directly to the storm and commands it to be still. The storm calms. The waves subside. The wind settles down. They are all rescued.
What does this have to do with our lives today?
Romans 8:28 says that (out of love),Jesus responds to us. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Have you ever been physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted? Do you sometimes need to get away? And you can’t handle a whole lot more? When we are this tired is when we at times get the biggest surprises in life. Like a storm with squalls of rain and waves 2 meters tall, when we are least prepared for it.
* Our grades are not what we expected.
* We don’t get into the school or program we wanted
* We lose a job by lay off or downsizing. Or whatever. Many people lost jobs during COVID.
* Loss of a spouse due to death or divorce or something else.
* Sudden illness either of ourselves or someone we love.
Especially if they die because of the illness. We have all been affected by COVID for the past 3 years.
* Financial problems, forced debt. No matter how well we budget and try to plan for the future.
* Examples from your own life.
We feel like we are in the wooden boat, which is about to sink. We cry out to Jesus for help, and he “seems to be sleeping at the bottom of the boat.”
We cry, “Where are you when we need you?” King David of Israel felt the same way, as he expressed in Psalm 22:1-2.
1. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
2. O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
It’s like we have to wake him to get him to pay attention to our problems. Our situation doesn’t seem to change. The “wind is still blowing and the waves are still coming in the boat.” How is this working out for our good? Have you ever felt this way?
Jesus “wakes up” and tells us to hold on and He will come through. He tells the storm to calm down and the waves to cease. And sometimes He wants us ourselves to command the storm to calm down and the waves to cease. He tells the money to come through, and the health to improve. He brings another job, or another college, or another program.
He closes doors and opens others. He closes the job that we really wanted and brings a better one. He supplies money from sources that we never thought about. I have experienced not getting a job that I really wanted, only to get a better position later.
When I was working as a pastor in the federal prison system, I wanted to transfer to the middle of Florida. That door closed and I had to stay in my position in Colorado. About 3 years later, I got a position in the prison in Miami, the very one that I wanted originally. I’m very happy that I did not get the first job.
He had another program or job in mind for us, better than the first. He will get us through whatever the loss. He will walk through the “surprise” with us. He knows that sometimes, if he said yes, we would not be able to handle it yet. He needs to work on us further so that we can handle the yes answer. Sometimes we won’t know the answers to the “why” questions.
The same goes for our family, our town or city, our state, and our country. Have you ever prayed for a long time for family members or friends? For them to come to know Jesus, and they become more stubborn to not accept him? Relationships are not improved right away? Sometimes they get worse?
In Matthew 7:20, Jesus said to his disciples, “… For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.”
If we have a small amount of faith, like a tiny mustard seed, we can move mountains in our own lives by telling the mountains to move. A mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds that there is, but it grows into a large tree.
This past September, Nancy and I went on a trip and saw Yellowstone National Park, the South Dakota Badlands, the Teton National Park, Mt. Rushmore, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park. They were all amazing. We saw majestic mountains. We stayed near hot, steamy geysers. Mt. Rushmore is amazing. Friends we stayed with for a week, live on a ranch in the middle of the Teton Mountains.
The above photo is one that I took at our friends’ home in the Teton Mountains. Have you ever told a mountain to go away? He has said that we can tell mountains (or waves) to move (or calm down), and they will. In the name of Jesus. Seeing these tall, jagged, rocky mountains, brought to mind for me, how huge it is that Jesus said this about moving mountains. It’s amazing. They might not necessarily move right away, or in the way that we thought. Sometimes He wants us to command our mountains or waves to move or be still. He can use us to accomplish our prayers. Interesting, huh?
The Bible says in Isaiah that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. He is a very creative God. Usually with Nancy and me, His answers to our requests are in ways we never expected. Because of this, I no longer tell God when and how to answer my prayers. I simply tell Him what I need and rely on Him to come through. Many times He answers in ways I could not have expected and the timing is often not what I anticipated or desired. But it turns out to be the best way, in the best time. When I was working in the prisons, inmates would tell me that they became Christian by coming to prison, where God could get their attention, after their mother or grandmothers had prayed for them many years.
So…back to where we started
God’s way of relating to us is from his love. Even when it doesn’t look, feel, or think like it. We have looked to see what we can learn from Jesus’ miracle in the middle of a storm. We have seen how he handled being blindsided by storms. We are reminded that He always loves us, no matter what the circumstances.
He wants us to believe that Jesus will come through for us. In the best way and in the best time for our good. This requires faith, and can be a very difficult time, if we rely on what we see or think or feel.
At the right time and the best way, Jesus will do as He has promised. When we are blindsided by life, we cry out for help. Jesus will come through for us in his time, in his way. If we are able to have even a very small faith, He will calm the storms in our lives. Mountains in our lives can be removed.
Also, at times, with a small amount of faith, we can speak to the mountains and storms and tell them, in the name of Jesus, to move, or to calm down. He hears us and will answer when we tell the mountains to move. After the circumstances are past, we can look on them and thank God for how He answered and when He answered our prayers.