I love the old Sunday school song, “With Christ in my vessel I can smile at the storm”. The reality is as I navigate through life and storms rage I can take great comfort from the fact that I am not alone but Christ is with me in the storm.
In Mark chapter four is a story of a storm that Jesus’ disciples were caught in and there are some great lessons for us from that event for us today.
Lesson #1 Storms are a part of life.
Jesus said that storms are guaranteed in this life, in fact Jesus said, “Don’t be surprised when storms come your way.” But the strange thing is that is exactly what happens, storms take us by surprise and we begin to question what is happening.
Lesson #2 The Word causes conflict.
Jesus said in Mark 4:35, “Let us cross over to the other side.” That is the Word of God. While doing what Jesus said a storm arose. They were in the will of God, they were obeying the word, yet a storm arose. A few hours earlier Jesus had said that tribulation and persecution will arise because of the word (see Mark 4:17)
A storm, trouble in this life, doesn’t necessarily mean we are outside the will of God, it could actually be because we are in the will of God. Luke 4:1, 2 says:
Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being tempted for forty days by the devil.
Lesson #3 God did not send the Storm
We are not told what caused the storm, was it the Devil? We are not told, but one thing is for certain, God did not send the storm. Had God sent the storm that Jesus rebuked then He would have been operating contrary to the will of God.
Lesson #4 Focus on the right things.
The word will cause conflict, conflict that is not sent by God and in the face of the storm the disciples focus shifted from the Word of God to the storm. Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith, but notice Jesus had never changed weather patterns and the disciples were staggered that “even wind and waves” obey him. The lack of faith was in that they lost sight of the word by focusing on the storm.
What has God said to you? Keep your focus!
Lesson #5 Jesus deals with the root of the problem.
I love how Mark describes what Jesus does, verse 39, “He arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace be still.’”
For the disciples the issue was the waves filling the boat, for us the issue is too often the fruit of a bigger problem. Jesus rebukes the root cause of the problem, the wind. He then says to the fruit of the problem, the heavy seas, “Be still!”
Jesus, in another story, casts a demon out of a man. That was dealing with the fruit of the problem he then said, “Be careful, you have to deal with the root problem otherwise the demon will return, with seven mates and your later condition will be worse that the initial state.
There is so many more lessons from this story, they’ll have to wait!
Just a Thought
See you in Church
