Finding Peace in the Storm

I would be interested to know if my daughter Amy would remember this story. When we lived in Indiana, we lived in a small town, about 1,500 people. It was a kind of town where you'd get out and walk in the evenings. People were on the front porch and you would howdy and stop and talk. It was just that kind of town. Just comprised of a few blocks and you could walk through the whole town and greet people. Very much new, most everybody in town. One evening we were out on a walk like that and I don't remember if the girls, Amy and Ruth were riding their bikes or they were walking with us. We were out for a walk and we knew that there were some storms coming north of us. weren't sure if they were going to get near us or not. All of a sudden the fire truck starts coming through town. The tornado sirens start going off. The fire truck is warning people to take shelter. There is a tornado located just within a few miles north of us and could be headed our direction. As I recall the girls headed straight home and beat Jean and I home. When we got home we looked for them. Couldn't find them anywhere upstairs. We went down in the basement. They were sure enough there they were in the basement up against an interior wall on their knees with their heads covered like that. They obviously in Indiana in every school you have tornado drills. And so they knew exactly what to do. They knew exactly how to find refuge in that kind of a storm. I wonder do you know how to find shelter and protection in the storms of life? Do you know when the storms of life come crashing down on you? Do you know how and where to find shelter? Do you know how to find peace in the midst of the storm? There is a passage that speaks to that pressing question and it's the next story in the account of Jesus ministry in the region of Galilee that we've been looking at on Sunday night. So if you would look please with me at Mark chapter 4 and verse 35. Very familiar story about Jesus calming the sea during the storm. Remember the sequence of events it always helps for me to think through what's happening in our Lord's life and what has just preceded. You know sometimes we kind of parachute into a passage in the Gospels and we are removed from the events that have happened leading up to it. And there's much more richness I think if we take these in sequence and we understand but from week to week we kind of lose sight of what's happening. So let me just remind you of what's been happening in our Lord's life. He is being pressed by the multitudes who are gathering to hear him teach and preach and watch him perform miracles in his great Galilee and ministry. In his ministry and Galilee he's traversing throughout that region in the north part of Israel and he's becoming very popular. This is still early in his ministry and there are great crowds that are gathered. Crowds are pressing him so much that his schedule is monopolized completely controlled from day to day by the crowds who are wanting to hear him teach and seeing do miracles. We have just recently seen that in one of those settings actually in a household setting he cast a demon out of a man and healed him of the afflictions caused bodily by that demon. The Pharisees recognizing that a great miracle was had happened and that the people in Israel were starting to say this couldn't be the Messiah could it. They were beginning to shift away from their allegiance to the Pharisees and beginning to think that Jesus really is who he claimed to be. And so the Pharisees seized the opportunity to stop the crowd from going over to Jesus and they say well yeah he's doing miracles but he's doing them by the power of Satan. And so they accuse him of doing his miracles by Satan's power which Jesus then speaks back to them and says you have just or you are in danger at least of committing the unpardonable sin which is the sin of attributing to Satan's power. The works of Jesus done through the power of the Holy Spirit and he warned them Jesus did not always answer the Pharisees but on this occasion he warned them quite extensively that they were in danger and the nation was in danger of crossing a line and getting to a point where God would turn away and turn toward the Gentiles and that is indeed what would happen. Right after that event the gospel of Matthew tells us that Jesus leaves the house goes to the seashore again teaching a large crowd of people teaching the parables of the kingdom which are described in Matthew 13. He takes his disciples aside after that and interprets some of those parables for them because they didn't understand them and they wanted a little more input as what they meant. So he instructs his disciples and then immediately after instructing his disciples verse 35 of Mark 4 happens. That day when evening came he said to his disciples let us go over to the other side leaving the crowd behind. They took him along just as he was in the boat. There were also other boats with him. He says let us go to the other side. The crowds have kind of pressed against him. They hop in a boat and Jesus says let us go to the other side of the sea of Galilee. They took him immediately. No preparations made. No well let us go home pack a suitcase and for going on a little outing year or at least get some lunch to eat. There is none of that. They just jump in a boat and start across to the other side of the sea of Galilee. No preparation, no provisions for the trip. Immediately they take off. And at this point the story begins to develop into one of the most fascinating stories in the New Testament. The story which can be captured in four snapshots. I had five fingers up four. Four snapshots. These four snapshots tell the story of what happens in the storm. And they also speak to us about finding peace in the midst of life's storms as well. Snapshot number one. The problem. Here's the problem. Look at verse 37. This is the snapshot under which we might write the caption. The problem. Verse 37 says a furious squall came up and the waves broke over the boat so that it was near the boat. So that it was nearly swamped. The problem is the storm. The storm that comes on the sea of Galilee and there are two features that stand out about this storm. The first one is its suddenness. A furious, furious squall came up. No evidence that there was any high wind or rough seas before they got into the boat. But as they get out into the sea all of a sudden this storm just quickly arises. And that's not unusual for the sea of Galilee. If you go to the land of Israel and you go north to around the sea of Galilee and you go to the cliffs of our bell, maybe you've seen that bend where you go over the cliffs and look over the whole entirety of the sea of Galilee. What happens because of the unique geography of that area? The sea of Galilee is nearly 700 feet below sea level. And there are mountains both to the east and to the north and to the west of the sea of Galilee. It opens out into a plane on the south side. But what happens is the warm air coming off the Mediterranean Sea rises over those mountains and then suddenly takes a dive down to the sea of Galilee. And much like our weather patterns in the Midwest states, Oklahoma and Kansas, where the air coming over the Rockies hits the moist air coming up from the sea of Mexico, the Gulf of Mexico, and creates violent storms quickly. We call them tornadoes. That's exactly what happens on the sea of Galilee. That combination of weather effects creates very sudden squalls that can arise in a matter of minutes. And that's evidently what happens here. But not only the suddenness of the storm as a parent, the verse also indicates the intensity of this storm. Not only did it arise suddenly, but it evidently was extremely intense because the Bible says when this furious squall came up, the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. Now that's quite a description of an intense storm, unusually fierce. Particularly for seasoned fishermen to give up any attempt to save the boat. As the story develops, they think they're gone. And they give up any attempt to save the boat. These are experienced fishermen. And they know the sea of Galilee. They're on the sea of Galilee, at least had been, before they left all to follow Jesus. They were on the sea of Galilee practically every night, fishing for a vocation. So they know this area and for this storm to be severe enough for them to want to just give up the boat. That's a pretty intense storm. Didn't that remind you of the storms of life sometimes? Don't the storms of life sometimes come suddenly. You wake up, it's a normal day. You're going about your normal routine and all of a sudden you get a phone call. And there's a crisis in your family, or there's something that's happened to one of your children. And all of a sudden your life is turned upside down. All of us have been in situations like that, where we received sudden news that thrust us into the middle of an intense and furious storm. And it doesn't matter how old you are, whether you're young or old, those kinds of situations can happen. You wake up, you go about your normal business, and all of a sudden something can happen that changes your entire life. The storms of life often come suddenly, and they often come also with furious intensity. I think the deepest agonies that we go through are those that we experience with our families. And those things can happen all of a sudden, can't they? All of a sudden a husband leaves. You're left devastated, you didn't see it coming. A child you find out is experiencing drug problems. And you were seeing some signs, but you denied what was going on, couldn't believe it could happen in your family, in all of a sudden you discover that terrible news. The sun rebels to the point of self-destruction. You don't know how to reach out to them, how to draw them back. You're totally distraught about what's happening. Parent suffers a fatal disease and turns against you. And when those storms come, those fierce storms of life, you feel that you can't cope. You feel like the waves, the waves are filling up the boat, they're capsizing the boat, and it's too fast to bail the water out. And you can't recover the boats about to go under and you have this hopeless feeling. Maybe it's a financial crisis or personal failure or an emotional strain or something that happens and it comes with sudden intensity. Sometimes life is best pictured by that snapshot. That snapshot of sudden, furious intense storms. And maybe right now in your life, that snapshot describes your life. The storm, the problem. But then the story develops to another snapshot. The second snapshot is the panic. Because after the problem, a storm that intense often comes panic. Look at verse 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? And skip to the verse 40. He said to his disciples, why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? Now, let's take those verses separately. They both have to do with the panic that ensues after the storm begins. Verse 38 describes the panic itself. That's the description of the panic. Christ had taken a cushion from the seat of the stearman of the boat. There was usually a cushion under that seat. Christ had taken that cushion and used it for a pillow and fell fast asleep in the stern of the boat. The fact that he could sleep through such an furious intense storm shows how exhausted he was. Now remember, the crowds have pressed him day after day after day. His days have been full of intense, teaching, preaching, miracles, casting out of demons. All of which drained him of energy, remember his fully man? He experiences human life as we do. He gets tired, he gets hungry, he gets thirsty, and he gets exhausted. And in this case, he is totally exhausted. Remember that picture. We'll come back to it later. So the disciples rush to him and wake him up, and they ask him this question. Teacher, don't you care if we drown? Now, that often is interpreted in this way. I want to make sure we understand what's happening here. That question is often seen as waking up Jesus so that he could still the storm for them. But nothing of the kind is in their minds. They are shocked when he does that. That's not what they're asking him. This is not a request for Jesus to do anything. It is a protest against his apparent indifference to them in their storm. Why don't you care? Why aren't you doing something? He's indifferent when they're all about to die. They believe they're going to perish in this storm. And this is not a polite question. The way it is phrased, it is a cry of panic. You don't care. Hey, we're going to die. You don't care. That's the way it really comes out. This is not a gentle request, shaking him gently, not wanting to bother him. But asking if maybe he could do something about the storm. No, they are upset that he's asleep and doesn't care what happens to them. We're going to die and you don't seem to care. That's the nature of the question. You ever felt that way? It's a rhetorical question, by the way. Every one of you should be nodding your head. Yep, I have. I think all of us, if we are brutally honest, would say there have been times when we thought God was sleeping on the job that he didn't understand what was happening to us, that he wasn't aware, maybe that he didn't really care about what was happening to us. Had a good friend at Appalachian Bible College by the name of Bruce Cook. Bruce was on staff when I got there, but he was taking classes in the master's program. So we became good friends and he would often come to my office and we would talk. Bruce went into camping ministry. That was what he was doing there at ABC, teaching some of that program. He went to a camp out in the Midwest and was helping direct that camp. And one terrible day, they lost their home and all their possessions they had in a fire. Everything was destroyed. They were not able to save anything. They ended up leaving that camp ministry and during that time where he just got a secular job and was working and questioning what God was doing with him and why he had allowed all that to happen. I mean, they lost everything and people gathered things together and helped them to start a home again. During that time when they were between ministries trying to put their lives back together, they adopted a dog. A dog that provided a lot of joy and help in their healing as animals can often do. Animals bring such innocence and acceptance, unconditional love sometimes. And it just was a special gift to them. Just as they were getting on their feet, that dog was hit by a vehicle and killed. Now that wouldn't mean a lot to a lot of people, just a dog. But for them, that seemed to be a special gift from God to help in their healing process. And I'll never forget when Bruce communicated with me by email that it happened. And Bruce is a strong believer, a strong Christian leader. And basically what he was crying out to me was, why would God allow that? Why would God allow that? When he sent that dog to help us heal from all the losses we had had, and then the dog gets killed too. Now a dog getting killed is not the most earth shattering, eternity changing issue in anybody's life. But in that particular timing with the fragility of their hearts, how delicate this recovery process is, it was almost more than they could bear. Doesn't it sometimes seem as though Jesus is asleep in the boat when you can't keep the water bailed out and you're about to go under? That's the nature of the panic here. But Jesus in verse 40 puts his finger on the reason for the panic. And we can't leave this point without noting that Jesus puts his finger right on the reason for their panic. Notice he said to his disciples, why are you so afraid? Literally, why are you so cowardly? What a question. This evidently is a kind of furious storm that has even seasoned sailors feeling like there's no hope. But his question is, why are you so cowardly? But I think it's because of the follow-up question. Do you still have no faith? Or how is it that you have no faith? Well, what are they supposed to have faith in? Out here in the middle of the sea with the waves sweeping over the boat. And obviously no hope of any going through this and getting through it. What are they supposed to have faith in? Well, maybe two things. First of all, remember what he said in verse 35. Let us go over to the other side. I hope I'm not reading too much into that. But when Jesus says we're going to go over to the other side, you're going to make it to the other side. When Jesus says, when God says, I have a purpose for your life. I have a plan for your life. And here's what I'm doing. It's a world of courage of Christ. And I guarantee you, as I'm doing that, everything that happens to you, I'm going to work it all together for good. For the good of your character, and your Christian life, so that you can be more like Jesus. When he says that, can we trust him? That's what he's going to do. But secondly, they should have also had faith in who he was as the son of God. of God who has come to this earth to provide salvation for mankind is going to die in a boat in the middle of the sea of Galilee? Remember who he is. Don't you care while we all perish? Wait a second. Trust what I say. We're going to get to the other side. Trust who I am. I am the son of God. And that, my friend, is still the root of our faith today. We need to understand who Jesus is, who God is, how big He is, how great He is, how wonderful He is, and then we need to understand what He has said in His Word, He will do. And if we trust Him in the storms of life, then we will make it to the other side. Now sometimes it hurts to hear those kind of questions from the Lord. Why are you so cowardly? You don't have faith yet? Sometimes it hurts to hear those questions. We would much rather hear, well you know that is a very natural human response. God understands your weakness. It's okay. Sometimes we need to be challenged a little bit. You know? Sometimes we need to hear the Word of Christ saying, what's wrong with you? You don't have faith in me? You're not trusting me. Sometimes we need to hear that rebuke. But when God always points out our weaknesses and our failings, our lack of faith, He does it so we can grow. We are not trusting Him when we panic, when we accuse Him of not caring, when we perish, He is in control and He's working all things together for our good so that we might grow to be more like Him. Sometimes we need to be brought up a little short and hear the rebuke of the Lord. You're just not trusting me. Now come on, don't be so timid and fearful and cowardly. Trust me. You need to hear Him say that to us sometimes. So you've got the picture, the picture of the problem. You've got the picture of the panic. Now let's move to the third snapshot that describes this story. Now I think we would call this one in verse 39, the peace. The peace. By the way, P-E-A-C-E, not P-I-E-C-E, okay? The peace. Internal peace. Verse 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. Then amazing what happened here, he calmed the storm. And you get the impression that Jesus did this in a very calm and unruffled manner. He's been lying down asleep. The Bible just says he gets up. Evidently stood up in the boat. Now remember, they are in a rough storm. Waves are coming up over the side of the boat. And he gets up and then the Bible says with no alarm, with no confusion, he rebukes the wind. Now think about that. To rebuked the wind is to speak to the wind as though a person he's rebuking the wind. And then to the waves he says quiet, be still, be still means literally to be muzzled. That's what the word literally means to be muzzled like a raging animal. In other words, he's taking control of this storm. He's muzzling this storm by his very word. And instantly the wind stops. The sea is placid completely calm. Now that's not normal for a storm. Is it? Normally when the, if you've been around much water, when the wind stops blowing, the waves still stay choppy for a little while and then they calm down. But instantly in this case, Jesus exercises his divine control over the elements and rebukes the wind, tells it to stop and quiets the waves, calms the waves, muzzles the storm and it immediately stops. So he calms this storm and it reminds me, this snapshot reminds me that he can also calm our storms. Now Jesus can calm and does calm our storms. Sometimes he removes the outer storm, takes away the problem that is sending the waves over the side of our boat. Sometimes he does that and we're all grateful when he does. But that's not always God's purpose, is it? It's not always God's purpose to calm the outer storm. Sometimes his greater purpose is to calm the inner storm. And the outer storm may not change. The outer circumstances may not necessarily change, but God in doing His work of making us more like Christ is changing the storms, the panic on the inside. It is great to learn that God can calm the storms of life. It is even greater, it is more profound. It is the most profound lesson to see that He can calm the storms within us. Most of the time we just want Him to calm the storms around us, change my circumstances, get me out of this problem. And quite often God is wanting to use those storms to teach us how to focus on Him and trust Him, to remember who He is and what He has said and trust Him and calm the storm that's inside us. When we get to the place where we can deeply recognize that no storm around us can wreck His purpose and program in us, then we're beginning to grow. When no storm around us can wreck His plan and purpose in us, then we're beginning to grow. When we are not overwhelmed anymore, but we recognize that if Christ is with us all is well, when we can smile at the storm because we know Jesus is with us in the vessel, when everything is going wrong to really trust Him rather than to panic children along. But something came up at the last minute in Chicago, a business that he had to deal with some law matter that he had to deal with. So he sent them on ahead. He said, you go ahead and I'll catch up with you.