Jesus, Faithful in the Storm

In Matthew 8:23-27, Jesus is in a boat with His disciples going to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. All of a sudden a storm arises. A BIG storm; a violent storm, a fierce gale of wind, shocks the boat so much it feels like an earthquake. They are in danger. The boat is swamped, flooding with water by waves up to 7 feet high. And Jesus is asleep in the back of the boat. His disciples get scared and panic. These veteran seamen feet terror as the boat is thrashed by the waves. They wake Jesus up and ask for help. Jesus does 2 things when He wakes up, He speaks to His disciples then He speaks to the wind and sea. He says to the disciples, while the storm is still raging, why are you afraid, O you of little faith? He questions their faith, not the fact that they asked. He rebuked them for not resting in His power and authority. Then He does a second thing which shows them just how powerful He is. He gets up and rebukes the wind and sea, and there is great calm. The men marvel, “what sort of man is this, that even the winds and sea obey Him?”

There are several things I want you to see this episode shows us.

First, we are not sufficient. “Help us Lord, we are perishing”, is an appropriate request. We are weak, we have insufficient spiritual funds. Self-reliance lulls us into thinking that we are in control. When we are sufficient, we tack Jesus on as an extra in life, a bit player playing bit parts. He has cameo appearances but we run the show. The self-sufficient call Jesus Teacher but they want to teach Him what it means to be a Savior. Others call Him Lord but have no intention of obeying. The Bible paints a different picture. What will the pot say to the Maker? Jesus said, “apart from Me you can do nothing” John 15:5; 2 Cor. 3:5 says “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God”. When I am not dwelling in the presence of Christ/walking in the Spirit, I am more apt to question or blame God; when I am not walking closely with Him it is easy to find fault in Him and others; it is easy to throw relational bottle rockets that set people off instead of building them up. When I'm in self-sufficient mode I get so fixated on other things I don’t care to have my eyes turned on Christ.

Second, Jesus is all-sufficient. He has all power and authority. The disciples that day saw a loving, good God who is able to do immeasurably beyond all that we can ask and think. Sometimes we are tempted, like they were, to ask “Lord, why? Do You not care? that I lost my job, that I lost my spouse, that I lost my friends, that I’m losing my health?” I know how you feel. I have felt that way lots of times, but I have found that feelings can play tricks on us, you should not let them drive the bus – facts should. Let truth drive. All-Sufficient means just that. We’ve been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. He who is the Truth is fully able. Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. He was always with God and is God. Through Him all things came into being and were created. He was before all things. In Him all things hold together by the word of His power. He is the only Savior for the sins of the world, who shed his blood and died in our place on Calvary’s cross. He redeemed us from sin, rose bodily from the grave, victorious over death & all powers of darkness. He ascended into heaven where, at God’s right hand, He prays for his people and rules as Lord over all. He is the Head of the Church, and should be adored, loved, served, and obeyed by all as the all-sufficient one. Apart from Him, we can do nothing. John 15:5 and With Him, all things. Phil. 4:13. We are always dependent on Him for everything. I know all that and I still have trouble believing that He can handle my problems! To be IN CHRIST is to know Him as your total sufficiency, as your life. Your life is completely reoriented. You can seek real life answers to your real life questions from the One who is real Life.

This story also shows us that God is worthy of our worship. It gives us a perfect illustration of what true worship is. Matthew says they marveled, Mark tells us they became very frightened (Mark 4:41). They showed reverent fear of God. We tend to define worship by what we do in terms of music style or certain activities we call ‘worship’. Worship is the reverent fear of One whose power and authority exceeds anything we might face; it is the soul’s response of honor and adoration, to God. It is marveling at God whose strength and presence overcomes even the violent forces of nature; it is the sincere acknowledgement of Him whose goodness and greatness calls for humble trust and obedience. It is the pure response of a soul that recognizes God as preeminent over all, above all else. To realize we are in the presence of Him who has absolute power and authority draws worship from the soul. When Jesus’ disciples got into the boat that day – little did they know they would be having a worship service!

The episode on the sea was designed by Jesus as a huge teaching opportunity. What did He want them (and us) to learn? That if Jesus is in the boat with you – if you know Him - you are safe and secure. You don’t have to strain and strive to bail water in your storms; you need to dwell in the presence of Jesus. Troubles may overwhelm us at times but Jesus overcomes. The One who leads beside still waters also leads through the storms of life. He has shown Himself faithful so many times before. God was faithful in Joseph’s storm Gen. 39-50 favored by his father, betrayed by his brothers, accused by his bosses’ wife, forgotten by a man he helped, promoted to power, lied to by his brothers, you do not see him complaining to God. He accepted what God brought into his life graciously; was able to forgive with grace. The storm Job went through was not of his own making. He learned God is faithful no matter what. “naked I came from my mother’s womb, naked I shall return.” “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord”. Jonah went through a storm he brought on himself; & God was faithful in that storm to lead him to repentance. Jonah learned his lesson the hard way, but he learned it because God is loving, faithful and kind.

God wants you to worship Him, not only when He rescues you from storms, but also in the midst of storms. You will know Him as Faithful in the storm when you trust Him in the storms you face. May He who is faithful in the storm be the center of your universe.

Soli Deo Gloria