LUKE 8:22-25 IN THE STORM WITH JESUS2012 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 8:22-25 In The Storm With Jesus

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Well, this morning as we look at this very familiar account, the time when Jesus calms the storm...

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We'll be looking at the title I gave for our time together this morning is In the Storm with Jesus. And there's four points I'd like to share with you from our passage about being in the storm with Jesus. I would like to encourage you later on if you would like, you have some time to consider yet further some of the things we'll be talking about. You can check out the parallel passages to this portion here in Luke, which are found in Matthew chapter 8.

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verses 23 through 27 and Mark chapter 4 verses 35 through 41. So in Matthew chapter 8 and Mark chapter 4 they also give the same account with slight differences to give a little bit more perspective and give you a little bit more insight into what was going on leading up to this and during this event that is described here by Luke.

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But as we talk about being in the storm with Jesus today, again, there's four points I'd like to share with you. And the first one takes us to verse 22 where we start off. And the first point this morning is that Jesus journeys with us. Jesus journeys with us. So important for us to know, to understand, and to take comfort in the reality that Jesus is with us. Look with me again at verse 22. It says,

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And so we begin now looking at this account where Jesus says,

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is with his disciples. He's been teaching the crowds. He taught the parable of the sower. We looked also last week at the parable of the light on the lampstand and his mother and brothers trying to visit him. And now he's getting into a boat with his disciples. They're there on the Sea of Galilee and he gets into the boat and he tells them, let's cross over to the other side.

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This was not a big undertaking. This was really not a big deal. The Sea of Galilee is not very large. Four of Jesus' disciples were fishermen. They were familiar with boats. And so it was an easy and common thing for them to go from one side of the lake to the other side. It was not a big deal.

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And so he gets into the boat and he says, hey, let's go over to the other side. And it says that they launch out there from that shore to head over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Now, as we talk about this account here of the disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee with Jesus and the storm that comes,

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There's of course not just the understanding of what was going on with the disciples when they were in the boat, but this morning God would have us to consider some personal application and to consider this from a personal point of view. And so as we look at this storm that takes place, there's some parallels to the storms that we face in our life and we'll be talking about that as we go through our portion together.

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But to start out looking at the personal aspect of this account, I would start here in verse 22 and point out that it says that he got into the boat with his disciples. And for us to really begin to consider this passage and the personal application, the first thing that needs to be asked is, are you his disciple?

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Are you a disciple of Jesus Christ? Because, well, it says he got into a boat with his disciples. And for this first point, as we see that Jesus journeys with us, we can maybe clarify it a little bit further by saying Jesus journeys with his disciples. Are you his disciple? Are you a follower of Jesus Christ? In John chapter 8, verse 31, Jesus says,

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is talking to those who believe in him, and he tells them, if you abide in my word, you are my disciples indeed. He says, look, the way to know that you are my disciples is whether or not you abide in my word. That abiding in the word of God is essential to being a disciple of Jesus. That's the point that he's making.

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And it's interesting that we've spent the past about five weeks now looking at the parable of the sower. And then last week as we talked about the importance of hearing the word and then letting it impact us, but then also going and living it out. The hear, shine, and do. This is the same idea that's contained here in this abiding in the word of God. And so being a disciple of Jesus really involves hearing him,

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letting him speak to us and then living it out, abiding in his word, letting his word be our home, be the point at which, you know, we always return to that we base our lives upon the word of God. And so Jesus says, if you do that, if you do the things that we've been studying for the past few weeks, receiving the word of God and letting it bear fruit in your life,

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If you hear it and respond to it and live it out, Jesus says, you are my disciples indeed. And so once again, I want to encourage you to hear the word of God, to spend time in God's word, but not just to get through it as a religious thing to check off on your list, but to spend time with God, to allow him to impact you, and then seek to put into practice those things that he calls you to do.

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abide in his word. And Jesus says, you will be my disciples indeed. And so as his disciples, as those who walk with the Lord, as those who hear him and seek to follow him and obey him, we have this promise that Jesus journeys with us. For short, you could say genus. No, I'm just kidding. Jesus journeys with us.

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For those who are his disciples. And so he gets into the boat and he tells his disciples, let's cross over. Now what Jesus meant as he was speaking to his disciples was they were on one side of the shore of Galilee and they were going to end up on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. They were going from one side to the other. Let's cross over. And so that's what he meant. That's what they were doing. They were going to cross over the lake to the other side.

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But as I considered this portion this week and considered...

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The personal aspect of it, the application for us. I think it's important for us as we look at this to remember as believers, as disciples of Jesus, it's important for us to remember what our destination is. Because in the same way, Jesus has spoken to us and he says, hey, let's cross over. But he's not speaking about going from one side of the lake to the other side, but he's speaking about our eternal destiny.

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The destination that Jesus has placed before us as he says to us, hey, let's cross over. He gets into the boat with us and he says, hey, let's go on to the other side. Jesus has promised to us the destination of eternity.

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I'm sure you're familiar with John chapter 3 verse 16, right? God loves us so much. He sent his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That is the promise. That is the guarantee. That is the destination for a disciple of Jesus. That we have been given this promise of eternity.

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The reason why I point that out is because, well, sometimes as believers, we get a little bit confused about what our destination is. And sometimes we get caught up in the society we live in and we begin to think that the American dream is the destination that God has promised to us. But that is not the case. Our destination is not

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What is it? 2.5 kids, a house, picket fence, you know. That's not the destination that is promised to us. The destination is eternity with God for a disciple in Jesus Christ. The destination is not, you know, the things that your parents always wanted for you. Or perhaps the things that you desire yourself, the goals and desires that you have. You know, many times we set our sights on things in this life that

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And we have this idea, this mentality that that's the destination. That's what God's going to do. That's where he's going to bring us. That's what he wants to accomplish. And so we expect that to happen. And when that doesn't happen, well, we get shaken up. And we'll talk about that as we continue on in our portion this morning. When Jesus says, let's cross over, speaking to you and I as disciples, he's speaking to us of eternity. The destination is promised.

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But the journey is not guaranteed to be smooth. See, that's the distinction here that I want to make. Jesus journeys with us. He's promised to get us to eternity that we'll have everlasting life. But the journey there is not guaranteed to be smooth. It's not guaranteed that there'll be no problems. It's not guaranteed that there won't be difficulties or heartache. In fact, the opposite is true.

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storms are promised. The journey is not guaranteed to be smooth. The journey is guaranteed to be stormy. There's going to be storms. There's going to be difficulties. There's going to be heartache. In John chapter 16 verse 33, Jesus tells us, in the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. It's the same point that Jesus is making there.

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He says, in this world you will have tribulation. This is the guarantee. This is the promise. You will have trouble. You will have hurt. You will have heartache. You will have difficulty. You will have disaster. You will have storms. But he says, be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. So he says, be of good cheer even though you're going to have these difficulties because I'm with you and I've overcome the world.

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And so as we consider the storms of our life, the difficulties that we face, we can rest and know that Jesus journeys with us. We can not be taken off guard or caught by surprise when the storms come. Instead, we can find comfort knowing that even in the midst of the storm, Jesus journeys with us. Well, it tells us there at the end of verse 22 that they launch out

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And so Jesus says, let's go. And so they obey him. They launch out. They begin to go across the Sea of Galilee. And I think it's really interesting and important for us to consider that as they obeyed Jesus, it brought them into the middle of this fierce storm. By doing what Jesus said to do, they will find themselves in the midst of a storm.

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This wasn't that they, you know, disobeyed Jesus. Jesus said, hey, don't go. And they said, hey, we're going to go anyways. What do you know? No, they obeyed Jesus. They did what he said. And it's going to put them right in the middle of a very dangerous situation. And so again, we're looking at this storm here that the disciples encounter with Jesus.

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And considering that for our own lives, and of course, you know, using this storm now as a metaphor, because you and I will encounter difficulty and troubling situations, tribulation, storms in our life. And you know what that's like, because we all go through them. And there's, you know, financial storms that we encounter. And much like this storm, it seems to just hit all at once, right? You don't just get one

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surprise bill but you get several surprise bills right it's like it all just adds up or you know your car doesn't just break down but your fridge and your dishwasher and your washing machine all break down at the same time it's like it just kind of hits you all at once there's this boom storm that erupts right in your life there's financial storms that we go through sometimes the storms are

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In our life, our actual storms. You might remember Chuck and Kay sent out a prayer request a couple weeks ago because they were right there in the middle where all those tornadoes were going around. And so they sent out prayer. We're in the midst of the storm. Sometimes our storms that we face are health-related.

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Kim and I had to experience that this week because Thursday she began to have a severe amount of pain. And we were here at church, so we went home and the pain was so intense that she began actually to vomit as a result. It was so intense. And so we thought immediately, hey, we got to take you to the emergency room. So we took her to the emergency room.

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You know, still, it was ongoing. The pain was inducing this vomiting. It was severe. I've never seen anybody in so much pain. It was incredible and difficult. And so we get to the emergency room. Of course, we go through the process. It takes forever. But the end result is she has three kidney stones, and that's what's causing the pain. So you can continue to pray for her as she continues to endure through that.

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But it was just, it was not expected. You know, we weren't planning on it. It wasn't, you know, on our scope at all. But then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, it's just boom. Here's this severe storm that is hit. There's storms that hit within our family, between relationships, between husband and wife, or siblings, or parents. There's these storms that we face, these tribulations, these difficulties. And it's important to know that as we face these,

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Jesus journeys with us. Some of the storms that we face are part of his plan. Just as he told his disciples, hey, go this way, and it put them right into the middle of a storm. Sometimes, well, it's part of his work in us that we go through these storms. Sometimes we go into storms because we're not listening to him and we're being disobedient. But listen, either way, whether it was at God's direction or whether it was out of disobedience or ignorance, sometimes

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Jesus journeys with us. Either way, Jesus is with you. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 28 verse 20, talking to his disciples, so we kind of go back to that again, are you his disciple? But in speaking to his disciples, he says, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Jesus gives this promise to his followers, I'm with you always.

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Until you enter into eternity, then you'll always be with the Lord. He'll be with you. Always. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5 says, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Here's the promise that we have as followers of Jesus. He journeys with us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He's with you. And for me, as I was driving Kim to the emergency room, this is what was going through my mind immediately.

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Jesus, you're here with us. I mean, it's hard, it's difficult, it's painful. We don't know what to expect, but there's comfort, there's peace in knowing that Jesus is with us. He's not far off at a distance watching us. He's with us. He's not abandoned us. He's not walked away. He's not, you know, preoccupied with Pastor George and more important people than you. He's with you. Jesus is with you.

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He journeys with us through this life. Well, as they launch out now, we see in verse 23 that now they enter into this storm. And that brings us to the second point, which is the storms come even with Jesus. Look at verse 23. It says, but as they sailed, he fell asleep and a windstorm came down on the lake and they were filling with water and were in jeopardy.

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So they launch out into the lake. They head out into the deeper waters to cross from one side to the other. And as this is going on, it says that Jesus falls asleep. We get a little glimpse of his humanity here. He's been ministering to the multitudes. He's been teaching. He's been working. And now he's exhausted. He's resting. He falls asleep. So much so that even as this storm comes upon them, he's sleeping through it. They have to wake him up out of his sleep.

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Before he can stand and work the miracle that he's about to do. He's tired. He's resting. Because he's exhausted from the ministry that has been going on. The humanity of Jesus. He became man. He really understands what it's like to be exhausted. To labor. And to rest. Well the windstorm now comes down upon the lake. I have here a map of the Sea of Galilee. To kind of help illustrate the...

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the things that are being talked about here as the windstorm comes down upon the lake. The Sea of Galilee is in the northern part of the nation of Israel. It's a freshwater lake that's fed by various springs, water that comes down from Mount Hermon, the snow that melts. And so this freshwater flows in and that's what the Sea of Galilee, you know, that's where it gets its water from.

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It's the lowest freshwater lake on earth. It's about 700 feet below sea level. So you have this lake that's set very low. Now from...

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southern part of the Sea of Galilee. The Jordan River flows out and then it pours into the Dead Sea, which is the lowest point on earth. So it goes, you know, from this low point to an even lower point at the Dead Sea. But this is a freshwater lake. It's the lowest freshwater lake at 700 feet below sea level.

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And it's not that big. In fact, seeing the lake in person, I remember looking at it and thinking, how could these massive storms that are described happen on this lake? Because it's not very big. It's 13 miles from top to bottom. So from north to south, it's 13 miles long. At the widest point, it's seven and a half miles wide from east to west.

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So we're not talking about an ocean. We're not talking about the Mediterranean Sea. We're talking about really a lake. It's

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The Sea of Galilee, it's a lake. It's about 32 miles. If you were to go around the shore all the way around, it's about 32 miles altogether. The deepest points of the Sea of Galilee are estimated to be between 140 and 200 feet deep. So there is some depth to it, but it's not very big altogether. Now, for those of you who visit some lakes nearby, you want maybe some comparisons. The

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it would be about twice the amount of water in the Sea of Galilee as is in the Lake Matthews over here in Riverside. So it's about twice the amount of water

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If you're looking at the actual size, you might consider Lake Paris. It's about three times the size of Lake Paris. You can go around Lake Paris. It's nine miles. And so it's about three times more as far as the size of Lake Paris. Or if you want kind of the closest match, you could look at Lake Mono, which is up to 395. It's a little bit wider, but the depths are about the same size.

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And it's just about the same amount of water that's in Lake Galilee. So it's probably the closest match that I could think of is Lake Mono. So just to give you an idea, for those of you who know those regions, know those places, we're not talking about, you know, a massive ocean. We're talking about a lake, right?

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So how could these windstorms that could be so life-threatening come? I mean, what was really going on here? Well, the windstorm that it says there, the word means a whirlwind, a tempestuous wind, or a violent attack of wind. And so here's what would happen. Because it's at such a low point, there's hills all around the region of the Sea of Galilee. And you see on the right-hand side up near the top, there's an area called Golan.

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The Golan Heights is also what they're referred to. And there's winds that come off the Golan Heights. Those are the worst winds that stir up the most severe storms. And so they come down the Golan Heights and they cross over the Sea of Galilee and then there's valleys on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. And so it kind of creates this wind tunnel effect where there's this wind, this very cold wind from the Golan Heights comes down, crosses the Sea of Galilee and then keeps rushing through those valleys and it just causes this

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this wind to come through very violently and affect the Sea of Galilee very quickly. And so the Sea of Galilee normally is, you know, very peaceful, but very quickly there can be these violent storms that erupt upon the Sea of Galilee because of this, these winds that are funneling through from the east to the west. When the wind comes from the Golan Heights and it becomes very fierce, it

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It can become very dangerous and deadly for those who are out in the waters because of the violent waves that are brought forth by the wind. It was about 20 years ago in March of 1992 that there was such a storm that

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The waves reached about 10 feet high at the shore. So at the shore of Tiberias at the northern part of the Sea of Galilee, waves 10 feet high crossed over the shore into the city and did a whole lot of damage to the city of Tiberias.

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as a result of this storm. So it kind of gives you a little bit of an idea, a little bit of a picture. You know, waves 10 feet high at the shoreline are very massive and would be very dangerous for people out in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. There was just great turbulent waters that would come as a result of these winds.

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And so the disciples are there in the midst of the sea and this windstorm comes and very quickly they are finding themselves in a deadly and dangerous situation. Now again, it's important to consider they got to this position by doing what Jesus said. I think that's important for us to just let it sink in. They did what Jesus said and they found themselves in this life of

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threatening storm. Notice what it says there at the end of verse 23. It says, and they were filling with water and were in jeopardy. They were in jeopardy. They were in danger. This was real. It was not imagined. They weren't just paranoid. They weren't just scared.

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You know, sometimes we do that, right? We're scared. We get scared. We overreact when it's not reasonable. You know, like when there's a little spider crawling on your foot and you jump around until you break your foot. It's unreasonable. It's not real. It's not justified. But this was not the case for the disciples. They were in jeopardy. Their lives were threatened. They were in danger. They're with Jesus. They did what he said and now they're in this deadly storm.

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Again, the destination is promised, but the journey is not guaranteed to be smooth. We need to adjust our thinking because we will go through storms as believers in Jesus. Even as we are obedient to the Lord and do what He calls us to do, we will go through storms. But you know, sometimes Christians get angry because of life's storms. And sometimes we get bitter because

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Because of the difficulties that we face. Jesus tells us to cross over. He promises to never leave us nor forsake us. But sometimes our eyes shift. And our focus is not where it should be. And so when the storms hit, we become angry. We become bitter. Because we're not expecting the storm. We expect that if we do what Jesus tells us to do...

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Everything should be fine. There should be smooth sailing. There should be not difficulty. I mean, okay, maybe a little bit of difficulty, but not life-threatening. We expect for things to go well. Sometimes we expect the American dream. Sometimes we expect for everything just to be smooth sailing the whole way. You might remember, I'm sure you remember, Whitney Houston recently passed away. And they did the service for her at her church.

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And there was lots of testimony of the Lord. It was great. But one of the guys who got up, he was speaking and there was great things that he was sharing. But he came to this point where he began talking about prosperity. And I was kind of like, oh man, because...

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I mean, the Lord was being preached. The gospel is being shared. It's televised. It's worldwide. I mean, everybody's listening to the gospel being presented. It's like amazing. Wow, what a great thing. But here this guy begins to talk about, you know, the prosperity gospel and how some people criticize him for sharing and presenting the prosperity gospel. And he says, I don't know what other kind of gospel there is. And if there was another gospel, he says, who would sign up for that? Who wants to be, you know, signing up for the poverty gospel?

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Kind of mocking, you know, those who would criticize this idea that Christians are supposed to be wealthy and have everything they need and always be blessed and not have any issues. And I was like, oh man, let down because all the gospel is being presented. But now there's this idea that, well, you're supposed to not have problems. You know, and if you really love God, then there won't be storms. That's the message that they preach.

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Your needs will always be provided for. You'll never lack. You'll be healthy, wealthy, and wise. But although that's taught, although it's popular, and although, you know, we would all sign up for that, right? That's not reality. And so sometimes we get angry and bitter because that's what we expect. Even though we maybe know better than to say it, that's what we expect. How could God let this happen? How could God do this? Things are supposed to be good for me. I walk with the Lord. I read the Bible. I go to church. I go to church.

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And very easily we become angry and bitter at God because, well, He hasn't met our expectations and made everything smooth in the way that we expected. Remember, the destination is guaranteed. It's promised. But the journey is not promised to be smooth sailing. In fact, we need to learn to expect the storms. Expect the storms.

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It's a promise. You might not find it in those, you know, books of promises to believe, but it's a promise. Jesus said, in the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. We don't need to be walking around like, you know, just in total fear of the storms that will come because we're with the Lord and he's with us and he's overcome the world and we're guaranteed the destination. But don't be shocked when the storms come.

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Because we are involved in a spiritual war. And Satan hates you. And with everything in his power, he wants to destroy your life. And he wants to destroy your family. He wants to destroy the people around you. He wants to pull them into the pits of hell. I mean, that's his objective. That's the entirety of his focus. It's a real spiritual battle that's going on.

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So expect the storms that go along with that. Expect the battles. Expect the difficulty. Not only that, but we live in a sinful world. And so there's disease, there's pain, there's injustice, there's crime. Because sin abounds. And our bodies are corrupted. And so we need to learn to expect the storms. And to understand that they will come. Now you may not like that, but listen. Whether you walk with the Lord or not, storms will come.

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Whether you're following him or not, you will experience these tribulations and difficulties of life. Now, here are the disciples in the boat, in the storm, with Jesus. They're fearing of their life. If you would have asked them or given them a choice, you know, would you rather have smooth sailing or the storm? Of course, they would have chose the smooth sailing. But what's the alternative? Here they are in the midst of the storm. What's their alternative? Jump out of the boat?

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Does that make any sense? You know, you're in the midst of a storm. Your life is threatened. Jumping out of the boat doesn't increase your chances of survival. In the boat with Jesus is the best place to be. And so stay in the boat. Sometimes Christians, they get mad. They walk away. They say, I can't follow a God who allows this. Because their minds are focused here. The heart is set on the things here and not the things of eternity. That's what's promised. Eternity.

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But the journey, it's going to have some rough points. There's going to be some storms. But it's much better to stay in the boat with Jesus in the midst of the storm than try to jump out and save yourself in the midst of the storm. It won't work on your own. Storms either way, but you can do it with or without Jesus. Storms come even with Jesus. Don't expect that it'll always be smooth sailing.

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Expect that there will be battles, there will be difficulties. But remember, take comfort. Jesus journeys with you in the midst of the storm. And so as we head now into verse 24, we come to the third point. The third point is very simply, go to Jesus. This is what we see the disciples doing here in verse 24. It says, And they came to him and awoke him, saying, Master, Master, we are perishing.

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Then he arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water, and they ceased, and there was a calm. Here the disciples are freaked out, but they do the right thing. They go to Jesus. It says that they came to him and awoke him. Now we can learn from this passage, the disciples, they had some growing to do in regards to their faith. They weren't, well, they didn't have the right perspective. They were kind of freaked out because they feared for their lives, but they

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Well, they didn't have the whole picture in view. And Jesus is going to correct them or encourage them in that. But in spite of that, they do the right thing in going to Jesus. They go to Jesus. They say, Master, Master, we're perishing. They're scared. They're freaked out. And rightly so because the storm is a real threat. But they've forgotten who's in the boat with them. So was it God's plan for the Messiah to drown in the Sea of Galilee? No, absolutely not.

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But they were thoroughly convinced they were going to drown. So they lost perspective a little bit. They lost sight of God's plan. But they do the right thing and they go to Jesus. So even if you have lost perspective a little bit, even if there is that anger or maybe that bitterness, because the storms of this life have, well, they've changed lives.

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and you're not living the life that you expected. Things haven't come together as you hoped that they would or expected that they would. The right thing to do is to go to Jesus. Jesus is not sleeping for us. For the disciples there in the boat, he was sleeping. He was in that physical body. He was experiencing humanity as you and I experiencing it. He was tired. He was sleeping. And so they had to wake him up. For you and I,

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Well, we're on this side of the cross, this side of the resurrection. Jesus is in his glorified body. He ever lives to make intercession. He doesn't need to sleep any longer. He's not sleeping. He's with you, but he's not sleeping. Sometimes it feels like he's sleeping though. And so we need to go to Jesus and in a sense, wake him up. Now that's almost blasphemous. He's not sleeping, but he is there waiting, waiting for us to call on him. He waits for us to invite him to work.

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He waits for us to bring Him into the situation. He gives us the opportunity to go to Him. As Peter said, cast your cares upon Him for He cares for you. He doesn't just come and take your cares. You have to cast them onto Jesus. He's not sleeping, but He's waiting. Go to Jesus. Take those cares. Take those anxieties. Take those stresses. Take that storm and give it to the Lord. And trust Him to work. Trust Him

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To be Lord in that situation. This is what happens here. They come to Jesus. They say, Master, Master, we're perishing. And it says that He arose and He rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. He says, Peace, be still. And then the waters are calm. It says there was a calm at the end of verse 24. He rebuked the wind and the waves and they ceased and there was a calm. Jesus is Lord. And with a word, peace.

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He can cause the storm to cease. With a word, he can bring a calm. When you and I are in the storm, we need to go to Jesus because he is Lord of all and he can calm the storm. He can calm the storm. For the disciples, this was instant. They went to Jesus. He spoke. Boom! The waters were clear. The wind was gone. It was instant for them. It won't always be instant for us, but it will come.

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I try to picture, you know, what the disciples were experiencing. Waves that are crashing over, that are filling the boat. I mean, it's just this intense storm. Jesus stands up and says, peace, be still. And then the wind's gone. The sky is clear. The sea is calm and still. The wording here indicates it's not like it kind of slowly, gradually, you know, just died down. He spoke, boom.

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It was gone. You know, one minute you're like, this wave's crashing down on me, and then it's like, peace, quiet, still, calm. Jesus can calm the storm. Sometimes he will do that in our lives. It won't always be instant, but sometimes it will be. So go to Jesus in the storm, because he's Lord of all. Sometimes he calms the outside, like the wind and the waves. Sometimes he calms the inside.

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And brings peace and stillness within, even in the midst of the storm. This is what Paul is describing in Philippians chapter 4. You're probably familiar with this portion. He says, be anxious for nothing. Now listen, when are you anxious? When you're in the storm. The storm hits, there's that stress, there's the anxiety of the situation we're in, the difficulties that we face. So Paul says, be anxious for nothing.

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Don't be anxious. He says, Instead, in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. That is, go to Jesus. Share with Him those anxieties, those cares. Let your requests be made known. And then it says in Philippians 4, 7, And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. So what will the result be? Peace within.

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Peace that passes understanding. That is, it doesn't make sense that you would have peace in the midst of this storm. But this peace from God will guard your hearts and your minds. Go to Jesus. Present your request to Him with thanksgiving. And He'll calm the storm. Inside or outside. It may not be instant, but it will come. So go to Jesus. You know, I want to encourage you on Sunday evenings.

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We have a time of worship together, but we also have a time of lifting up and sharing our prayer requests and our needs. And we spend some time praying for those. It's a great opportunity for us to do just this, to go to Jesus in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let our requests be made known. And there's amazing work that God does in bringing peace and working miracles outside and in.

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I want to encourage you to be part of it as the Lord allows. Especially as you're going through those storms. Let your requests be made known to the Lord. Let Him bring peace. Because He's Lord of all. And He can clear your whole situation with a word. Peace. Be still. Externally or internally. He can resolve it. He is Lord. So go to Him. And finally, verse 25 gives us the fourth point.

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which is you will marvel at Jesus. You will marvel at Jesus. That's a guarantee, that's a promise. You will marvel at Jesus. Verse 25 says, But he said to them, Where is your faith? And they were afraid and marveled, saying to one another, Who can this be? For he commands even the winds and water, and they obey him.

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Jesus stands up as they wake him up. He sees the storm. He says, peace, be still. And instantly there's calm. And he looks over at his disciples and he says, hey, you dummies, where's your faith? No, no, no. He doesn't say it like that. He's not upset with them. He asks them in love. Hey, guys, where's your faith? Where's your faith? You're panicked. You're freaked out. But where's your faith? What are you trusting in? Listen.

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The storms that you and I go through reveal what we're trusting in. The storms that we go through demonstrate where our faith is. Where's your faith? Is it in your health? You see, if your faith is in your health, then when there's the storm corresponding with that infirmity, that sickness, that disability, whatever the case may be, then you'll be all torn up.

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All freaked out because you were trusting in your health. That's where your faith was. Is your faith in the boat? Well, if your faith is in the boat, then when the waves come crashing down in on your boat, you're going to be freaked out like the disciples were because your faith was in the boat. And now there's waves tearing it apart, filling it up, going to put it at the bottom of the lake. What's your faith in? Is it in your safety? Is it in prosperity? Is it in your family?

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Again, we get shaken up. We get freaked out by storms. And sometimes it causes us to be angry and bitter with God because, well, because our faith is misplaced. And then we say, well, I can't serve a God who would allow this to take place or this to happen because we're trusting in the wrong things. The destination is what is promised. That's guaranteed. But the journey might be rough. The journey might be difficult.

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In fact, it will be difficult. You will have tribulation, Jesus said. And so the disciples are amazed. It says that they marvel. And they're looking at one another and they're saying, who can this be? Who can this be? He spoke. I mean, here we are in this storm and the waves are crashing. And he said, peace, be still. And the wind and the waves obeyed. Who can this be? Now they know Jesus. They've been with Jesus. They've heard him teach.

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but they're seeing him at work here and they're blown away. Who can this be? They marvel at Jesus. Listen, when you go to Jesus in the midst of the storm, you will marvel as well. We marvel every time Jesus works these kinds of miracles.

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Every time it happens, it's hard to believe. Every time it happens, we're blown away. It's not so much that we're blown away because we didn't think that God could, but when He works within our lives, well, we marvel, not that He can, but that He does. When He works in our lives, we marvel. Not only does He do miracles, but He did a miracle for us. This...

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This is something you can count on. You can rest assured in. I can guarantee you. When you go to Jesus, you will marvel at what He does. You will marvel at His work. It's a guarantee. It's a promise. How can I say that? How can I say that this is guaranteed? Well, you probably already know the verse I'm going to share. Romans 8.28 Paul says, And we know...

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Not we're guessing, not we're thinking, not, you know, kind of we're hoping it might happen. We know. It's guaranteed. We know all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. So again, going back to that original question, are you his disciple? Those who love God, those who are the called according to his purpose, Paul says, here's what we know. Here's the guarantee. All things work together for good for his disciples.

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It's a promise. It's a guarantee. You are going to marvel at what God does. You're going to marvel at how He works that storm for good. And how He will bring forth good from it. You are going to marvel. Now, you might not see it until eternity, but you will marvel. There's nothing in your life, and I mean this clearly,

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Literally, nothing, not one thing. For you as a believer in Jesus Christ, there's not one thing in your life when you enter into eternity where you'll look back and you'll tell God, God, I don't agree with what you did in my life right there. Not one thing. Because in eternity, you'll see. God gives us glimpses here and now too. We get to see some of the things that he's doing. But the full picture in eternity, we'll see. We'll be amazed. We'll marvel.

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And how he worked all things together for good. And how through the midst of the storm, he brought forth good. There's not one thing that we'll be able to say to God, you shouldn't have done that, Lord. You shouldn't have let that happen in my life. It's astounding to consider. But it's why it's so important to understand the destination is what is promised. The journey is going to be rough and God's going to work all things together for good. But we may not see it. We may not understand it.

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Until we enter into eternity. And so as we're in the storm with Jesus, remember that Jesus journeys with you. George, can you peek your head outside and grab Ronnie? I want to close in a song. Remember Jesus journeys with you. He's with you. I don't know about you, but as I was driving too fast down the freeway to get to the emergency room, this is what I was reflecting on and finding comfort in.

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Jesus journeys with us. He's here with us. He hasn't left us. He hasn't forsaken us. He's with us. There's going to be storms, even with Jesus. But the destination is guaranteed. It's promised. So go to Jesus. Take Him your request. Take Him your needs. Cast your cares upon Him. And you will marvel at the work that He does. The worship team is going to come up and close us in the song, Give Me Faith.

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And I want to encourage you as we sing this song. It's about asking God to give us faith, to trust Him, to trust His promises even when we're in the midst of the storm. And I want to encourage you during this song, during this time, cast your cares on Him. Whatever storm has hit, whatever difficulties you're going through, go to Jesus. Present your request to Him. And if you are here and you find yourself that

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Well, yeah, you are in that place where you're angry. You're upset with God because He's allowed these things in your life. Go to Jesus. Turn that over to Him. Ask Him for the faith to believe that He works all things together for good. Afterwards, there'll be some of us up here. We'd love to pray with you. If you're in the midst of the storm, come up. We'd love to pray and take those things to the Lord with you. But let's take this time and just worship Him together, casting our cares upon Jesus.

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We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.