SURVIVING THE STORM
Mark 6:45-53
Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
46 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
47 When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land.
48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them,
49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out,
50 because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, \”Take courage! It is I. Don\’t be afraid.\”
51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed,
52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
In This Life, we are going to face trials and tribulations. Because we are Children of
God , we are Satan\’s target. He came to steal, kill and to destroy. Jesus said
Matthew 10:22
All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
You can expect that storms will come your way from time to time
In This text, Jesus gives us some pointers of How To Survive A Storm.
Not all storms are caused by the devil. God creates storms for your
life to teach you His Word.
Let me set the stage for this text. Jesus had just fed five thousand men not
including women and children with five biscuits and two small fish. A boy had
brought this for his lunch.
The disciples missed the message. Jesus can take what you have and make it all you need.
He fed the crowd spiritual food, followed by physical food. The disciples missed the
message. Jesus is not only concerned about you soul but also you physical body.
Jesus could have easily followed Satan suggestion and made bread out of stone or
caused manner to fall from heaven.
Jesus could have easily cast a net on the side one of the boat, and pull up enough fish
to feed all the people. The disciples missed the message. If Jesus made
everything out of nothing. He could surly make more fish and bread out of
fish and bread.
The disciples missed the message, Jesus is the bread of life.
That is the trouble with the Church. God\’s miracles are in front of us, but we are
still troubled. We got the Word in print and still miss the message of hope.
peace and joy.
Let me suggest, that there was something going on with the disciples , before they
got in the boat.
They have forgot to buy bread for the evening meal. Jesus exposed their error
when He decided to feed the crowd. The only thing to eat in the camp was the
lunch of a little boy.
The disciples wanted to send the crowd away. But Jesus fed the crowd.
Not only did the disciples have to serve the five thousand, but they had to clean
up after the crowd. They picked up 12 baskets of scrapes.
The text say, verse 52
\”for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened\”
The disciples missed the message. They were physically tired.
You can\’t serve God with you own strength, but with God\’s
You cannot think on your own serving God.
This story is given in three of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark and John
We gain insight into this story from each
Mark 6:45-46
Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
We learn from the Gospel of John that the reason Jesus made the disciple get in the
boat was to keep them from being involved in the crowd mess. They want to force
Jesus to be King. Can you imaging 5000 men rushing Jesus to make Him king.
Jesus may have performed a miracle to quite down the crowd.
There are some thing God don\’t want you involved. The disciples had already missed
the message of the 5 loaves. This would have only pump them up. One would want to
be seated on the right and another on the left side of Jesus. And other would want to
know who was the best preacher.
The feeding of the five thousand was the message. The storm that Jesus
put them through was the lesson.
This is a special message for the Church. Jesus dismissed the crowd.
This is a message for believers in Jesus Christ.
Point 1. To survive the storm we must keep in mind:
a. The steps of a good man/woman are ordered by the Lord
b. God is in control of your life
c. He closes some doors and He opens others
d. Jesus may send you into the storm to teach you a lesson
Lets follow the text because it give us what need to know about Surviving A Storm
Point 2. Before you start each day spend some time in prayer.
You got an intercessor looking after you.
Jesus went up to the mountain to pray.
He sits high and He looks low.
The text tells us that prayed form sun down to 3Am in the morning
He know what\’s going to happen in your life before it happens
Point 3. To survive the storm you need a relationship with Jesus.
Jesus commanded the disciples to get into a boat and go to the
other side of the lake while He dismissed the crowd.
While the disciples were traveling in the lake. Jesus was on the mountain
praying. The Lord does not pray for the world.
The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. We don\’t know what we
are going to run into doing the day.
The disciples left in calm water, but soon found themselves in troubled waters.
They were doing what Jesus told them to do , they were where they supposed to
be, but was in the middle of a storm. They were rowing, toiling to keep the
boat on course.
Point 3. To survive the storm, you need to fellowship with Jesus.
There is a difference between relationship and fellowship
Relationship is establish when you accept Christ as your personal Savior.
Fellowship is following God\’s commands
Confessing your sins. and repentance.
They had a relationship with Lord, They had fellowship with Lord.
but they were still in a storm.
Just because you are doing everything God has call you to do don\’t
eliminate the storms from your life.
It was Jesus who sent them into the Storm.
In a storm you have to remember that you belong to Jesus.
He allowed you to be in the storm and He will carry you through the storm
Point 4. To survive the storm you need be the church in the storm.
Here is what I notice about the disciples in the boat.
It was filled with church folk, the 12 disciples, with no power.
The 12 disciples were experts of handling a boat. They
were fisherman. But they were no match for the
storm they were in.
I can identify with the disciples in that boat.
I started my Engineering career in the Gulf of Mexico on offshore platforms
Some time I had to travel by boat 70 miles to the platforms.
At the boat docks the waters were calm.
But out in the Gulf, it didn\’t take much wind to stir up the water.
I remember waves 10 to 15 feet that toast the our 100 foot boat up
up and down . Nothing but water all around you. I didn\’t know
where we were and couldn\’t see where we were going.
I had to rely on the caption of the crew boat.
In the storms of life there are some ups and some downs.
The storms can push you form side to side
Point 5. Jesus knows your struggles
You are never in a situation where Jesus does not have His eyes on you.
Look at verse 47, Jesus from the mountain, saw the disciples fighting the
waves in the boat.
They had been rowing 8 to 9 hours and were only
three to four miles out into the sea. And it was dark. From
sun down to 3 Am in the morning they only half way to the other side.
The lessons of the Bible are learn doing the trials of life
The Church was in the boat but there was no power in the Church.
Here why.
There was no praying going on in the boat
There was no praise going on in the boat
There was no meditation on the Word going on in the boat.
There was no Church going on in the boat.
They had just left Church where there was teaching, there
was miracles, there healing and rejoicing.
The disciples didn\’t get the message . They didn\’t take the
Church into the storm.
Ministry in your life don\’t begin in these four walls. It begins in the world
where the storms of life rage.
No matter where you are, you are still the Church.
At work, you the church
At the grocery store, you the church
On the highway, you still the Church.
When trouble come your way, You are still the church
Storms in your life begin at unexpected times.
To survive the storm, you must remember that you are the church.
We are partners with Jesus, and there is power over storms in the
Church.
Point 6. To survive the storm, you need to recognize that Jesus is the author of your storm
He will send you into the storm designed to just for you.
He will protect you in the Storm
Storm don\’t cloud the Lord\’s vision of you
Jesus know where you are in the storm
It was in the early morning hours when Jesus came walking on
Water
The text says it is the fourth watch. from 3 Am to 6 AM
Jesus had been praying all night for His Church
In the middle of your storm, Jesus is interceding for you.
Point 7. To survive the storm you need to see the storm as God\’s way
of teaching you a lesson.
When you are in a storm, you need to ask God what is He trying
to teach you.?
What weakness is He trying to strengthen?
Notice the attitude of the disciples in the storm, verse 50
50 because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, \”Take courage! It is I. Don\’t be afraid.\”
a. They were afraid, that not the church
b. They were superstitious , they first identified Jesus as a ghost, that\’s not the church
c. They were focused on the storm rather than the author of the
storm.. That\’s not the attitude of the Church
They had Jesus in front of them, but they saw a ghost.
Satan works on your fears, but the Lord puts your fears to rest
The Lord Jesus encourages us doing times of trouble
He comes along side of us, wraps His arms around us
a. Take courage
b. It is I
c. Don\’t be afraid
Jesus intends for you to be calm doing the storm
The storm was set before them so that they could learn to look above their
circumstance and trust the Lord.
Point 8. To survive the storm need to keep in mind focused on Jesus
He will never leave you or forsake you
Jesus delayed coming until the forth watch. 3 to 6 Am
God gives us time to struggle on our own.
Jesus allows His disciple to come to end of their strength.
He gave them time to come to their need for Jesus
Jesus came walking on top of the waves early in the morning before daylight
The disciples had Jesus in front of them, but thought the saw a Ghost.
Satan Get involve in your struggles when you are about have a breakthrough
They had been fighting the waves all night long.
They were physically and mentally worn out
A powerless church can\’t recognize the Work of Jesus
In John chapter 6 say when Jesus steps into the boat they were
immediately on the other side.
When we trust Jesus, all our troubles are laid aside.
When you going through the storm, you ought to praise God.
You don\’t have to ride out the storm by your self.
When you are in the middle of the Storm, praise Jesus.
Psalms 22:3
\”But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
If you want to feel the presence of the Lord, just start praising
Him.
Point 10. Never cease to be amazed with what God does for you
Mark 6:51
Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were
completely amazed.
The disciple had been with Jesus for three years. They had witnessed all kinds
of miracles. But they were amazed.
They had never seen Jesus walk on water before. They had never seen anyone
walk on water at the command of Jesus.
Isaiah 64:4
\”For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear,
neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him
that waiteth for him.\”
Storms are designed to teach us to wait on the Lord
Storm are designed to teach you to see God in all His Glory in
every day living.
The end of your storm is around the corner. Just wait patiently on Him.
Always expect God to do exceedingly abundantly more than you can ask or
concieve
Mark 6:52
for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.
The word harden is the Greek word \”pooroo\” which mean s their minds
were dull, they were unable to perceive.
The message of the loaves, the truth that 5000 was feed with five biscuits and two
small fish was to prove Jesus Deity, to prove That Jesus is the Supreme God.
The disciples didn\’t learn the first lesson so Jesus designed a storm to
prove His deity.
He walked on water to prove He was the Lord over gravity
He stepped in the boat and the storm ceased to proved that He has authority
over His creation.
The disciples didn\’t get the lesson about feeding of 5000 so Jesus
designed a storm to teach them the same lesson.
To survive the storms of life you must believe that Jesus you serve is the Supreme God.
He is a provider
He can take what little you have and make it all you need
He is a protector
He is a comforter
He is a doctor
He has complete control of your life
He loves you enough to continue to teach you that He is the Supreme God.
Is there anyone here that don\’t know Jesus as the Supreme God.
The doors of the Church are open to You.
He died on the cross one Friday afternoon and Rose Sunday Morning
to prove that He is the Supreme God.
..He is seated at the right hand of the Father to prove that He is the Supreme God.
..He is making intercessions for you right now to prove that He is the Supreme God.
..He is standing at the gates of heaven waiting on you to accept His
right hand of fellowship to prove that He is the Supreme God.
How many storms does Jesus has to send you through to prove that
He is the Supreme God?
Amen.
