The Rest Of The Story Series

The ‘Rest’ of the Story

Series: Markers Along the Narrow Path

December 9, 2012

One of the most famous miracles of the bible is the story of how Jesus calmed the raging storm. In fact, this miracle had such an impact on the disciples that they wrote about it 3 different times in 3 different books of the bible. (Matthew, Mark, Luke). Since we’re studying the book of Mark, we’re going to look at how Mark tells the story this morning. So turn with me in your bibles to Mark 4:35-41. (READ)

Now 1st of all, you need to know that Jesus never wasted a miracle, or used them as a way to “show-off” His power. But that every miracle He performed was done for a specific purpose…to teach a spiritual reality, or illus. a point. In this miracle, Jesus has just finished teaching the crowds of people who were coming to hear him. Since he was already in a boat, He turns to His disciples and says, “Let’s go on a ride to the other side of the lake.” The ‘lake’ He was talking about is better known as the “Sea of Galilee”, but the Jews referred to it as Lake Kinneret, or Lake Tiberias.

Unfortunately, their leisurely “boat ride” turns into a disaster! They get caught in a storm so bad that the waves are coming up over the sides of the boat threatening to sink them. Now remember many of the disciples are lifelong fishermen. So I’m sure they’ve seen their share of bad storms…but even THEY are freaking out at this one! In fact, the word “furious” in vs.37 in the grk. is ‘seismos’. It’s where we get our English word for ‘seismology’: the study of earthquakes!

Meanwhile, (you’re probably wondering) “Where’s Jesus during this crises?” Oh…he’s up in the front of the boat…SLEEPING!!! He’s probably exhausted from his preaching schedule, so He’s taking this opportunity to slip in a little catnap. (I can understand that…It’s more tiring than you think it is to preach! I’m worn out after every Sunday and take a nap!) If you’re surprised that Jesus can sleep through a major storm like this…you’re not the only one! The disciples are outright horrified that He’s sleeping…while they’re drowning!

Have you ever been in a storm like this? Maybe you haven’t necessarily been out on a boat when it happened, but we’ve ALL been in one kind of storm or another… We’ve all been in what I’d call, Situational Storms of life, where just like this one…we’re sailing along just fine when all the sudden our whole world gets turned upside down!

• We or somebody we know gets into a serious car accident. (been there, done that!)

• The doctors report comes back positive (JO?)

• We lose our job.

• Our mate files for a divorce (ever been there?)

And just like the storm that Mark describes here… … situational storms are so violent that they threaten to swamp our lives! Prov.1:27 describes them well…READ

Now…there are also what I call, RELATIONAL STORMS. That’s when your marriage blows up in an argument, or a relative or a friend calls you up and regurgitates all over you. Maybe you find out that someone you trusted betrayed your confidence. Relational storms can sink your boat quicker than anything I know.

And then there are the EMOTIONAL STORMS of life. These kinds of storms can fool you, because on the outside you may look peaceful, but underneath, below the surface…a storm is brewing! You may be dealing with fear or overwhelmed with guilt, consumed with worry or grief, or jealousy…anger…and all it takes is a little bump to set us off and we’re in a full scale emotional melt down! If you’ve ever suffered through an emotional storm…it feels like you’ve been plowed over by a 20ft. wave!

How many of you have experienced one of those kinds of storms recently? (Wow! We need to pray for each other!) If you haven’t…don’t worry…YOU WILL!

See that’s the strange thing about life’s storms…they’re INEVITABLE! Which is the 1st of 3 facts about lifes storms I want to share with you this morning. In otherwords, they’re gonna happen and there’s nothing you can do to stop them! Try as you may…you can’t avoid them! James 1:2 says…”WHEN you face trials of many kinds”… It’s not IF…it’s when!

Which leads to the 2nd fact you need to know about life’s storms…they’re UNPREDICTABLE! vs. 37 tells us that “a furious squall came up”. In Matthews version he says, “Without warning, a furious storm camp up” –(Mt.8:22). You say, “Well, how can a big storm like this just sneak up on them without warning? Surely, they could have seen it coming for hours and avoided it, right?” WRONG!!! What you may not know is that