The Purpose of Storms
How many of you have been on your way to a meeting or to visit relatives in another city or state and it began to rain? At first the rain comes down in a steady flow and you turn your windshield wipers on to one of the lower speed settings. The windshield wipers are able to remove the rain drops so that your vision is not impaired and you can see the road immediately ahead of you and in the distance clearly. You barely notice the sound of the rain drops hitting your car. You reduce your traveling speed but not by too much.
Then the rain begins to come down a little faster, a little harder and with a little more intensity. You increase the speed setting on your windshield wipers and they are still able to remove the rain drops but not as quickly and your vision, while not impaired, is beginning to lessen. The sky has gotten much darker. You can’t see the road as clearly as you could before and you can see much less of the road in the distance. Now you begin to notice the sound of the rain as it is hitting your car and, as if in slow motion, you can see the rain drops hit your car and disperse. You reduce your traveling speed again; this time a lot.
All of a sudden, out of nowhere, it seems like the skies open up and the rain begins to pour. The rain fall is now a full-fledged storm. The sky is nearly black. The rain drops are pounding your car. You increase the speed setting on your windshield wipers. They’re now on the maximum setting but you can barely see the road in front of you, never mind seeing in the distance. The sound of the rain hitting your car now sounds like a jack-hammer on pavement. Now, you don’t just reduce your traveling speed but you pull over to the side of the road. You stop. Your plan: to sit on the side of the road until the storm passes.
Does this sound familiar? You’re on your way out of town and you run into what you think is going to be just a steady rainfall and then it turns into a car-stopping storm. What has just happened? The storm stopped you, at least temporarily, from reaching your destination. The storm caused you to make a decision to pull off of the road you were on.
The storms of life
This morning, we’re going to look at the purpose of storms in our lives. A storm can be an unexpected financial crisis. A storm can be an illness that happens all of a sudden. A storm can be the sudden loss of a job. A storm can be a marriage relationship that’s on the rocks. Whatever it is, a storm is a situation that you find yourself in that makes you feel helpless. You feel that if someone doesn’t do something, you may not make it. We may not make it.
Let’s look at a storm in the life of Jesus and the disciples. Pay close attention to how the disciples respond to the storm and how Jesus responds the storm. Turn to Luke 8:22-25.
Before reading these verses let’s look at what has happened in this chapter. Chapter 8 begins with the word “And”. If you want to get the full impact of what’s going on in Chapter 8, go back to Chapter 7. The chapter includes several issues including the Pharisee inviting Jesus to supper and the lady, who is a sinner, who comes in a washes Jesus’ feet and dries them with her hair. At the end of the chapter, Jesus says to the woman, your faith has made you whole. Then we get to Chapter 8, verse 1. Let’s read verses one through the first part of verse five.
And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance. And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: A sower went out to sow his seed:
Jesus has been preaching and teaching the good news of the kingdom of God in the surrounding cities and villages. In verse 5 he shares the parable of the sower. He gives the parable in verses 5, 6, 7 and 8. In verse 9 the disciples ask him to explain it and Jesus does so in verses 10-15.
Let’s look at verse 15: But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
The word “keep” gives the image of grabbing the word with your hand and you closing your hand so it cannot get away. Not only did the person on good ground hear the word, he held on to it – he didn’t let it go. I can teach you the word but unless you hold on to it and make it your word, you’re not going to bring forth fruit.
We know that the seed that is sown is the word of God. How is the word of God sown into our lives? We have to read it and we have to speak it. The more we read the word of God and the more we speak the word of God into our lives the more it will take root in our lives and produce what God has designed it to produce. The word will produce what God has designed for it to produce not what you want it to produce. There is a difference. The word will follow God’s design.
The Bible says in Romans 10:17 that faith comes by hearing and understanding the word of God. Implied in the word “hearing” is “hearing and obeying.” Remember James talks about not being a hearer only? If you are a hearer only, you are not grabbing the word, you are not holding on to it. You are not making the word a part of you. And if you don’t make the word a part of you John 14:12 (“the works that I do shall ye do also”) is a dream with a capital “D”.
Faith comes no other way. You hear the word of God then you do what you’ve heard.
Now let’s look at verses 22-25. But before reading verse 22, let’s read verses 19 through 21. "Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press. And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee. And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it." The folks Jesus is talking about are the ones who do verse 15. Do you see that? Now going into verse 22.
(22) Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he [Jesus] went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.
Jesus tells the disciples to get into the ship so that they can go to the other side. What is Jesus’s intent? What did he want to do? He wanted to get to the other side. Do you think the enemy of the soul wants Jesus to get to the other side? Do you think he may try to find a way to stop him? When it comes to God’s plan for your life, do you think the enemy is going to try to keep you from fulfilling it? Do you think he’s going to try to find ways to get you off the path that God has for you – to get you to pull over to “the side of the road”?
(23) But as they sailed he [Jesus] fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy.
I want you to notice something. The verse says “they were filled with water.” The storm was so great that not only was the ship being filled with water, the disciples were too! The circumstance – the storm – was not only “drowning the ship” but it was drowning the disciples too. They were on the verge of “being in over their heads.” There was a time in our lives that it seemed like Doris and I never had enough money. I mean we could pay the mortgage, buy food and buy gas for the car. But we had debt, so much so that I had to get a second job delivering newspapers early in the morning before going to my regular job just so we could have money to pay the debt. This was a storm in our lives that brought with it stress and anxiety. We were on the verge of “being in over our heads” with the debt. When this happens you feel like you’re suffocating. You can’t breathe. You’re in a closed room and someone has removed the door knob. The debt feels like a heavy boulder laying on your chest. We were able to get away from under the debt but we paid a price. It affected our health. It affected our marriage. Always remember, every storm has its price. And every storm has a lesson. The storm my change but the lesson doesn’t changer and we’re going to see this in a moment.
(24) And they [the disciples] came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm.
I want you to see this picture and I want you to pay attention to how the disciples responded and how Jesus responded. These men are seasoned fishermen. There are very few things, if any, that they have not experienced at sea. They’ve gone through storms before but this one, well, it was such a storm that it frightened them. It caused them to act like newbies. Fear gripped them and all of their knowledge, all of their training, all of their experience – it meant nothing. The storm overwhelmed them. Fear had clouded their minds. They became irrational. They couldn’t think clearly. See how the disciples responded? The enemy of the soul had taken the word out of their hearts. Remember verses 11 through 13? “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.”
Ladies and gentlemen, when you face a storm with fear in your hearts, you are at the mercy of the storm. And, you have given the enemy of the soul a glimpse into your life that he will use against you over and over again. Fear, ladies and gentlemen, will defeat you. Fear will neutralize you. Fear will kill your faith. Say it with me: “Fear will kill my faith.”
Now look at how Jesus responds. The verse says Jesus arose and rebuked the wind and the water and they ceased. I like how the Contemporary English Version renders this: “Jesus got up and ordered the wind and the waves to stop. They obeyed, and everything was calm.” What did Jesus do? He used his authority as the son of God and spoke to the storm. Do you see this? Jesus spoke to the storm. Say it with me: “I am a son and daughter of God and I speak to storms and they obey.”
We are sons and daughters of God, are we not? And Jesus is our example, our role model, for how we are to live as God’s sons and daughters, is he not? Jesus tells us in John 14:12 that if we believe on Him – if we believe and do what He says – then we will do the works that He did. When storms enter into your life, what should be your first and only response sons and daughters of God?
Now I’m going to say something a lot of people will call blasphemy but it’s true. Praying to God: I’m going to put it in terms that will help you understand this: it’s wasted breath. Remember when Paul was struggling with the thorn in the flesh? God said “Don’t worry about it. I got it covered. I’ll take care of it.” God didn’t say that. Do you know what God essentially told Paul? “Why are you crying to me? I’ve already given you everything you need to deal with this thorn – this storm – in your life. Are you going to use what I’ve already given you to use?”
You speak to it. You order it to stop. You order it to leave. You order it to vacate the premises. And when you do, the calm will return. The peace will return. How many of you could use a little more peace in your lives? Then act like who you are, not who you were.
(25) And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.
Do you know what manner of man Jesus was? He was a man that had the character and nature of God on the inside. When we get born again, we are men and women who have the character and nature of God on the inside. So the manner of man that they asked about is the same “manner of man” that you are today.
Notice the first question Jesus asked the disciples. He didn’t ask them why they were afraid. He didn’t ask them if they were okay. He didn’t ask them if there was damage to boat. He asked them the only question that mattered: “Why didn’t you have faith?” Ladies and gentlemen, that is really the only question that should matter to us. The storm doesn’t matter. What matters is are you living by faith? Jesus put it this way in Matt. 4:4 – my paraphrase: “God wants us to live by what he says not by what we see. He wants us to trust him with every part of our lives even when it seems like the storm is about to overtake us. If you can do that then everything God says will be bread for you. It will be life for you.”
Why would Jesus ask the disciples that particular question? Why would He ask them “Why didn’t you have faith?” Remember the parable of the sower in verses 4-15? Remember how the devil came after the seed – the word – was sown to steal it out of their hearts? One of the ways he steals the word is by “choking” it out of us (verse 14). The word “choked” means “to strangle completely, drown or to crowd out”. The image it produces is the devil throwing so much at you that your mind begins to overwhelm you with fear and anxiety. Your emotions are bouncing all over the place. You have no peace. The enemy of the soul has caused you to focus on the storm –the cares of this life -- and not on the word of God.
This sly dog has not changed what he does. He did the same thing to Eve in the Garden. When the Lord confronted Eve about what she had done, she said that the serpent “beguiled me, and I did eat.” I like the way Young’s Literal Translation says this: And Jehovah God saith to the woman, `What is this thou hast done?' and the woman saith, `The serpent hath caused me to forget--and I do eat.'
The storm that the disciples faced “talked them out of” the word that they had received. Your storms will talk you out of God’s word. So you have a decision to make: whose report are you going to believe? Are you going to believe the report that’s staring you in the face? Or are you going to believe the report of the truth of God’s word? I’m going to be very graphic. If you believe what you see, you will dies. If you believe the truth of God’s word, you will live. It’s just that simple.
The fear. The anxiety. The out of control emotions. We’ve all been there. We’re suddenly thrust into a situation we didn’t expect. And do you know when many of these unexpected and surprising situations occur? They occur most often after we have had an encounter with God and His word. Think about it. The storms come to distract you from the word. They come to cause you to forget the word of God. That’s what the devil does. He does not want the word of God taking root in your life because if it does the storms he brings will not mean what they used to mean. They will not have the impact they use to have. They will not fill you with fear and uncertainty – like they used to do. Instead you will respond to the storms as the son and daughter of God that you are: with authority!
So what is the lesson that every storm that comes into our lives teach us? It teaches us that if we are not living by every word of God then the storm is going to cause you problems. What was the subject of the chapter? The sower sows the seed (word).
Second Timothy 1:7 says “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.”
The word “power” in this verse is the Greek word “dunamis”. It means you have the power to decide what stays in your life and you have the power to decide what doesn’t stay in your life. If there is something in your life that is ungodly – sickness for example – and it’s lingering, you have allowed it to happen. You can pray to God all you want it’s still going to stay because you allowed it to stay. God can’t take away something that you want to hold on to.
You determine whether or not you are going to respond to the storm out of who you used to be or out of who you have become. The words “sound mind” means discipline or self-control. When you face storms you have the “power” to face them with a mind that has been disciplined by the word of God. But if you are not putting on the word of God, when the storms arrive you will not have the word of God in your reservoir to draw from. An empty reservoir means that your life is open and available to the roaring lion who is seeking prey to devour (paint the image).
When the storms enter your life, and they will, remember that you have nothing to fear because your Heavenly Father has given you power (the ability to handle, endure and overcome the storm). He has given you love (which is needed to produce the faith you’ll need to handle, endure and overcome the storm) and the ability to discipline your mind (a mind that is peaceful and can hear the Lord’s instructions for handling, enduring and overcoming the storm).
In this record we see that Jesus knew that the Father wanted him to get to the other side. Jesus was on assignment. He knew the “other side” was his destination. The devil didn’t want Jesus to reach the other side because if he did he knew Jesus would destroy a work he had in place. Beginning in verse 26 we read that the “other side” was the country of the Gadarenes, the home of the man who was possessed by Legion (6,000 devils) and lived in the cemetery. The devils were cast out. The man was delivered. He then went home and spread the news about his deliverance and it opened the door for Jesus to fulfill his assignment -- the works his Father had sent him to do. You can read about it in verses 26-40.
In closing, remember how I talked about how the storm was so horrific that it can cause you to make a decision to get off the road, off the path God has for you, and pull off to the side and wait for the storm to pass? Let me share with you the rest of the story. I was in such a storm. I could barely see the road but I continued to creep along because I wanted to reach my destination. I saw other travelers who had pulled off the road to wait for the storm to pass. Wherever they were going it was not as important as waiting for the storm to pass. The fear of driving in the storm was too much for them.
I continued to creep through the storm. Getting to my destination was important to me. About two miles up the road I drove out of the storm into an almost eye-blinding sunlight. The sun was so bright it almost blinded me. If I hadn’t continued to drive through the storm, if I hadn’t decided to stay on the road, I never would have experienced driving into the sunlight. I didn’t stop. I had a destination to reach. The storm had slowed me down but it didn’t stop me. Storms may slow you down but they don’t have to stop you.
God has a destination for us to reach. He placed it in our hearts before the foundation of the world. And the enemy of the soul, the devil, has brought, and will continue to bring, storms into our lives to get our focus off of God’s plan. I encourage you this morning not to let him do it. Sow the word of God deep into your lives. Read it. Meditate on it. Be like Jeremiah who said “Thy word was found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name O LORD God of hosts.” (16:15)
When storms arrive in your life the enemy of the soul wants to see how you’re going to respond. Are you going to respond the way the disciples did or the way Jesus did? He wants to see if you really know who you are. He wants to know if you really believe that you are a son or a daughter of God in here or if you are a son or daughter of God up here. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for us to know who we are and to start acting like it.
So what is your storm? Sickness? Unemployment? Troubled marriage? Rebellious children? Debt? What is the storm you’re facing this morning? I want you to know that whatever your storm God has the answer and His answer does not include fear. It includes faith. Take God at His word and speak to your storm in faith. “Peace. Be still.” Amen!
