Study inMark’s Gospel

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The Lord Of The Storm

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IntroductionOne of the questions that people constantly ask is this, ‘If God is all powerful, all loving and all caring, why then does he allow trouble and tragedy to come crashing in around his people's heads?’

Believers wonder why God doesn't ensure that their journey through life is one of plain sailing! Did Jesus’ disciples think that following him would mean a smooth ride, a trouble free life? If so, then they did not reckon on the lesson of the storm.

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A Picture Of Self ConfidenceAfter a full days ministry Jesus was drained. Mentally and physically exhausted he was in need of rest v 36. The disciples decided to take the matter in hand. I can imagine Peter saying, “Don't worry Jesus, you lie down in the boat while we sail across the Sea of Galilee. We have got everything under control. Your in the hands of experts now.” We might think that these seasoned fishermen had every reason to feel confident!

However, self-confidence is one of the greatest hindrances to spiritual development. Not only does it conspire to keep men out of the God's kingdom it also aims to slow down their advance once they are in it.

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A Picture Of Self ConfidenceMan's confidence in his ability has not diminished with the passing of time. Listen to one writer who thinks men are the masters of their own destinies:

“The astonishing advances in technology, the breakthrough into the atomic era, the prospect of inter-planetary travel, have opened up unimagined vistas to the human spirit and have induced such a feeling of self-confidence in the boundless abilities of man that the god hypothesis seems strangely dated and unreal”.

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A Picture Of Self ConfidenceTime and again this kind of self-confidence proves to be an idle boast as unforeseen circumstances begin to wreck havoc. The captain of the Titanic ,prior to its maiden voyage said, “We do not need to pray to God for safety, this ship is unsinkable.” Now it is this misplaced confidence in ourselves, our abilities and technology that tends to displace God from our thinking. If we sail through life with a heart-attitude that says, ‘I can manage’, we are unlikely to live dependently upon God's grace. God's response to the ‘I can manage’ mind-set is inevitably one of storm. As the disciples would learn, nothing saps our self-confidence quite like a storm.

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Jesus Leads Us Into StormsThe disciples were hardly underway when the storm struck. The geographical features of Galilee encourage violent storms. Cold air rushes down the hillsides, presses through narrow passes and whips up raging squalls. They were familiar with this. But this storm, was a storm with a difference. The disciples had never experienced anything quite like it before.

Such was its intensity that Matthew uses the word 'seismos', literally, ‘earthquake’ to describe the mighty force that stirred up the water in the lake into a frenzy.

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Jesus Leads Us Into StormsBut the truly distinctive thing about this storm is that it was Jesus who led his disciples into it. They obeyed his leading. Contrary to the experience of Jonah, who went to sea in disobedience to God’s wishes and so met with the furious storm of God's discipline. But this storm is different! It's clear from v35 that Jesus gave the command to cross the lake. It was their obedience that led them into this storm.

Do not think that being a Christian guarantees that you will be sheltered from the trials and perplexities of life. God often leads us into storms that we might be taught lessons that we can learn in no other way.

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Jesus Leads Us Into StormsThe Psalmist recognised the benefits of this kind of storm. He wrote, 'It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.' Ps.119v71Many of you will be experiencing your own personal storms. Some will have shared them with Christian leaders and friends. Others may be suffering their storms in silence. It is always helpful to ask, "Has God deliberately led me into this storm for my benefit and instruction? If so what kind of lesson is the storm designed to teach?”

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Lessons Of The StormFirst, a storm can force us to recognise our own limitations. You can be sure that the disciples drew upon all their experience and strained every muscle in their body as they attempted to avert danger. They struggled by themselves to bring the situation under their control. But all to no avail! There is nothing quite like a storm to remind us of the weakness of our humanity, to bring us down to size, to shatter our self-confidence and to confront us with our own limitations. The 'I can manage’ mentality collapses in the storm.

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Lessons Of The StormSecondly, the storms of life can expose an inadequate understanding of the godhead, ‘teacher don't you care if we drown?’v38. They wanted to know why Jesus was sleeping in the stern of the boat, while they worked flat out to save their lives. They had clearly lost confidence in his love for them if they had to ask, 'Don’t you care?' That is one of the most hurtful questions we can ever ask of God. And yet it is the one most commonly put to him by those rocked by life’s storms. We can so easily allow the storms to come between us and our assurance of God's love. We permit the voice of the storm to silence the voice of the Lord.

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Lessons Of The StormWere they familiar with the promise God made to his covenant people? “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour”. Isa. 43v2The apparent inactivity of God in the storm must never be confused with indifference to our need, nor with unfaithfulness to his Word. We often want God to intervene in our difficulties when we think the timing is right but God works to his own agenda. God often delays his intervention in order that we might appreciate that it is indeed he who delivers.

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Lessons Of The StormThirdly, storms test the reality and measure of our faith. Peter may have had this incident in mind when he wrote to beleaguered Christians, “You may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith…may be proved genuine” 1 Pet. 1v6ff. The storm-terrified disciples learned how weak their faith really was. Matthew’s account records Jesus’ rebuke, 'Why were you afraid men of little faith?‘Matt. 8v26. The knowledge that Jesus was with them in the boat should have kept them from panicking. They should have trusted themselves to Jesus’ keeping power. His presence was the pledge of our safety. But their faith was so scandalously weak that they were not convinced they were safe with Jesus

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Lessons Of The StormYou might be thinking, “I would have behaved exactly as these disciples did. My faith is easily shaken in the storms of life.” Then be encouraged by this, Jesus intervened in response even to their doubting, vacillating faith. But he longs for our faith to grow so that we come to a place where we can say with the old divine, “With Christ in the vessel I smile at the storm”. The people who have real cause for concern are those, who do not have Jesus with them in the vessel of their lives. They are really up against it when the waves begin to pound..

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The Effect Of The StormThe storm gave Jesus with an opportunity for the continued disclosure of his character. What the ‘expert’ disciples were unable to do, Jesus did! He used his power to bring peace. He did it calmly, effortlessly, majestically and by a verbal command. To the Jew the sea represented the forces of chaos. Such was its power that they believed only God could still it. The Psalmist writes of God he, 'stills the roaring sea, and the roaring waves.' Ps. 65v5. Jesus by doing what only God could do - exercise power over nature - revealed his divinity. He could sleep with confidence in the midst of the storm because of his sovereign control over all nature. He literally told the elements of nature to 'be muzzled', they were obliged to obey their Lord.

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The Effect Of The StormThe same Jesus who calmed the wind and seas is also able to calm the turmoil raging within and around our lives. He speaks his peace to all that agitates his people’s minds and hearts and can still every storm that encircles our lives. The early church also applied this passage to the storms of controversy that surrounded her as the truths she proclaimed were criticised and ridiculed. God’s people were encouraged to place their confidence in the Lord of the storms. As must we when Christian truths come under attack. Now while these applications are wonderfully true, we have not yet reached the main application of the passage.

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The Effect Of The StormNotice that Mark makes it quite clear that by stilling of the storm of nature Jesus stirred up an even greater storm in his disciple's hearts. In v41 we read, 'they were terrified'. But by what? By the wind and the seas? No! For they were now calm! Then by what? It was the revelation of the glory of the Lord that produced the greater terror. You see their fear, after the storm was stilled, was much greater than their fear in the storm. And so when Jesus rebuked his disciples for their fear in v40 it was their fear after the storm that was his concern.

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The Effect Of The StormWhen in the grip of abject terror they asked, 'Who is this? Even the wind and waves obey him?', this was not a display of holy dread but of cringing, craven fear. The thing which grieved the heart of Jesus was that they did not feel 100% safe with him, they actually felt safer when Jesus was asleep than when he was using his power on their behalf. They had less confidence in Jesus after the storm than during it! They were terrified of the raw power of Christ believing it could do them harm. While that is a common reaction with unbelievers [Chap5] it is a misplaced response from those who know his grace. How could they feel threatened by Jesus’ power? He came to rebuild and restore broken lives. If God is hurt when told he does not care for us how much more when we think he will use his power to do us harm?

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ConclusionHow safe do we feel with Jesus? When the storms rage around us as they undoubtedly will, what do believing men and women have to hang onto? They have the presence, the promises and the power of the Lord of creation and of redemption. He may at times appear an indifferent and sleeping Saviour but he delights to use his power for our benefit and good. He will use it at the right time, when the storm has done its instructive work within our hearts. We need not stand in craven fear before him. If we are his then an increasing sense of awe, wonder and confidence should fill our hearts.