God of the Storm

I hate water. Well, bodies of water I should say. As long as I can remember, being submerged in water has terrified me. Personally, I believe this is a healthy fear. A respect, if you will. Contributing factors to this fear are

1 An over active imagination

2 I don’t like the feeling of being unable to breathe.

Which leads me to

3 If God wanted us in the water He’d have given us gils.

You see, I can’t see of feel the ground under me, that’s gonna be a no-go. If I can’t freely breathe? Yep, I’m gonna pass on that. I truly feel my life has not been negatively affected in any way by this respect I have. (It may also have to do with the fact I never learned how to swim. But I doubt it.)

When I was about 10yrs old I went to the river with my friend and his family. I think they were under the impression that I had some deep secret for my resistance to going into the waters. Well, long story short, I eventually ended up in the river and began panicking. If you have ever been around a large 10 yr old that believes his life is at stake, (I was not small), then you understand the weight of this situation. First, my friend Michael tried to come to my rescue. I took him down with me. Then, his dad rushed in. In my panic and flailing I kicked him in the head and knocked him unconscious. Everyone made it out alive and unscathed. Except for the trauma I endured.

I know this fear must seem weird to those of you who have been born and raised in Az. Like me. Cliff jumping, going top the lake, the river, is what you do when it’s 1000 degrees in the summer. And most want to go to the ocean. Like my wife. That is a whole new level of terror for me. Did you know that 71% of our planet is covered in water? About 97% of that is ocean. Yet we as humans have only explored about 5% of the ocean to date. This mean anything could be living in that other 95%. Giant squids, megalodons, krakens, Sponge Bob Square Pants, even Nessy (Loch Ness Monster.) My feeling is, if I stay out of their house they will stay out of mine. Respect.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I happen to align with a lot of ancient beliefs. If you look at most religions, especially near east religions, view the sea or ocean as a metaphor of chaos. The Bible itself uses water many times to express the act of destroying or darkness.

Genesis 1:1–2 NLT

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

The Holy Spirit was hovering over the waters, the chaos.

Genesis 6:13 NLT

So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth!

Gen 6:17

Genesis 6:17 NLT

“Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die.

This was God’s way of hitting reset. He was returning the Earth to the chaotic form it was before creation. He used water to do that.

Let’s not forget my man Job. Job lost everything except his God. Even in one of his descriptions of God, he describes Him as one who “walks on the waves.”

Speaking of Job, that guy took a huge hit as soon as we meet him.

Job 1:13–22 NLT

One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger arrived at Job’s home with this news: “Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the shepherds. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, a third messenger arrived with this news: “Three bands of Chaldean raiders have stolen your camels and killed your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home. Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.” Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.

I remember times hearing, even preaching, messages on this passage as a reality check. “You think your life is bad, but you have never had it as bad as this guy.” Until I had a moment similar to this. Yes, it wasn’t exactly those loses. BBUt it did feel like non-stop attacks. It the words of the great philosopher, “The hit’s keep coming and they don’t stop coming.” I would venture to say there are many of us here that have felt this way.

My car broke, my hours got cut at work, and now my kid is sick.

My wife is done, the kids hate me and someone else got the promotion I thought was in t he bag.

It’s real life. It often feels like chaos. Like there is a storm in our life and God doesn’t even care. He’s just waiting to see what we do and how made we mess up. But, if you will allow me, I believe the Bible gives us some more perspective on this.

Turn to Mark 6:45

Mark 6:45 NLT

Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home.

Before Jesus sends the disciples on to the sea without Him, we see one of the greatest miracles recorded. Jesus just fed 5000 plus people with 2 loaves and 1 fish. AND THERE WAS STILL LEFTOVERS! That is something amazing.

But then Jesus sends the disciples, some of whom are hardened fishermen the have grown up on this sea, ahead without Him. They have seen everything. But then we read a very interesting story that I think we often gloss over.

Mark 6:45–52 NLT

Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home. After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Late that night, the disciples were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land. He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them, but when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost. They were all terrified when they saw him. But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here!” Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed, for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in.

A couple things I would like to draw your attention to.

Jesus sees them in trouble before He ever shows up.

Jesus is not unaware or disinterested in our chaos or pain. It’s easy to feel like Jesus should sweep in and save the day. But if you have been around babies at all you know that the only way for muscles to grow and for them to learn is to go through struggle. Yes, it’s controlled and you know they are never in any real danger. But do they?

As Jesus comes towards them, He appears ready to go past them.

Jesus will not save us if we don’t invite Him to save us.

He is always listening. As soon as they cried out He told them to not fear. Then He climbed into the boat.

They were totally amazed because they didn’t understand the other miracles. They had hard hearts.

When we are in pain, our world gets very small. Everything is a crisis and no one will help.

We easily get excited when a Jesus moves powerfully and does something amazing for us. Until the storm hits.

How often do we forget who our God is and who we are when the storm get too rough? We forget Jesus and look at the storm.

I have been struggling for weeks on how to explain this clearly. This is the best I can come up with, and I pray the Holy Spirit fills in the blanks.

Jesus could have stopped the storm from coming, but He didn’t. He could have stopped it once He was out on the water. He didn’t. He didn’t stop with storm until He was in the boat. Why?

Remember Job? In one of his tirades, he accuses God of being the one who walks on the waves, but pays no attention to the ones being hurt by those waves. Those storms. So Jesus comes to His people. Walking on t he water. The disciples knew this story well. Jesus was showing them, and us, that He is in control of the chaos.

The hurt, pain, storms, chaos, will always come into our lives. But we have seen, time and again, in Scripture and our lives and others lives that the chaos doesn’t mean God has left us. He uses these times to grow and strengthen us. Just because Jesus doesn’t stop these things doesn’t mean that He has no power. It means that even in those times that it is too dark to see and the silence is deafening. God is still with you.

Once Jesus stepped in the boat the storm stopped. Not because Jesus wanted to punish them or anything like that. But because the lesson was over! The chaos had served a purpose and the purpose was complete. There was no longer a need so Jesus stopped it. This one act spoke so much. For us today, it show that God, that Jesus, is God of the Chaos. The things we face must bow to Jesus.

Recently I was in a storm. It felt like too much to bear! Why would do this? Or at best allow this? Jesus began to reveal things to me I never would have learned otherwise. About Him, myself, people, life.

I will leave you with this last thought. Have you ever noticed Jesus was surrounded by chaos from birth? Before He was born, there was plot to kill Him. Everywhere He turned and everything He did put in the line of men’s hate and rage. He never backed down.

The Bible says that Jesus is familiar with our pain. This season can bring up a lot of that. It’s a time to celebrate family and friends and the birth of our Savior. It can also be a time of remembering who is missing.

I want to remind you before we leave today, Jesus sees the storm. He will come to you in the middle of it and provide peace and strength.

Related Media

Related Sermons