Sailing or driving through a storm is scary because obscured vision makes us unsure of our direction and fearful for our safety. This is also true of spiritual storms, in which sudden, unexpected circumstances seem to turn our world upside down. When the disciples were being battered by gale force winds on the Sea of Galilee, they learned some valuable truths, which can also help us in the midst of our own tempests. Jesus intercedes for us. While the disciples were struggling through the wind and the waves, Jesus was on the mountain praying. Today He is in heaven, interceding for us (Romans 8:34). Jesus is our protector. He watched over the disciples in the boat, and He does the same for us, ensuring that we encounter nothing outside of His will. Jesus is sovereign over all storms. He’s the one who forms them, determines their intensity, guides us through them, and brings them to an end in His perfect time. Christ has not abandoned us in our storms but instead is intimately involved, using them for our ultimate benefit. Knowing this, we can respond with trust, dependence, and worship. Visit https://www.intouch.org/
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[Music]
with a message from God’s word here’s
Charles Stanley
there are rainstorms thunderstorms
lightning storms there are snowstorms
there are sandstorms all kinds of storms
in the atmosphere that affect us here on
Earth
sometimes they’re driving blinding
violent destructive and costly those are
the kind we can see and are most aware
of but then there are those other storms
that happen sometimes on the inside of
us sometimes only we’re the ones who
know about them sometimes maybe our
closest friends and sometimes even
others
and somebody has said everybody’s either
in a storm
just getting out of a storm or headed
toward a storm and if that be true then
you and I need to know how to respond
during the storms of our life so
probably one of the best illustrations
of that is found in a night of real
storm on the Sea of Galilee to be found
in the 14th chapter of Matthew so if
you’ll turn to that 14th chapter and
let’s look at this storm at night when
Jesus and his disciples met together in
a very unusual situation
Jesus has been healing and teaching and
now he has fed the five thousand and
when he finishes if you’ll notice in
verse 22 the scripture says and
immediately he made the disciples get
into the boat and go ahead of him to the
other side while he sent the multitudes
away
and after he had sent the multitudes
away he went up to the mountain by
himself to pray and when it was evening
he was there alone
but the boat was already many steady or
several miles away from the land
bettered by the waves for the wind was
contrary
and in the Fourth Watch somewhere around
three o’clock in the morning Fourth
Watch of the night he came to them
walking on the sea
and when the disciples saw him walking
on the sea they were frightened saying
it is a ghost and they cried out for
fear
but immediately Jesus spoke to them
saying take courage it is I do not be
afraid
and Peter answered him and said Lord if
it is you command me to come to you on
the water
and he said come and Peter got out of
the boat
and walked on the water and came toward
Jesus
but seeing the wind he became afraid and
beginning to sink he cried out saying
Lord save me and immediately Jesus
stretched forth his hand and took hold
of his hand and said to him
oh you have little faith why did you
doubt
and when they got into the boat the wind
stopped and those who were in The Boat
worshiped him saying you are certainly
God’s son and when they had crossed over
they came to the land at geneserate now
this is the second part in our series on
the storms through the storms of life
and you’ll recall we mentioned the fact
that storms come from one of the
resources they’re either storms that we
ourselves generate other storms that
Satan will generate or sometimes there’s
storms that God initiates for us not to
accomplish something in our life
and the fact that there are some very
specific purposes for these storms in
our life but what I want to talk about
in this message is this and that is
God’s provision for us when we Face the
storms of life and I think this passage
of scripture illustrates all of these
and as you think about storms that
you’ve been through in life although
there are emotional storms or physical
storms or financial whatever it might be
the question is how did you respond I
may not always know the purpose of the
storm but the real issue is how do I
respond in that storm
and remembering that he never allows the
storm or sends a storm to sinkers but
rather to sanctify us so the most
important thing the most important thing
God could provide for you and me in the
midst of a storm is first of all the
awareness of his presence so I want you
to jot down presence the awareness of
his presence nothing nowhere under any
condition could be as important
when you and I going through a storm as
the awareness of the presence of God
nothing else friends books nothing else
can match the power of the awareness of
his presence in our life and you’ll
recall In This Storm as
these disciples were being tossed about
you’ll notice he says in verse 24 they
were being battered and the winds were
contrary they were just being pushed
here in Yonder it’s about five miles
from capernaumowa to ganesara and so
they were somewhere that’s five miles by
the way the uh crow flies somewhere out
in that storm at night and those hot
winds off the desert would come down
that a huge bank and across the Sea of
Galilee and when that hot air and that
cold air met they were sometimes just
sudden storms would arise well here they
are afraid and what happens is that the
Lord Jesus Christ provides for them
exactly what he knew they needed above
everything else they needed the
awareness of his presence now when he
comes he doesn’t come the way they
expect him to come the Bible says when
he came they thought it was a ghost
there’s some Apparition some kind of
non-physical kind of being that they
couldn’t tell what it was and so what
happened was his appearance even made
them more frightened and now they had
two problems not only were they about to
here’s some ghost out there they’re
having to face and so they are extremely
frightened
but when his presence is made known when
he identifies himself and they recognize
it as Jesus what happens
I think the thing that happened to them
is what happens to all of us the
awareness of his presence in the storm
gives us first of all a sense of comfort
here is Jesus a sense of Courage we can
face it and a sense of confidence God
will see us through the storm because
you see the truth is there is no storm
that can drive away the presence of
Jesus Christ in your life in my life
and so the very presence of Jesus made
an awesome difference in our life now
they didn’t immediately find themselves
in a calm sea because the storm
continued just because he showed up
didn’t mean that he was going to calm
the storm immediately and so what I want
to see is the most important thing is
the awareness of his presence and you
recall he says I will never leave you
nor forsake you and in the 14th chapter
of John you recall the night before he
was crucified one of the things he
wanted to make sure was that they
recognized that just because he was
going to be crucified the next day
didn’t mean he was leaving them and so
he said to them what I want you to be
aware of is this I’m going to send you
another comforter the Holy Spirit who
will be in you with you and he says
he’ll be with you forever you’re not
ever going to be left without me now the
difference between those days and our
days is this
in those days Jesus Christ walked among
men and he couldn’t be in two places at
one time he was either here or he was
there because he had limited himself in
his glory and his power while he was on
Earth but you and I don’t have to worry
about that because the day you received
Jesus Christ as your personal savior in
that moment Jesus Christ not only
forgave you of your sin but the Bible
says he came to indwell you that’s why
he says I’m abiding in you and you’re
abiding in me this was his way of
demonstrating and illustrating to them
the fact that Jesus Christ is living on
the inside of every single believer we
are never under any condition detached
from the presence of almighty God who is
indwelling Us in the presence of the
holy spirit so when you and I find
ourselves in a storm we don’t have to
ask for Jesus to show up
he doesn’t have to show up now the
awareness of his presence in our life
may be like he just showed up but he’s
been there all along but you see no
storm can drive Jesus out of your life
and because he’s there he is there for
eternity he says I will never leave you
nor forsake you the holy spirit will
come and be in you with you and upon you
now
the problem is that you and I don’t
always recognize him when he shows up
and sometimes when you and I are going
through a storm you may have this
tendency to say God where are you Lord
where are you do you see what I’m in do
you see what I’m facing do you see the
battering of the waves and that do you
see uh the torrential rain do you see
the storm do you understand where I am
God and the answer of course is always
not only do I see it
I’m in the middle of it with you that is
you and I never go through a storm in
which he is not in the middle of now we
may not recognize his presence they
didn’t recognize his presence and as we
said before they thought this was some
ghost and of course that scared them to
death and so here they had a storm on
their hands and now here’s a ghost
walking across the water it never dawned
them in the first problem that Jesus
would do that they never seen him walk
on water before he’d probably never told
them that he could even walk on water
and so they’re naturally frightened and
so he shows up in a way that doesn’t
seemingly make sense to them and he
doesn’t always show up the same way for
example
on this occasion he comes to them like
an apparition as some ghostly figure
until he makes himself known uh closer
and then he steps into the boat
when Mary and Martha were going through
the worst storm in their life Lazarus
had died and one of the things that made
it so bad was that they’d already
contacted Jesus and asked him to come
and he didn’t show up
and so not only did they have the death
of their brother
but there’s this emotional storm taking
place inside of them
we love him
he said he loved us
we’ve cooked in meals he’s been at our
house we’ve said at his feet we’ve heard
him teach we’ve done everything we know
to to make him feel comfortable why
didn’t he show up
and this awesome emotional storm this
trauma going on inside of their life how
did Jesus show up at that storm he came
in the form of a human being of a man
like they had seen him before they knew
him as a man and so he showed up at the
tomb of Lazarus and the Bible says he
said Lazarus come forth and you know
that he came forth resurrected him from
the dead
another fellow who was in desperate need
was beaten and robbed and left on the
Jericho Road to die
Jesus came to him in a different sort of
way he didn’t come to him through some
Apparition that would frighten him to
death he didn’t come to him as the Son
of God as the Lord Jesus Christ walked
among men he came to him in the person
of the Good Samaritan
and that Good Samaritan was the Lord
Jesus Christ reaching down to meet his
need at that moment
that was Jesus working and walking
through him
living through him reaching out pouring
in wine to heal binding up his wounds
and then taking him to an inn and paying
The Innkeeper for his stay until he was
a well man
how many times has Jesus appeared in
your life and mine shall we put it this
way how many times has the awareness of
his presence come in ways that you and I
were not aware of it could be that he
was there all the time the truth is he
was there all the time and sometimes he
has to get our focus in such a fashion
that you and I can recognize that it is
Christ that it is God working in our
life and that he is there in the midst
of this storm and that he desires that
you and I would be aware of that you see
he’s going to show up
it’s not that he’s not there he’s always
there he’s going to show up that is
we’re going to see him if we if we have
eyes that can see and ears that can hear
and faith that can believe Jesus Christ
is always there he says I will never
leave you nor forsake you and I’m sure
he had talked to these Apostles about
many things that um
they understood and of course each
experience in their life and you say we
don’t have all of them each experience
in their life was a step forward in what
God was accomplishing and what he was
attempting to accomplish to do in their
lives now if you’ll notice in this
passage also he didn’t show up at the
beginning of the storm because the
scripture says that they were ministered
from the land batted by the waves and
the wind was contrary how long they’d
been out there I don’t know probably a
pretty good while because he had been
preaching and teaching and he had fed
the five thousand he had sent them away
and that was something before night time
because they had to find their way back
home they knew where they lived of
course but they had to travel on the
roads and then he spent some time with
the father that is he’s up in the up in
the mountains praying and talking to the
father and and whatever their
conversation was about then
somewhere between three and six in the
morning this storm begins so that’s when
the scripture refers to them here
they’ve been out there being battered
and torn by this storm it was a short
trip across the sea of Galileo only five
miles the way the crow flies but that
storm had probably gotten them off
course at least they thought it was off
course and they were behind schedule
they thought they were probably didn’t
know exactly where they were couldn’t
see the stars as many times they’d been
on that sea but when it’s all black
around you you don’t know where you are
on a sea at night like that
and so here they were but he didn’t show
up on time as that is as far as they
were concerned because you see our
timing and God’s timing is not always
the same his presence is there my
awareness of his presence is not always
the same and while for them he allowed
them to be in that storm long enough to
accomplish what he wanted to accomplish
and then he showed up
the Lord Jesus Christ is always with us
in any storm our awareness of his
presence oftentimes may not be until we
understand that is what his purpose is
and what his goal is now sometimes the
reason we can’t see him in the storm is
we’re so busy doing our own thing or are
so busy trying to work our way out of
the storm we don’t even see him in it
but he is always there you and I have
never listened we’ve never even been in
a drizzle let alone a storm without the
presence of Jesus
we’re not here on a sunshining day
without the presence of Jesus no
hurricane no tornado no kind of
atmospheric tumult that we have never
been in anything apart from him since
the moment you and I trusted Jesus
Christ as our savior most important
thing the most important provision is
the presence of Jesus Christ number two
the second thing I believe he provides
for us is a pathway through that storm
now you’ll notice what he says in this
particular verse verse 22. immediately
he said he made the disciples get in a
boat
and go ahead of him to the other side
while he sent the multitudes away now he
had to get them off the scene so he
could get up in the mountains to Pray by
himself and he knew exactly where they
were headed he told them to go to a
particular town a little village there
and that’s where on the other side of
the Sea of Galilee so they had a
particular place he knew exactly how
long it would take them to get there and
uh it’s interesting he doesn’t say
anything how he intends to get there
well he knew how he was going to get
there he doesn’t need a boat and so they
got in the boat the Bible says he made
them do it that is they probably didn’t
want to leave I’m gonna hear all these
people and so he made them get in the
boat and he’s up in the mountains
talking to the father meditating upon
him the Lord Jesus Christ knew exactly
what was going on because you see the
Lord Jesus was talking to the weatherman
there’s only one weather man he was
talking to him he knew all about that
and this storm did not interrupt and
disturb Jesus in his meditation with the
father
you know what happened the weather
and the gold of God
and the meditation time of Jesus were
all working in perfect concert
Jesus wasn’t Disturbed he wasn’t upset
he didn’t have to hurry up and do
anything and he didn’t say oh there they
are out there in the sea I better go
help them no all of that was known to
him because you see the presence of the
Lord Jesus Christ is the presence of
omniscience everything he needs to know
about us he knows now to some degree
when he laid aside his glory and he came
from heaven born in the womb of the
Virgin Mary he
laid aside some things and he said for
example no one knows when he’s coming
back not even the angels in heaven only
the father knows that and so
he knew exactly what to do and the
timing was absolutely perfect so here
they are out there in the sea being
battered around and troubled and
wondering what in the world is going to
happen and yet he knew exactly where
they were headed now here’s the thing of
it
while they thought they were off course
and didn’t know where they were the Lord
knew that storm had them exactly right
on course because he knew they were
going to end up exactly where he had
designated because he knew that being
the captain not only of their ship but
the captain of the Seas he would get
them where he intended that storm to
blow them now I’m sure with them they
thought they were of course they didn’t
know where they were but I think it’s
something you and I need to think about
is this if he is The Sovereign of the
Seas and The Sovereign of our life there
is no time when he’s not in absolute
control
and being in absolute control of our
life there is no time when he is not
guiding those storms
and those storms may be tumultas and
they may be battering and beating and we
may feel the pain in the hurt of it he
will make the storm take us exactly
where he wants us to go because you see
he is in Sovereign control and he is our
presence that is wherever we are the
Lord Jesus Christ is there and so their
trouble was of course they didn’t know
what was going on and when you and I
think about troubles and trials and
difficulties and hardships and storms in
our life you may feel at times the Lord
what are you doing where is this leading
where are we going uh how’s this going
to end up and we may have lots of
questions and he is under no obligation
to give us all the answers ahead of time
he could have said to them now look I’m
sending you over to genese right and I
want to tell you ahead of time about
um
half an hour so after you leave or two
hours after you leave there’s going to
be a big storm coming up on the Sea of
Galilee so I want you to know that don’t
worry about it I’ll be there and show up
you just take it easy no he doesn’t do
that you see he doesn’t feel any
obligation to tell us the future
all we have to remember is this
he holds the future
and he who holds the future holds us and
if he who holds the future holds us and
he who holds the future and holds us is
living on the inside of us we can trust
the future to him no matter what we can
trust him because he’s that kind of a
sovereign God he’s that kind of a
sovereign leader he is that kind of a
sovereign captain of our soul and so
when we think about where they were
headed I’ll tell you why they were
headed they were headed exactly where he
meant for them to be when did they
arrive exactly when he intended for them
to be there and how did they arrive they
arrived a boat out of the water but most
of all it had Jesus in it and that was
the most important thing of all when
they hit the land they hit the land of
the Lord Jesus Christ on board their
ship you and I will arrive wherever God
wants us to be and you know who’s going
to be on board the Lord Jesus Christ and
he is The Sovereign controller of all
things so what’s the first word
his presence what’s the second word
his path there is a third word I want
you to jot down that is his protection
he always
protects Us in any and every storm
remember we said his storms if he
initiates them or even if he allows
Satan to send them or whatever is never
for the purpose of sinking us always for
the purpose of sanctifying us and that
is all of his storms have purposes in
them and so when you think about it it’s
it is always a storm of the purpose
cleansing sometime deeping our
companionship with him our fellowship
with him conforming us to the likeness
of his son deepening our conviction
about who he is what’s going on in our
life and always for the purpose of not
only comforting us but enabling us and
training us to be comforters because our
storms are training tools that God uses
to do what to enable us to be comforters
to others who are going through storms
so there’s no no storm that without a
purpose and these purposes are clear in
the mind of God it may be one of those
purposes it may be all of them but
there’s always a purpose for the storm
now he is always there to protect us
what does that mean does his protection
mean
that in the midst of the storms we’re
going to be so shielded that they’ll say
there’ll be no water on board no does it
mean that we’ll not be tossed and turned
about no does it mean we’ll not be bad
and blown no does it mean that we’ll not
feel hurt and pain and suffering and
disappointment and all that doesn’t mean
any of that because these disciples knew
and probably wondered well where is
Jesus he tell us to get in the boat he
was going to go talk to the father
wonder what he and the father are
talking about if the father’s omniscient
why isn’t he told Jesus about us why
does he do something about that that’s
what I’d be thinking I’d be thinking
Lord if he’s who he says he is why does
he talk to the one who controls the Seas
and get this thing settled and get us
out of this now
well he just doesn’t operate that way
because see protection doesn’t mean the
immediate cessation of the storm
it doesn’t mean that he’s going to
quieten everything down right now
because he has Divine purposes in every
single storm he allows in our life and
so what we see here is we see them
really suffering through this they are
frightened and afraid they’re going to
sink and that they’re going to drown
so the Lord Jesus allowed them to go
through this storm and he allowed them
to feel some hurt and pain
what about the Apostle Paul you remember
what he says in second Corinthians
chapter 11 he says three times three
times he said I suffered shipwreck he
says in fact one of those times I was a
day and a night in the sea now I never
had had well I did have one shipwreck at
one time uh up on a big lake up in
Michigan and this friend of mine and
myself were sailing this sailboat and
one of those fast storms came up on that
Lake and before I knew it he and I both
when the water in that boat was upside
down and the waves were so high that the
boats were trying to get to us I
couldn’t get to us and we happened to
have had on best by the grace of God and
it took him probably about 30 minutes
before they could get close enough to us
to even rescue us so I know a little
teeny bit about
what it feels like to be helplessly
hopelessly being tossed about and you
can’t do anything about it well here
they were being tossed about and he did
not cause the storm to stop immediately
he allowed them to experience the Fright
the fear the uncertainty the questions
the doubt the struggle with their faith
where is he why did he send us out here
surely he must know we’re here why
doesn’t God do something
well God’s another obligation to do
anything until he gets ready now that’s
the thing we don’t like sometimes and
and I think all of us come to those
situations in our life and we thank the
Lord
surely uh you want to stop this storm
but not necessarily until he
accomplishes what he set out to
accomplish now
secondarily quieting the storm he had
something far more important than simply
calming the storm what is it that he had
imported
well certainly not to eliminate hurt and
pain and suffering so he we have to ask
ourselves the question what did he have
in mind
well when you see how he responded and
how he came upon the scene
he allowed them to hurt he allowed them
to suffer pain because he had something
far more important than mine and what
was that what he had in mind was to
teach them something what he had in mind
was to reveal something because you see
in every storm if wheel wise and we keep
our spiritual eyes open
in every storm we’ll learn something and
we certainly will learn something about
the Lord Jesus Christ and we’ll learn
something about what’s really going on
in our life and and uh and what’s
happening and so what does he do he
motivates Peter I’m sure and Peter says
now Peter never walked on water either
so Peter says Lord if that’s you you bid
me to come to you and I’ll come and so
he steps out and starts toward the lord
Jesus Christ and sometimes we are prone
to be a little critical of Peter and say
well Peter didn’t have enough faith if
he had it he’d have walked on water let
me ask you a question how many of you
would have gotten out of the boat
I don’t think I would have I don’t
believe I would have I’d had to say Lord
if you’ll come just so I can at least
touch you and reach and know that that’s
you then I may be willing to do it but
Peter stepped out and of course he began
to walk on the water and the Lord says
as he was walking on the water he began
to sink and Peter began to cry out Lord
save me now what I want you to notice is
this
he protected all those men in the boat
they were safe in the boat and here’s
Peter walking on the water now Peter was
walking in the water and everything
looked real good for just a few moments
are there until he took his eyes off the
Lord Jesus and the Bible says he he saw
the wind
and he saw the waves that is he knew
what was happening all around him
and what happened was when he took his
eyes off the Lord put him on the
circumstances he did exactly what you
and I do
and this is such a graphic picture of
what happens to God’s children when we
make the same mistake that Peter made
he is walking on water until he begins
to focus on the circumstances because
the circumstances reminded him of how
deep that water was how torrential the
storm was and those and the rain and
these waves and all of a sudden when he
began to look at that he knew what big
waves would do to a ship
what in the world would they do to a guy
who’s standing out here
and he’s not even in the boat
and so it begins to sink he said wait a
minute I thought the step here was was
uh was his protection right
and he did protect Peter
he let Peter go down far enough
repeated to recognize how absolutely
hopeless and helpless he was in that
storm
and he cried out Lord Jesus save me now
watch this
the Bible says that Jesus stretched
forth his hand and pulled Peter the
water well how far down was Peter how
far would you say was he ankle deep
lady Waist Deep shoulder deep
I don’t know the answer to that I just
know he was deep enough for Jesus to
have gotten across his point
and that is Peter without me you’re
absolutely helpless when he got him in
the boat he said to him
why did you doubt me
what was Jesus up to
he was not trying to sink this boat he
could have done that sitting up on the
up on the Mountaintop talking to the
father and all he had to say blink his
eye lift his little finger or say
nothing or just think sink and they
would have gone down that wasn’t his
purpose his purpose was very clear he
wanted to reveal to them several things
first of all
he wanted them to see him from a whole
different life I don’t believe Jesus had
ever told them before I can walk on
water in fact I don’t think Jesus told
them a lot of things like that except he
could say would say I am the Messiah
you’ve seen me you’ve seen the father
for example if he just said to Peter
Peter I can walk on water you know what
Peter would have said same thing you
know I would have said show me
just show me here’s the Sea of God at
least just take it take a trip and then
we’ll believe you no he waited till they
got absolutely desperate and hopeless
and there was nothing they could cling
to nothing they could lean on and here
he was coming to them on the sea walking
on the top of the water and what I want
you to see is this when Peter said Lord
save me the Bible says the Lord reached
forth his hand and took him and pulled
him out
you and I never have to look for the
hand of Jesus we don’t ever have to look
at that you know why here’s the reason
the moment you trusted Jesus Christ is
your personal savior
the Lord Jesus Christ got a
Eternal grip on you and it doesn’t make
any difference what goes on in your life
you’ll never be out of the Eternal
loving grip of Christ Jesus the Lord he
is always there we may cry out Lord save
us but you know what Jesus doesn’t have
to reach out and do anything to us
because he is living on the inside of us
our very savior himself
he’s our savior our Lord now Master he
said I’ll never leave you nor forsake
you and that being the case we don’t
ever have to wonder about whether he’ll
show up on time or not whether he’ll
show up at all or not whether he has the
power to save us or not or whether he’ll
have to reach out and grab hold of us
listen we we are never out of the reach
of almighty God because he’s already he
has already gripped us once and for all
when we trusted him as our savior we
live under his Divine protection all
times look if you were the 121st Psalm
121st Psalm
is one of those that David must have
written when he was going through a
difficult time of running from Saul who
was the king and who was trying to
destroy him
the 121st Psalm he says I will lift up
my eyes to the mountains from which
shall come my help now that he didn’t
say listen to this now because you
should be read that saying like this I
will lift up my eyes to the mountains
from whence shall my help come question
mark it isn’t coming from the mountains
my help comes from the Lord who made
Heaven and Earth he will not allow you a
foot to slip he who keeps you will not
Slumber behold he who keeps Israel will
neither slumber nor sleep
the Lord is your keeper the Lord is your
shade on your right hand the son will
not Smite You by day no the Moon by
Night the Lord will protect you from all
evil he will keep your soul the Lord
will guard your going out and your
coming in from this time forth and
forever that was written by a man who
knew exactly what it meant to live in a
storm day after day month after month
year after year David understood what
storms he says he will protect you go
back if you will to Isaiah chapter 43.
and here’s another passage you might
want to underline in the scriptures
going through the storms
wondering where God is sometimes being
disheartened and discouraged and fearful
and
fretting over the circumstances listen
to what he says in Isaiah chapter 43.
he says in verse 1 but now thus says the
Lord your creator o Jacob and he who
formed you o Israel do not fear for I
have redeemed you
I have called you by name you’re mine
when you pass through the waters I will
be with you and through the rivers they
will not overflow you when you walk
through the fire you will not be
scorched look at that he didn’t say run
through the fire he said you can walk
through the fire when you walk through
the fire you will not be scorched
you won’t even be able to smell in the
smoke
nor will the flame burn you for I am the
Lord your God the Holy One of Israel
your savior
now
as I think about the storms that we go
through in life and as I think about the
storms that these men were going through
a physical storm and think about how God
works in our life
I want to make a statement here and I
want you to remember this
it is much safer
to be the target of the storm than to be
the cause of the storm
it is much safer to be the target of the
storm than the instigator or the
initiate of the storm always safer to be
the target the Lord Jesus Christ has
promised to protect us promised every
single moment of our life he says I will
never leave you nor forsake you and
these men understood having experienced
the Lord Jesus Christ in his miraculous
power showing up
just what they thought was in the nick
of time in God’s perfect time to
accomplish his purpose what’s the first
word
his presence what’s the second word his
path what’s the third word is protection
the fourth word is something you would
expect naturally and that is his peace
because the scripture says when they got
into the boat the wind stopped now
here’s what I want you to remember
listen carefully our peace
is not dependent upon
the removal of the storm
our peace is not dependent upon the
removal of the storm our peace is
independent upon the quieting of the
storm our peace is based on something
that has nothing to do with external
circumstances what that’s why he says he
says don’t don’t look about you he says
I am your God I will strengthen you I
will uphold you with my righteous right
hand he is continually reminding us that
he is our peace that’s what Paul said in
Philippians chapter 2 he said he is our
peace and you recall that he said before
his crucifixion he said
my peace I give unto you not as the
world gives give unto you let not your
heart be troubled neither Let It Be
Afraid
he says my peace I’ve given to you turn
to John chapter 16 you might not be
quite as familiar with that passage in
the 16th chapter of John again the night
before his crucifixion listen to what he
says as he concludes this message to his
uh disciples around the table that night
he says to them in verse 33 these things
speaking of all that he said 13 14 15 16
these things I’ve spoken to you that
listen to this now that in me you may
have peace in the world you may have
tribulation that is he says he says your
life is going to be in the midst of
storms but in me in your relationship to
me you’re going to be able to experience
peace even in the midst of that storm
now if our peace was dependent upon
that the absence of storms in their life
remember what we said in the very
beginning that for most people we are
either in one I just came out of one or
going into one then if that’s true then
we’d have no peace
and the word peace means to bind
together
and that is you and I are bound together
with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ
and he who is the Great Peacemaker and
he who is peace himself the very Prince
of Peace he is the one who is indwelling
us living on the inside of us it was the
presence of Jesus The Peacemaker the one
who had listened could make peace in the
sea and peace in the heart that brought
them to a place of calmness and
quietness in their heart that day
and you see our peace is not determined
by circumstances our peace is determined
by listen air awareness
of his presence the presence of an
omnipotent omniscient omnipresent God
who loves us unconditionally who always
has our best interested heart and who
said I will never leave you nor forsake
you who knows exactly what port he wants
us to end up at and who’s going to see
to it that even the storm becomes his
method in his tool of making sure that
we end up at the Port right on time
what an awesome sense of assurance he
gives us that our peace rests upon his
presence he is our peace we are not
dependent upon anything or anybody else
to be our Peacemaker and you see nobody
else can give us peace our peace is the
result of a relationship and if our
appease is the result of a relationship
what we made you own is not fixing the
storm what we made you on is keeping the
relationship right and that relationship
is one of intimacy and dependence and
trust and recognition of our Absolute
Total dependence upon him in every
single situation and Circumstance of
Life the fifth word is this one of the
things he provides in the storms of our
life is the potential
to grow strong in our Christian Life the
potential to grow strong in our
Christian Life That’s What storms are
all about storms are God’s exercises in
your life and mind to strengthen the
vital part of it is that is not the soul
but the spirit of a man the spirit of a
woman these storms that come into our
life God has a very specific purpose for
them now
when you look at these men and look at
this passage of scripture and think
about their potential to grow I think
one of the things that he saw was an
opportunity for them to understand more
fully who he is now he could tell him
I’m the Messiah but their ideas of the
Messiah all Old Testament ideas and he
could tell them that he was the son of
God well how do you prove that and he
could tell them many things about
himself the Lord Jesus had to
demonstrate to them that is
this was an opportunity for them to take
a tremendous Leap Forward in their
understanding and recognition of who
Jesus was and so that was part of their
their growth recognizing who he is more
fully that he controls the Seas not only
the creator of them but he’s the
controller of them the second thing was
that they understood more about his ways
they had seen people come to him and say
of leprosy can’t hear whatever it might
be and he would touch this one and speak
that and all the rest this time
he did not show up on their schedule and
so they began to see how he works they
began to see the ways of God the very
fact that he would ask Peter come and
walk on the water was their way of
recognizing that sometimes he will ask
us to take awesome challenges to our
faith to say yes to him and we there’s
no way to stay away it looks dangerous
or whatever and deep and yet they began
to learn they learned an awesome amount
in fact it was one of those
Unforgettable motivating learning
experiences in their life that I’m sure
they told their children their
grandchildren their great great
grandchildren ever how long they live
I’m sure that everybody who knew these
men knew this story of Jesus walking on
the water they would never forget that
learning his ways learning his power
that is watching him demonstrate
something they could never have believed
in either way
this man walks on water and this man
gets in the boat and the winds die down
the sea becomes glasses smooth and
everything is quiet
but you know something else they learned
that day they learned the awesome love
of Jesus for them
he loved them so much looking piercing
right through the darkness because it
wasn’t dark to him he could see exactly
where they were what was going on and
what did he do he came upon the scene in
time to rescue them to save them
to comfort them to increase their
confidence and their assurance and
to bolster them up
and remind them that they had a loving
heavenly father who can see right
through the darkest of all storms and
see exactly where we are and always be
there right on perfect time
they understood that now let me ask you
a question
when you and I go through storms what do
we learn
it’s always an opportunity to grow we
will grow if we respond properly we will
fail the wonderful opportunity of taking
leaps forward in our spiritual growth if
we don’t respond correctly
and what is that right response trust
him
fully trusting fully dependent fully
surrendered fully focused on him we will
learn what God wants us to learn in the
process we will grow in our experience
with him we’ll grow in our understanding
of who he is because you see so many
times people read the Bible and say yeah
that’s what I believe all that but you
see how much do we know about him until
we experience some things when do you
and I learn the most about who Jesus
Christ is when we get in a storm and we
feel what they felt helpless and
hopeless God if you do not rescue me
there will be no rescue
we have the same opportunity they had
the same opportunity to learn the same
opportunity to grow he is the Son of God
he is omnipotent he is exactly who he
says he is they they learned that
and to see the demonstrations of his
awesome power in your life all of us can
look back in times in our lives when
we’ve been in those situations and we
have seen God show up so to speak and
quote he showed up and he did something
that was so miraculous you and I would
never have been able to figure out how
or what he would do but he always shows
up he always reveals himself because
he’s always there working in our life
doing what making us aware of his ways
making us aware of his presence making
us aware of his power making us aware
that he loves us absolutely
unconditionally
he’s always there
because he wants us to grow growing our
faith in him growing our dependence upon
him grow in our Absolute Total
recognition of his lordship and Mastery
of our life
that we are absolutely and totally
surrendered to him that’s what he’s
looking for and so when we come to those
stormy times in our life then
he uses the storm as a tool to grow us
up and to deepen us and to strengthen us
it is his exercise in our life to make
us to become the persons he wants us to
be never even crosses his mind to sink
us but always to buoy us up and to get
us to the port that he has in mind
now you may be one of those persons who
says well you know I’ve never trusted
Jesus Christ as my savior so
how do I know how to respond to this
well you see you’re in a storm my friend
and that storm is ultimately going to
sink you unless you get in the boat and
that boat is trusting the Lord Jesus
Christ as your personal savior depending
upon him and you say well how do I do
that
you believe the testimony of scripture
that the Bible says that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God and that he went to the
cross of Calvary and laid down his life
to pay your sin debt in full
and paying your sin dead in full the
moment you ask him to forgive you of
your sins and to come into your life and
to save you in that moment he will and
that’s as if you got in the boat with
Jesus and from that moment on he has an
eternal grip of love on you and forever
you may go through storm after storm but
you will never sink because you can’t
sink the son of the Living God you
cannot sink him
and so I would just encourage you if
you’ve never trusted Jesus as your
savior today to say Lord you know I’m
helpless and I’m hopeless and I can’t
forgive my own sin I can’t straighten up
my own life I can’t make it all new I’m
absolutely totally dependent upon you
God and my friend nobody’s ever cried
out to him illustrating wise that he
didn’t reach down and say I got you
he’s always there to say I got you
because you see he’s been there all
along
God is willing to see you through the
storm you know the song How firm a
foundation
that soul that on Jesus hath leaned for
repose
he will not he will not desert to expose
that Soul though all hell shall Endeavor
to shake
he says I’ll never I’ll never I’ll never
forsake that is the promise of our
father and father we love you and praise
you and bless your name for this simple
story of this incident of the Savior and
his disciples
and how many wonderful exciting helpful
motivating strengthening lessons are
built into this passage of scripture and
I pray the Holy Spirit
has enabled us to grasp at least a few
of those that you’re the Great
provider in every storm and there’s not
anything that we need you will not
provide we love you and praise you for
it and I ask you today that somebody
might trust Jesus as their savior
that someone may discover for the first
time
that your love for them has been there
all along just waiting for them to
believe you for it in Jesus name amen