Meeting Jesus - Jesus, Storms, & Faith

I know it is a bit “elementary” but do you remember playing the game FOLLOW the LEADER when you were young? A line of people follow the leader, and they are supposed to copy everything that the leader does…

Week after week, I share that our mission is to lead people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus.  Ultimately what we want to do is help people do the exact same thing that people did in Jesus day.  

We want to help people follow Jesus. Before we begin the message today, I think it is crucial that it is said plainly that…

A FOLLOWER OF JESUS, FOLLOWS JESUS.  

Sounds profound right? 😊 If I am a Jesus follower – that means I FOLLOW Jesus.  I have trusted Jesus as my Lord and Savior.  I have turned away from my old life of sin and made the decision to FOLLOW JESUS. That means I try to LIVE the way Jesus says to live.  I try to become more like Jesus, and if you have committed your life to Jesus, so do you. Together, we try to follow Jesus through the challenges, joys, frustrations, and storms of life. By this point in Jesus ministry in Luke 8, 12 men had decided they were give up everything and follow Jesus. 

Jesus is going to sound a little frustrated with his FOLLOWERS because they were not FOLLOWING him.

Luke 8:22-25 (NLT2)

22  One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and started out. 23  As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. But soon a fierce storm came down on the lake. The boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger. 24  The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and the raging waves. The storm stopped and all was calm! 25  Then he asked them, “Where is your faith?” The disciples were terrified and amazed. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “When he gives a command, even the wind and waves obey him!” 

Storms were something that fishermen often faced.  In this region, storms appeared suddenly and could be incredibly fierce.  In this moment, the disciples faced a storm and they were actually convinced they were going to die from it! If this storm had popped up and they were safe on the shore, they would not have been afraid.  They could have been in the same storm, on dry land, and they would not have had to face any fear of death. They did not have life jackets or lifeguards.  If the boat filled with water and sunk, they would have had to swim for the shore. But the waves were so big…they believed they would never make it to the shore. 

They were convinced they were going to die…BUT their FEAR only existed because of the game of “What If” that their mind was playing with them.

What if the storm keeps going…

What if the waves get larger…

What if the boat fills up too much…

What if we have to swim to shore…

What if we die…

There is no question that the storm was fierce…but part of the fear the disciples had over the storm was rooted in “What if?”

I struggle with that.

While you and I may never be in a storm on a lake or the ocean like this – we all know we have been through many storms that have been scary…and it is made much worse because of  “What if Roulette”. We walk through a difficult storm and we make it harder on ourselves by imagining the worst case scenarios. For instance, Kristy and I experienced a storm of 6 years of infertility, followed by a miscarriage. Part of the fear we had was rooted in “What if we never have children…?” 

My family experienced a storm when I was suddenly fired from a church in Virginia in 2014 when I learned about financial corruption in the church. “What if” roulette started in my head.  

What if I have to get a job outside of ministry? 

What if people think I was fired for something I did?  

What if my ministry is over…?

I know that many of you are in a storm. Is there a storm you are going through that is shaking you to the core?  

Maybe it is your marriage.

Maybe you just learned that once again, your spouse has been unfaithful.

Maybe you have received a difficult health diagnosis. 

Maybe your doctor has mentioned that you might have Cancer and wants to blood work just in case.

Whatever storm or hardship you are facing right now, I want you to be convinced that…

STORMS ARE PAINFUL EXPERIENCES THAT WILL END.

Storms of life have the ability to rip into our hearts and shred our lives.  Storms of life can cause deep pain that changes the way we think and how we act. In my college days, a tornado went through our college campus and wrecked it. Classrooms buildings collapsed. Art was destroyed.  The entire landscape of the campus changed…but when it was rebuilt – it was better than ever.  

I know it feels like your storm has been dragging on and on – but it will end.  

It has been painful – but it will end. Now, it may not end the way we hope it would. The “health storm” a loved one faces may not end the way we would like it to. Maybe your spouse has already walked away and left you hurt and devastated. Maybe the impact of the storm you have faced has left your life in pieces. If that is the case, I am sorry. I hate that you are experiencing this type of pain. But I know God is able to rebuild our lives better than we can after a storm, if we keep on following Him. When people do face a storm or a tragedy, they often ask the question, “Where is God? Why didn’t he do something?”

Have you ever noticed that we often take credit for the good that happens in our lives and blame God for the storm? Storms and tragedies happen in our lives for three main reasons. 

BROKEN WORLD

Some of the storms we face in our lives come from the reality that we live in a broken world.  We live in a world that sin, broke. We have viruses, diseases, infertility, cancers, accidents, injuries, heart attacks, strokes, high cholesterol, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes, because we live in a world that sin, broke. It was not supposed to be like this.  After God created the world, he looked around and said it was all GOOD.

Then Adam and Eve sinned and the good world, went bad. Because Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God, sin was born and sin brought death…and all of nature was impacted. When earthquakes and diseases happen, it is not God’s fault, it is because the Adam and Even did not choose to follow God, sin was born, and the Good world went bad.

That leads to the second cause of storms in our lives, 

OUR SINFUL NATURE

Some of the storms I face in my life are brought about by me.  I am a sinner.  I have done stupid things that have caused storms in my life.  The first 2 and ½ years of my marriage was a storm because I was selfish.  I wanted my own way.  I caused the storm. I created the storm. My sinful nature can create storms. So can yours. If we do not follow Jesus, we are going to create more storms in our lives. Our sinful nature can really mess things up. The third root cause of storms that we face in life is…

SPIRITUAL ATTACK

If you are a follower of Jesus, God loves you unconditionally. He is for you. He wants you to prosper, to be blessed, and rejoices over you. He loved you enough to send his son to die on the cross for you – and since God is FOR you. Since God LOVES you… you can be sure, the Devil (Satan) hates you. He hates you because he is a God Hater.  He wants to DESTROY all that God loves.

He wants to try to destroy the work of God in your life. 

He wants to ruin your story of life-change.  

He wants to destroy your faith in God.

He wants to ruin your trust and turn your story of faith and trust into a story of doubt and fear.

Sometimes when storms come it is through a spiritual attack.  

If you are making an impact and leading people to a life-changing relationship with Jesus…

If you are strengthening the church through serving. 

If you are bringing words of encouragement to other believers and making the Church stronger…

Satan is going to spiritually attack you, because you are for God.

So, storms come through a broken world, our own sinful nature, and through spiritual attack…

What can we learn from the disciples?

They were in the boat.

The storm came.

Fear overwhelmed the disciples…they woke Jesus up…he stopped the storm and the waves.

Jesus SHOWED his faith in God by rebuking the storm…and then he asked the disciples the question… “Where is YOUR faith?”

Why didn’t you do something about it?  Why didn’t YOU take action? Building up to this story, Jesus emphasized repeatedly that a FOLLOWER of Jesus DOES what he tells them to do:

Luke 6:46 (NLT)

46  “Why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?

Luke 6:49 (NLT)

49  But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation…

Luke 8:18 (NLT)

18  “So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given…

Luke 8:21 (NLT)

21   “My mother and my brothers are all those who hear God’s word and obey it.”

All along, Jesus had been CONNECTING FAITH with ACTION.  With OBEDIENCE.  Jesus had personally been teaching his disciples to demonstrate their faith. This storm was their moment to put into practice all the things that Jesus had been teaching them.  This was their moment to face their storm by faith! This was their moment to demonstrate faith, stand up in the boat, and rebuke the wind and the waves. But instead, they chose to be controlled by fear. I want to invite you to do what the disciples did not do…

DURING THE STORM, SHOW OTHERS YOUR FAITH

That is called TRANSPARENT LIVING. Other people need you to practice your faith. In Luke Chapter 9 and Luke Chapter 10 – Jesus sent out his disciples to heal other people. To heal people of diseases. To cast out demons.  And they went out – and they worked miracles by faith – FOR OTHERS!

Not one time throughout all of scripture do we see a follower of Jesus work a miracle for themselves.  

When you and I walk through storms, AND when we don’t try to hide the storm, but we live transparently and our faith REMAINS ACTIVE, other people will be inspired, encouraged, and challenged about what they really believe about Jesus.

When you are walking through a storm, keep following Jesus! Keep living transparently. Keep serving other people. When you are walking through a storm, the last thing you need to do is stop attending worship, stop serving, and stop blessing others. You have a place to demonstrate your faith every week! From celebrate recovery, serving in local missions, children’s ministry, student ministry. Choose FAITH over FEAR and live transparently so others can see it and even when you are not in a storm – followers of Jesus practice our faith for OTHERS. 

I encourage you to read Luke chapter 9 and 10 and watch what the followers of Jesus did by faith.

Jesus taught that FAITH was POWERFUL.

Matthew 17:20b (NLT)

“I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

So – WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? Can others see your faith when you walk through the storms?