What Would Jesus Do?

Message 6 In a Series

Jesus Would Calm The Storms

Mark 4:35-41

Rev. Charles S. Mims

September 19, 1999

The Holy Bible, King James Version

Mark 4:35 through Mark 4:41
³⁵And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. ³⁶And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. ³⁷And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. ³⁸And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? ³⁹And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? ⁴¹And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

What is that you say? Yet another report of a storm? Gert? Hortense? Henry? I don’t know about you, but I think that I have had enough storms to last me for quite some time. This past week Hurricane Floyd triggered the largest evacuation in Florida’s history. Millions of residents left coastal areas to go to safer ground. I, like many of you, was among those leaving their homes in anticipation of what seemed at the time to be a certain Florida landfall. On Tuesday morning my family and I packed up our car, putting all that we could into the trunk to leave for Orlando where we had a room already reserved for us. As we packed the last of our bags, and locked the front door I said in my heart a prayer. I pled with the Lord to spare our home, and to spare His church. I truly expected to return to large scale devastation, possibly even complete destruction. Hurricane Floyd was a massive Category 4, almost Category 5, storm, and hurricane force winds were expected as far inland as Orlando, and Tropical Storm force winds as far west as Tampa.

Friends, I can relate to those men in the boat as they shook the Lord awake and asked him to do something about their own storm. I can understand their fear, and their anxiety. I can even understand their worry, and perhaps you can as well. I’ve been through 5 hurricanes, 6 if you count Floyd. The five previous ones the eye passed directly over me. Never once did I leave town, and one I even rode out on the beaches of Cape San Blas. Never before was I frightened as I was for this storm. It was with tears in my eyes, and fear in my heart that I cried out to God to spare us.

Miraculously, God DID spare us. The storm took what most experts have said was an unexpected sharper turn to the north and kept the brunt of its force offshore. Folks, let me tell you today, it was God who caused that storm to turn, and we must tell Him thank you. We must praise His name.

The storms we are going to talk about today are not only the storms that ravage our coasts like Hurricane Floyd, but the storms that ravage our everyday lives. The stormy circumstances that wreak havoc on our personal lives and often cause us to despair are some of the storms that we will talk about.

Perhaps you can identify with this worker:

I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In block number 3 of the accident reporting form, I put, "Poor Planning", as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully, and I trust that the following details will be sufficient: I am a bricklayer by trade. On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a ten-story building. When I completed my work, I discovered I had about 500 pounds of bricks left over. Rather than carry them down by hand, I decided to lower them to the ground in a barrel by using a pulley which, fortunately, was attacked to the side of the building at the tenth floor. Securing the rope at ground level, I went to the roof, loaded the 500 pounds of bricks, then went back down to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 500 pounds of bricks. (You will note in block 11 of the accident reporting form that I weigh 135 pounds). Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forget to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rapid rate up the side of the building. In the vicinity of the fifth floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull and broken collarbone. I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold tightly to the rope in spite of my pain. At approximately this same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground, and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel now weighed approximately 30 pounds. I refer you again to my weight in block number 11 of the accident reporting form. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building. In the vicinity of the fifth floor, I met that barrel coming up again! This accounts for the two fractured ankles and lacerations of my legs and lower body. The second encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks, and fortunately, only three vertebrae were cracked. I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks — in pain and unable to stand — watching the empty barrel ten stories above me — I again lost my presence of mind — I LET GO OF THE ROPE.

Well now, my week wasn’t as bad as this fellow’s day was. It does seem though that the storms keep rolling in often before we are ready for them. What would Jesus do in the midst of a storm? Well let’s see what he did in our scripture. We find Him in verse 38 asleep on a pillow.

Jesus Would Not Be Worried

ASLEEP??? What do you mean asleep? A storm was raging all around them, and Jesus was asleep? Didn’t he care? Wasn’t he concerned? Wasn’t he worried? Well, he did care, but he was not worried. How many of you spent a sleepless night Tuesday night as you waited and watched to see what Hurricane Floyd was going to do? Any of us brave enough to show our hands? I admit it, I slept….but it was fitful. I was up at 3am, then again at 5am, then again at 8am. Was I worried? You bet. Just like Christ’s followers in the boat, I was worried about things I had no control over.

Yet Notice the sleeping Lord. Through all of this, Jesus was asleep in the stern of the boat. He was not concerned about any of this wind and wave. It seems that the external did not move Him at all. Perhaps that was because He was at peace in His soul. Jesus was at rest in the sovereign will of God. He knew well that His times were in God’s hands, so He did not worry about this sudden storm. The boat was not going to sink, because Jesus still had much to do yet, and He trusted in the Father. But that was not the case with His disciples.

They, like many of us this week were afraid. So what else would Jesus do?

Jesus Would Have Power Over The Storm

Jesus would assume authority over the storm. He arose, and rebuked the wind, and immediately it died down. Now it would appear that Jesus didn’t intend to rebuke this storm, but rather He intended the disciples to have faith in the midst of the storm. We have storms in our lives. Sometimes God will quiet the waters, but other times he expects us to have faith in spite of our circumstances.

We might not have the ability to quiet the wind and the rain as Jesus did, but we too can take authority over our own storms. We so often allow our circumstances to control us when we should instead control our circumstances. In His wisdom, and because of His plan for us, Jesus will allow us to go through many storms. It is a test of faith. It is for our good to refine our faith and give us overcoming faith.

In James 1:2-4, we read, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."

Again, in I Peter 1:6-7, we read, "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Let’s take away the wind out of our storms by denying them the victory of defeating us. When the storms of life come into our lives, we must weather them with faith in the Lord, then pick up the pieces and continue on after they pass. We are victorious when we don’t allow the travails of life to get us down. Jesus stilled the storm, we must still our storms when we can, and ride them out when we can’t.

Jesus Would Have Power over People

Finally, Jesus would have power over the people. At first glance this might cause you to stop listening to me this morning. But please, hear me out with this. It was because of his actions that the people in the boat took notice and marveled at what sort of man He was. He caught their attention by his actions.

He reassured them that He was in control. He calmed them down and let them know that all was all right. He reached out and cared for them. He showed them a kindness, and a gentleness that made them feel better.

Now, you and I might not can stop the winds from blowing, or the rain from falling, but we can do things that allow people to see Christ in us. We can have certain power of attraction over people by the things that we do.

The bottom line is do we have faith? The disciples had a faith deficiency, one that Jesus corrected by divine action. We have a faith deficiency at times as well, what will it take to correct it within us?

Let the storms rage. Let there be trials. These storms and trials will only strengthen us. Let the winds blow, let the rain come, let us be faithful to our Lord.

Rev. Charles Mims

South Peninsula Baptist Church

Daytona Beach, FL