Shelter In Life's Storms

Matthew 8:23-27 (NIV) ²³ Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him. ²⁴ Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. ²⁵ The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" ²⁶ He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. ²⁷ The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!"

Background context: Jesus and his disciples have been working hard, giving themselves to the people. In this chapter we see Jesus healing a leper; meeting a Roman army officer and healing his servant; healing Peter's mother-in-law; healing many others and setting free a number who were afflicted by demons. But as the crowds grew larger, Jesus needed a break, a little R & R. Verse 18: "When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake."

So Jesus and his disciples got into a boat to go to the other side of the lake—perhaps 8 miles across the water in a boat similar to the 2,000-year-old boat found a few years ago during drought conditions buried in the mud at the Sea of Galilee. It was about 25 feet long, about 7 feet wide and about 4 feet deep—large enough to carry about 15 people. It might have looked something like this (picture) 2,000 years ago. A pretty good boat, but I'm not so sure I'd want to take it out for a spin on a stormy night in Lake Superior. The Sea of Galilee was about 13 miles long and 3 miles wide. They were crossing to the other side of the lake, so they were going perhaps 8 miles—as far as Lester Park across to Wisconsin.

SUDDEN. Verse 24: "Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat." The Sea of Galilee was known for its sudden and violent storms, caused by the differences in temperatures between the seacoast and the mountains beyond. The Sea of Galilee lies 680 feet below sea level and is surrounded by hills, especially on the east side where they reach 2,000 feet high. Up there the air is cool and dry, but down by the lake the climate is semi-tropical with warm, moist air. The large difference in height between surrounding land and the sea causes large temperature and pressure changes. This results in strong winds dropping down to the sea, funneling through the hills.

The winds can easily race to the center of the lake with violent results. When the contrasting air masses meet—cool dry air mixing with warm moist air, a storm can arise quickly and without warning. Small boats caught out on the sea are in immediate danger. It's the same kind of weather phenomenon that we saw this week in Tennessee and several other southern states when tornadoes caused so much devastation and loss of life.

Besides being affected by the dramatic air differences, the Sea of Galilee is relatively shallow—just 200 feet at its greatest depth. A shallow lake is "whipped up" by wind more rapidly than deep water, which absorbs energy more readily. [First published in Weather & the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1992).]

One writer says that the main feature of the lake seems to be its ever-changing character. Life is like that too—storms in life often catch us off-guard, suddenly, "without warning."

SHAKING. It's fascinating to me that Matthew used a very specific word to describe this storm. The word "storm" appears five times in the English NT, but once does it come from the word Matthew used here: seismos, which means a commotion, shaking. We use this word whenever we say seismic or seismograph—which is used to measure the intensity of earthquakes. In fact, every other time this word appears in the NT, it is not translated as "storm" but as "earthquake" (10) or "earthquakes" (3).

Apparently Matthew wanted to describe an extremely violent storm, one that shook them viciously. This was apparently not your average storm on the Sea of Galilee; this was a shaking storm.

Imagine the worst thunderstorm you've ever been in—where bolts of lightning streaked nonstop through the sky and the noise literally shook your house and rattled your windows. That's what I'm imagining here, except they weren't inside a house, watching the storm through rattling windows. They were out in a small, open boat, tossed back and forth like a little cork, with huge waves washing over them and sheets of rain drenching. With crashing thunder and flashes of lightning all around them and a mast reaching up toward the sky inviting every bolt of lightning to strike them, the disciples got a little bit nervous.

HIGHS & LOWS. Just a short time before the disciples had been in the thick of Jesus' miracles and power. They would have been excited about all the miracles they had seen. They would likely have been brimming with confidence: "Jesus is AWESOME! And we're on his team!" But now these guys suddenly were reduced to whimpering, wet men who were scared to death. So these panic-stricken disciples went to Jesus, who was sleeping in the boat, and woke him up. "Lord, save us!" they shouted over the noise of the wind and the thunder. "We're going to drown!"

Don't you wonder: Why Jesus was asleep? And how could he sleep in the midst of all that chaos? "Why" probably has a simple answer: He was sleeping because he was exhausted. He'd been working hard ministering to people. Jesus was God, but he was also human. And he felt the same kinds of physical limitations that we feel.

The "how" question might be a bit more difficult. I don't care how tired you are, sleeping through a thunder storm in a storm-tossed, water-drenched boat seems impossible.

TRUST / NO WORRY. The fact that Jesus could sleep in impossible conditions tells me not just that he was tired, but that he was able to completely and totally relax. He didn't have to worry because he had complete trust in his Father.

Sometimes I have a bit too much caffein and I wake up in the middle of the night with my mind and my thoughts all charged up. I can lay there awake thinking about things—even little worries can keep me up—little storms, nothing major. Certainly not a seismos—certainly not something to shake my world.

So I tend to be more like the disciples—or Jerry Lee Lewis: "There's a whole lot of shaking going on!"

When troubles come suddenly with no warning and shake us, we do what the disciples did. We run to Jesus with our fears and our questions. The disciples came to Jesus all in a panic, and shook him awake. "Don't you care?" they asked. Sometimes we ask God the same question, don't we? We feel abandoned and alone. We feel like we're facing a storm without his help or support. He seems to be sleeping—because he's not answering our prayers. And we want to scream, "Where are you, God? Don't you care?"

But of course Jesus cares. It's just that he's not worried. He knows things we don't know. He doesn't have to wonder or wait to see what he's going to do. He knows, even before we ask. And when the time is right, he'll bring us through the storm. Jesus knew all along. He wasn't worried. But don't think for a moment that he doesn't care.

So here is what we learn from life's storms.

#1 - Jesus cares!

#2 - Inner storms can be worse than external storms.

Verse 26 says that Jesus got up and rebuked the winds and the waves—but before he rebuked the wind and the waves, he rebuked the disciples: "You of little faith! Why are you so afraid?"

Now, I want you to catch this: Jesus was rebuking two different storms. One storm was on the lake—the howling winds, the crashing waves, the shaking thunder. But the other storm was inside the disciples—the doubts and fears that were swirling within their hearts and minds. Jesus asked them, "Why are you so afraid?"

It seems obvious why they were afraid, Jesus didn't need to ask, but he was making a point. He was saying there was really no reason to be afraid. The external storm was real, but they made things worse because they permitted an inner storm to blow through their souls. They allowed fears and doubts to take hold of them. In fact, as bad as the storm was on the lake, the storm inside their hearts was even worse. Fear and doubt can sink you before wind and waves ever do.

Victor Hugo, author of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Les Miserables, also wrote another story entitled, Ninety-Three. The story, which takes place in the 1800s, is ...about a ship that goes sailing into a terrible storm. ...All of a sudden the men on the ship, ...very seasoned sailors, hear a horrible noise below deck. Instantly, almost everyone ...understands what is taking place. One of the cannons has come loose and a thousand pounds of steel are rolling back and forth inside the hull of the ship. It is without question going to destroy the hull of the ship if something isn't done.¹

You've heard the expression "loose cannon"? A "loose cannon" refers to someone who is supposed to be on your side, but who can create more problems for you than the enemy; it's a person whose reckless behavior endangers the efforts or welfare of others, someone who is out of control and dangerous. In a storm, all cannons on a ship had to be securely fastened and lashed in place, because a gun that broke free would roll uncontrollably around the deck with the motion of the ship. A loose cannon, weighing a thousand pounds, would crush anything and anyone in its path, and possibly even break a hole in the hull, causing the ship to sink. Hugo's ...story talks about these brave men, who somehow go below deck to capture the loose cannon while everything is heaving up and down in the storm. The loose cannon became more dangerous for them than the storm on the outside. ...The real storm was what was going on below the deck on the inside of the ship.

EMOTIONS. That's the way it can be in our own lives. There may be problems on the outside. There may be difficulties we have to sail through. But if there is an inner storm that rages unseen by others—if there are fears and doubts and anxieties that threaten to destroy us from the inside, that's where the real storm lies.

Storms will come in life. Some problems and challenges we'll be able to handle fairly simply. Other storms will be worse than others, more difficult. ...However, it is the events ...within our own hearts and souls that can take their toll and become the real danger—like a loose cannon that threatens to destroy us from the inside out.

The apostles had left the shore on an emotional high because their ministry with Jesus had been incredibly successful. They were ready to take on the world! They were confident and had no worries when all of a sudden they became overwhelmed with fear and doubt. The circumstances on the outside—the winds and the waves—the storm that shook them and their boat—stirred inner storms of doubts and fears.

Do you ever find that your emotions are like a roller coaster? Up and down? Emotions can catch us off-guard especially when unpredictable events slam into our lives. The doctor says, "You have cancer"; the highway patrol says, "There's been an accident. You need to come to the hospital." Your spouse says, "I want a divorce." Your attorney says, "...you're going to have to file bankruptcy."¹

JESUS IN THE BOAT. When our world is shaken, when the seismograph registers 10 on the Richter Scale, our emotions can become like a loose cannon within—rolling around with a force that can tear us apart. That's when we have to remember that Jesus has everything under control—even though it may not feel like it to us. That's when we must hang on to our faith and allow Jesus to calm the inner storm.  He can help us regain our stability! He can tie down our fears and anxieties that crash around inside us.

Some of Jesus' disciples were  fishermen who knew a lot about boats and water. But the storm stretched even them beyond their skills and ability to cope. They didn't need ...a seasoned sailor; they didn't need someone ...who knew how to deal with the nautical situations. They needed the Son of God who could ...control the winds and the waves. Someone who could settle the storm and panic within their hearts. Jesus stood and spoke to the wind and the waves; the waves died down and the winds became calm and there was peace—both outside the boat and within their hearts.

#3 - Jesus is with us in the boat.

Events are unpredictable. Emotions are undependable. But God's presence is absolute! Jesus is in the boat with us. He is with us in our storms. He said, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." He said, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the age." He said that we could cast all our anxiety upon him because he cares for us. He said that despite trouble in the world, we should be encouraged because he has overcome the world. (Heb 13:5; Matt 28:20; 1 Pet 5:7; Jn 16:33)

For Jesus to speak and control the winds and the waves was nothing; after all, he created them! And the Creator is in the boat with us. He is living life with us ...as we cross through the seas and go through ...the toughest of times. All we need to do is call out to Jesus and He will help us through...¹

How many of you remember the Lone Ranger? Who was his sidekick? One time Tonto and the Lone Ranger set up their tent to camp for the night. Several hours later Tonto woke up the Lone Ranger and said, "Kimosabi! Look up and tell me what you see." The Lone Ranger looked up, and he saw the beautiful night sky. He said, "I see a billion stars." Tonto asked, "What does that mean?" The Lone Range said, "It's a beautiful display of God's creation. It means the handiwork of God is alive and real. It means that God made billions of galaxies and stars. The sky is so clear it means we are going to have a beautiful day tomorrow. And judging from the position of the stars, it means it's about three fifteen in the morning." Tonto said, "I think you as dumb as a buffalo. It means our tent has been stolen!"¹

STOLEN PLANS. There will be times when your tent is stolen. When things don't go according to your plans. You will encounter events that are unpredictable—and as a result of those outside circumstances, our emotions can be shaken. There may be times when you think you just don't want to live another day. We have to realize that through it all, God is there. He is with us, inside us, strengthening us, helping us. In times of storms and uncertainty and shaking, we need to call upon Jesus. As the disciples called upon Jesus, he stood and said, "Peace be still."

And he says the same to us: "Be still." Allow your heart to be still.

The psalmist wrote: "1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging... [and then the psalmist gave us God's response] Be still and know that I am God." (Ps 46:1-3,10)

You can't really know he is God until you've settled down. It's when you've slowed down enough that you can be still before him, that you can finally know him. That's when you can be free from the inner storms - the doubts and fears, the worry and fretting. You can't really know God's love...his care...his grace until you can settle your heart in his presence, open your spirit to him, and be still.

The Bible says: "6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Phil 4:6-7, NIV).

¹ Several ideas and illustrations drawn from a sermon by Robert A. Schuller (Crystal Cathedral and the Hour of Power), February 3, 2008.