This morning, we continue our series, “The Miracles of Jesus.”
Before we get into the miracle, let’s look at the foundational scripture I will share be sharing with you all year.
(Psalm 126:4 TPT)
Now, Lord, do it again! Restore us to our former glory! May streams of your refreshing flow over us until our dry hearts are drenched again.
This is a season of refreshing and restoring for us. I pray you get refreshed and restored as we study each miracle.
(Mark 4:35-40 ERV)
35 That day, at evening, Jesus said to his followers, “Come with me across the lake.”
36 So they left the crowd behind and went with Jesus in the boat he was already in. There were also other boats that went with them.
37 A very bad wind came up on the lake. The waves were coming over the sides and into the boat, and it was almost full of water.
38 Jesus was inside the boat, sleeping with his head on a pillow. The followers went and woke him. They said, “Teacher, don’t you care about us? We are going to drown!”
39 Jesus stood up and gave a command to the wind and the water. He said, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind stopped, and the lake became calm.
40 He said to his followers, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Mark chapters 4 and 5 capture a long day of ministry for Jesus. After a long day of ministry, where Jesus taught the parables of the sower, the lampstand, the growing seed, and the mustard seed, Jesus was physically tired, and He knew He still had much more ministry to do that day. So, He said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” With that, they got into a boat, and Jesus went into the hinder part of the ship and went to sleep on a pillow. He was “knocked out” when a terrible storm came, but Jesus was not moved by the storm. He knew what the Father had revealed to him about that day, so He was more focused on the UNSEEN than the SEEN (2 Cor 4:18). That’s the setting.
So what does this mean for you today? I have a lot to share from this story. I will not cover it all today, but I will give you a few things to apply for this morning.
1. When you are fully persuaded of God’s purpose for your life, you can sleep through the storms that come; and they will come.
— Jesus knew He was not a mistake. The Father sent Jesus to the earth for His intended purpose and Jesus knew the only person who could stop that purpose was Him. if he ever decided to operate in human disobedience to the Father’s plans. Guess what? What was true for Jesus is true for you. You are on this planet because your heavenly Father sent you here for such a time as this. You are not a mistake. You were placed here on purpose and the only person who can stop that purpose from coming to pass is YOU if you choose to disobey God’s plans.
— When you are convinced of your divine purpose, and you know the things God has revealed to you about your future (that have not come to pass yet), you are not moved by opposition. Because you have already seen past it. God has already given you a glimpse of what the future holds. This is what happened in this case with Jesus. Jesus was not moved by the storm, because He had already seen past it. He started the journey by telling His team,
“Let us go over to the other side of the lake.” Jesus could see Himself on the other side already, so no matter what happened in between, Jesus already knew what the end was going to be!
— God may not reveal to you all the storms you are going to have to endure and overcome during the journey, but He will surely speak to you about the end of the matter. He will show you the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). If you truly are convinced that what God revealed shall come to pass (because God is not a man and He cannot lie; see Number 23:19), then you can sleep through the storms because what God revealed to you is more real to you than what you are facing.
— Jesus told His disciples that they were going to the other side of the lake. He only said what He heard the Father say. So, He knew He had purpose waiting for Him on the other side. That being the case, Jesus was not concerned about getting there. Jesus was physically tired from performing ministry, so He went to sleep inside the boat with His head on a pillow. A storm came. It was a severe storm. It was so bad that time-tested fishermen, like Peter, James, and John, were afraid that they were going to die. The waves were coming over the sides and into the boat. The boat was almost full of water. And through all of this, Jesus was sleeping. He was sleeping through the storm.
— While Jesus was sleeping, the disciples were “freaking out.” They woke Jesus up. They said, “Teacher, don’t you care about us? We are going to drown!” Jesus got up and dealt with the situation. But notice what He did not say when it was over. Jesus did not say, “Hey guys, I’m sorry. I should have let you know that we sometimes have to deal with storms in life.” He did not say, “Hey guys, it’s understandable that you are afraid. Anyone would be afraid in this situation.” NO. What Jesus asked was, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” These are questions that are very pertinent to today.
— I could take the angle of saying, “Hey, when Jesus is in your boat, you should be okay. When Jesus is in your boat, you should not be afraid.” But that is not the angle I am taking. I don’t want you to identify with the disciples in the text. Far too many people do that. I want you to identify with JESUS in the text. Jesus was not just an example FOR us. He was an example OF us. As Jesus is, so are we, in this world (1 John 4:17). When you see Jesus as your example, and you identify with Him in this text, you realize you can sleep through any storm that comes your way on the path to your ultimate destination, the completion of your divine purpose.
— If you are convinced, like Jesus was, that you are on this planet for a reason and that God’s purpose for your life is not complete, then you will not be afraid of dying. You will be convinced that satan cannot take you out, because you are in God’s hands. You will only die when you are DONE! This is a message that is much needed in the world today! We need to be SO convinced of what God has revealed to us about our future, that we are not moved by storms and tests. As a matter of fact, we can sleep through the storms!
2. Fear is an indication that you are not operating in faith.
— When the disciples thought they were going to die on the boat, in the middle of a storm, while Jesus was sleeping, Jesus asked them two questions. He asked, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” If you are struggling with fear this morning, ask yourself those two questions.
— Both fear and faith are expressions of confidence. Faith is an expression of your confidence in God and His Word. Fear is an expression of your confidence in satan and his words. Said another way, when you are convinced that what God is saying to you will come to pass, and your actions reflect it, you are in faith. In the same way, when you are convinced that what satan is saying to you will come to pass, and your actions reflect it, you are in fear. And to be clear, you cannot be in fear and in faith at the same time. Fear cancels out faith and faith cancels out fear.
— If you understand the explanation, I just gave you of faith and fear, you realize that faith and fear do not have their origin in YOUR heart. They are not initiated by YOU. Faith is initiated by God and fear is initiated by satan. Faith is not about you convincing God to do anything. Faith is what happens when God convinces you of your divine purpose! In the same way, fear is not about you convincing satan to perform his will in your life. Fear is what happens when satan convinces you that what he wants will happen in your life!
— The writer of Hebrews said, “Now faith is the assurance that what we hope for will come about and the certainty that what we cannot see exists” (Heb 11:1 ESV). Faith comes down to simply being sure and certain. You must be sure of what God said/promised and certain that He will deliver on His promises, even when you cannot validate the promises with your senses. You must be sure and certain, even when the promise makes no sense at all. And you must be sure and certain until you see in your hands what you have already received in your heart. This is a much-needed reminder for us today.
— To live by faith, your confidence must be in God and what HE HAS ALREADY DONE! If God revealed something to you about your future, you must realize that for Him, in heaven, in eternity, it is ALREADY DONE. For us, on the earth, it is only a matter of time. If you truly believe this, then when something bad happens, like the storm in the text, you are not moved by what you see. You are only moved by what God said.
— Bad things happen to good people. Bad things will happen to you. It’s life. In this world, Jesus said, we will have trouble. But we cannot be moved by it. If we fix and focus our hearts on God, His promises, and His purpose, then we will not be moved by our trouble. Actually, we will trouble our trouble because of our level of consistency through it.
— If you are facing a storm this morning (maybe even a bad one, like the disciples were in the text), then you can find peace in knowing that God already knew it would come and He called you, anyway. God already knew the storm would rage, and He gave you those promises, anyway. God is still God. His promises are still true. This means that you will get through this. But what you don’t want to do is get through it like the disciples did. They were full of fear. They thought they were going to die. They had no faith. Don’t be like them (in this text). Be like Jesus. He was “knocked out” sleeping with His head on a pillow, while the storm was raging, because He had more confidence in God the Father than in the storm. Do you?
That’s enough for today.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I believe this is a season of refreshing and restoring for me!
As I study the miracles of Jesus, my faith is increased!
I am a believer and not a doubter. I live by faith and not by fear. Fear has no power over me.
I believe every Word You have ever spoken over my life. I believe every promise You have revealed to me shall come to pass before I die!
I live by faith. This means I will continue to live with the expectation to see, in my hands, what You revealed in my heart.
I am not moved by what I see down here. I am only moved by what You reveal from UP THERE! I live by every Word You speak to me. I live by the Holy Spirit.
I am not trying to convince You to give me what I want. You have already convinced me to believe and receive what You want.
So come what may, I am convinced that Your purpose will be manifested in my life. I am so convinced that when storms come, I can sleep through the storms because I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word. Apply it and prosper!
