Navigating Faith During Life's Storms With Jesus

Jermaine Arphul: [00:00:00] Well, good morning church. My name is Jermaine. I am the youth minister here at 121. I've been blessed and privileged to be able to help guide our students to live for Jesus Christ. I'm so glad that you guys are here this morning, and I'm just really excited to get into God's Word with you. We've been in Mark's gospel over the last couple of weeks, and that's where we're going to pick up today in Mark chapter 4, verses 35 through 41, Mark chapter 4, verses 35 through 41.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:00:34] Before we dive into it, I just want to share something that I've been noticing over the last couple of months, especially during the summertime. I've been blessed and privileged to go all across the country to Colorado with students, to Brooklyn, New York, with students, to California, with family, to Louisiana to go and teach at a conference, and even Georgia recently. And one thing that I've noticed, as I've gone kind of all over the map this past summer, is that there are a lot of different definitions about who God is. Do you guys know what I'm talking about? I have had several conversations where it starts off saying I love God. Yes, I love God. And then when we start going a little bit deeper, we find out that their God is different than the one that I'm talking about. Their God is different than the God of this scripture that we're about to get into.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:01:37] In particular, there's a huge difference about what people say about Jesus. I don't know if you've ever been there before. I can remember a time when a guy came over to the house to fix the garage, and we got into a conversation about God, and we were on the same page trucking right along, it was so good, so good. And then I realized that his definition of Jesus was way different than what I see in this Bible that we're about to get into. Has anybody ever been there before? And he started talking, his definition was that the son of David is god. And I'm sitting there going, okay, like he meant like that David is God. Sorry, he meant that David is God. And I'm sitting there going, okay, let's figure this out. So there are lots of different definitions about who God is and what I want us to answer, or what I want us to look at, and hopefully, we can recognize and see, is that there is no one like Jesus. There is no one like Jesus. And I think when we get into the Scripture this morning, we're going to recognize that Jesus is God, and when we do, we must worship him. Jesus is God and we must worship him.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:03:09] So what I'd like to do, this is a narrative that we're going to go through, Mark chapter 4, verses 35 through 41. I'd like for us to jump into the narrative, put yourself in the boat with the disciples and Jesus. And as we do, we're going to make some observations, and then we're going to come back and see what God wants us to do with those observations.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:03:34] So Mark chapter 4, starting in verse 35," On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him." So what's going on here? What's going on? Let's give a little bit of context here, okay so again we've been in the Gospel of Mark. Mark opens up by definitively saying that Jesus is the Son of God, he's the one that was prophesied before in the book of Isaiah. And then we start talking about his baptism, he starts talking about his baptism, and then he starts talking about Jesus's ministry going forward. And right away we see in Mark chapter 1, that people were amazed by him, they were in awe of Jesus, It says, "When he entered into the synagogue, he began to teach." And in verse 22 of Mark 1, it says, "They were amazed at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one having authority, not like regular people." Moving forward, we see that Jesus cast out an unclean spirit. He rebukes the unclean spirit. It comes out and then. Verse 27. They were all amazed. They go, what is this? Who is this guy? He teaches with such authority, and even unclean spirits obey him. And then he goes on and he heals. He heals a man with a withered hand. He heals the paralytic. He starts saying, I have the authority to forgive sins. And people are amazed. Verse 12 of Mark 2 says, "They were all amazed. We've never seen anything like this." So Jesus is gaining popularity at this point now in Mark chapter 4, everybody's following him, and the crowds are pushing in. Everybody wants to get to him, they just want to touch him, they just want to be around him.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:06:07] They've been doing this all day long. And so when evening came, Jesus said, let's go to the other side. The disciples immediately followed. So that's the context here. That's the context of what we're getting into. They're on this boat after a long day. They go to the other side. And then in verse 37, "There arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up." Church, I don't like water. Remember, we're immersing ourselves into this situation, okay? Get in the boat. I do not like water, I like cruises, but I do not like water. I don't know anything about boats, but I do know that water should not be in the boat. So out of nowhere, this fierce gale of wind and the waves were breaking over the boat, and the boat was already filling up. Verse 38, "Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion." Notice the humanity of Jesus. Jesus was asleep. Why? Probably because he was tired. Yes, Jesus can get tired.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:07:23] This kind of reminds me of John chapter 4, verse 6, where Jesus was described as being tired from a long walk, and he sat wearily. Notice the humanity of Jesus, he was tired, asleep on the cushion, and they woke him and said to him, naturally, "Teacher, do you not care that we're perishing?" Verse 39, "And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” So notice here he doesn't respond to the disciples. He says, hush, be still to the wind and the waves first, "And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm." So, Jesus, he doesn't do. Some of the students heard me talk about this last week at one of the high schools. He doesn't do some kind of ritual. He doesn't do some kind of like, you know, nothing that we see in Hollywood. He doesn't like, you know, the lights don't dim and candles are coming up and all this crazy stuff. No, he just says, "Hush, be still." And then it says "The wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” So they were terrified, their lives were in peril and they were afraid. Jesus kind of rebukes them and says, do you still have no faith? And then in verse 41, it says that "They became very much afraid." Hold on a second. He just calmed the wind and the waves. Why are they even more afraid? We'll get to that. And again they ask, just like I described before in Mark chapter 1, Mark chapter two, and Mark chapter 3. We're going to see this theme as we keep going through Mark, don't miss this, "They say Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” Again they are amazed, they are in awe. He has authority over teaching, he teaches like no other. He casts out unclean spirits like no other. He heals like no other. And now he has authority over nature. Who is this? They were in awe.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:10:24] Again, remember, we're in the boat. We've seen all these things. Now let's go back and let's see what God is wanting us to do with all of these things that we have just noticed. The first thing that I want you guys to see, is to recognize that Jesus is in control. Jesus is in control. Recognize that Jesus is in Control. Verse 35, "On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” And they obliged, "They left the crowd, and they took Him along in the boat." Did you guys notice something that I noticed? Jesus took them into the storm. He took them, the disciples, into the storm. He said to them, let's go to the other side. And these guys, the disciples were right where Jesus put them in the boat going into a storm. They gladly obeyed his orders to go, and here they are, they find themselves in the storm. Okay, let's stop and rewind. Hold on a second, Jesus takes us into the storm. Yes, Jesus takes us into the storm sometimes, he takes us into the storms of life sometimes. Why? James chapter 1 says, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Sometimes you and I have to go through the storms of life so that our faith can grow. Sometimes our faith has to get tested so that our faith can grow. Sometimes growth comes through adversity. I think Jesus was taking them through the storm to teach them a lesson on faith.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:13:07] I said this to some high schoolers, and I say this all the time to students, obedience to Christ does not give us immunity to storms. Obedience to Christ does not give us immunity to storms. And I tell the students, I'm going to tell you all this, if you guys are ever in a church and you hear a preacher talk about how when you put your faith in Christ, you're going to get rich, you'll never get sick, and you'll never suffer, leave. I'm sorry, pray for them, but that is just contrary to what we see in the scriptures. We know from looking at the life of Jesus that if we follow him, we are going to suffer just like he did, he even says that. Peter writes about it in First Peter chapter 4, he talks about how we are going to suffer for Christ. Sometimes we have to go through the storm for our faith to grow. Jesus was in control, recognize that. Verse 37, Suddenly, out of nowhere, "There arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up." And we see, "Jesus asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Recognize Jesus is the calm and sudden chaos. Recognize that Jesus is calm in sudden chaos. Life on earth can leave us feeling out of control, we are not exempt from the storms of life.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:15:01] Let me give you all an example of sudden chaos. I'll never forget it, four years ago, me and my wife noticed some things about our oldest son that were a little different. It reminded her of her uncle. it reminded her of her grandma talking about her uncle when he was younger, having the same symptoms. She said, Jermaine, I think we need to go to the doctor. I said, okay, go ahead, I'll stay back. She goes to the doctor. I think it was like half an hour or so passed by, and the doctor called me, and he said, Jermaine, your wife, and your son are on the way to the hospital. I've been around long enough to know, he's a pediatrician for 20 years, but long enough to know that when I see a blood sugar of 700, we got to do something. And if you don't know what that means, it basically means our blood sugar, normal blood sugar usually ranges from 80 to 180, his was 700. Okay, so he says they're on the way to the hospital right now, you need to pack a bag, you need to go there. Don't worry. I've called your sister-in-law; she's going to come and take care of the kids. Go. Here I am, sitting there and then sudden chaos, packing a bag like I'm having a kid right now. You know what I'm saying? Just pack the bag and we go. Doctors tell us your son has type one diabetes, here's a crash course on how to handle all of that. 48 hours later, we're back out into the world. Sudden chaos. I know some of y'all can relate to that, living in a fallen and broken world, you can be fine one minute and everything is perfectly calm, and then out of nowhere, chaos.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:16:59] That's what's happening in this boat, perfectly calm. And mind you, this is a serious storm, the disciples were fishermen, and they knew all the weather patterns and climates and all those things, and they knew how to respond to that. But this kind of storm was perilous, this kind of a storm led them to say, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Notice what they do, they go straight to Jesus. It doesn't say anything about them, like, oh, row, row faster! Go this way. Go that way. Come on, keep trying. What are you doing? Grab a paddle, let's go. They didn't try to work their way out of this on their own, they immediately turned to the one who could do something about it, the one who could calm the storm. Notice that that was their first response, not their last. Don't we like to try and figure things out on our own when we're going through chaos at first? And then we say, okay, let's just pray. No, Scripture says to cast our cares unto him because he cares. We should run to Jesus first, that is our best response when we are in sudden chaos, is to go to the calm, the one who can calm the storm first. God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. Psalm 46:1, that's who we run to, our refuge and our strength—trusting that he is there with us, right there in the storm. Lo, I am with you always, He says. We always need to go to him first, that is the best thing to do. Turn to the calm in the chaos and pray. Recognize that Jesus is the calm in sudden chaos.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:19:10] In verse 39, "He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm." Notice the power, that's a miracle, He did a miracle, Jesus did a miracle right then and there. It kind of reminds me of when, a year ago or so, yeah about a year ago, we, we being me and some students and some adult leaders, we went to Uganda on a mission trip. We spent about a week there. And, you know, we discipled students for three days straight, I mean, from sun up to sun down, there was a lot of work going on there. There was a group that went this year actually as well and did basically the same thing. And then at the end of the trip, we decided to have some fun just to kind of celebrate what God did, He saved a lot of people, and it was in the plans to go whitewater rafting. I told y'all I hate water, right? I told y'all that. Did I tell you that? Okay. And it was also in the plans for me to just tube down the Nile, just tube, just nice and easy, right? Well, we got there, and it turns out there were some crazy circumstances that they needed one more person to get into the raft in order for them to go. And they all look at me and say, we need one more. And I'm going, no, no, no. Well, I didn't want to be a party pooper, right, so I went, and I got in there. Now, mind you, there are different levels of whitewater rafting, apparently, some of you all know, I did not know that. I guess there's a level five, which, thank the Lord I didn't sign up for, because I am not about to flip on a raft, no. I went on a level three one. It doesn't really matter in my opinion, but I went on a level three. I will never, ever forget the size of this wave. And this is right off the bat too, like when we get in there, it's a rapid right away. I will never in my life forget the size of this wave, and how small I was, and also how I had no control. Y'all, this wave was going to eat me, and there was nothing I could do about it. There was nothing, completely out of control. Now, I want you to imagine being in that raft with me, seeing this huge wave coming. And then at the same time, someone says, hush, be still, and immediately everything is perfectly calm. What power!

Jermaine Arphul: [00:22:38] Let's rewind a little bit and go back. Why did Jesus sort of rebuke the disciples? They asked him, teacher, do you not care? He got up and rebuked the wind, and then "He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Hold on a second. Do we not have every right to be afraid if we're in peril, would we not be scared? Would you not be scared? I would be. I thought they were doing the right thing by turning to Jesus. But look, really quickly at verse 38 again, the disciples said, do you not care? Do you see that? Their heart posture was as if they were questioning his goodness and his character. They questioned his goodness and his character, and they didn't think that he cared. How many times have we been in life scenarios where we've had that question creep through our mind? Do you not care, Lord? Does he not care about me or what I'm going through right now? And it's right in that moment that you should also realize that your faith is being tested. Faith isn't about believing that you're going to be successful at whatever you're doing. Sometimes faith is about believing in God regardless of circumstances. As a matter of fact, it's not sometimes, it is trusting in God's heart, regardless of the circumstances at that moment. So I think what's going on here when he says, do you have no faith? He's trying to show them that their heart posture is one as if they're questioning his character and his goodness.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:24:40] And then, of course, my mind goes, okay, well, what should we have done? What should they have done? Should they have just been asleep in the boat being like, oh, we're about to die, it's okay, Jesus is in the back? Should they just have done nothing? I don't know about that, I think they did the right thing, they went to Jesus, and they asked for help. But rather than saying, do you not care, they should have literally said, Lord help us, Lord save us, we know that you have the ability to do so, so we're turning to you, Lord, help us. That's the faithful act.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:25:32] There are three guys in Daniel, in the Book of Daniel. Do you guys know them? Probably, you've heard the stories of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These guys were put into a fiery furnace because they would not worship King Nabu, I call him, and his gods. They were put in a perilous situation, out of control, they were going to get put into a blazing fiery furnace. In Daniel chapter 3 verse 17 it says, if we are thrown into the blazing furnace, this is the boys, the God whom we serve is able to save us. Sorry, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if he does not..." Do you see that? "But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." When you say, I think that God is going to deliver you from this thing that you're going through and then say, even if he doesn't, I still trust in him, that's real faith. Resting in his promises, and in his goodness, and in his character, that's a real act of faith. That's the kind of faith that God is calling us to. But, y'all, this is not the main point of this passage. It is an application looking at the storms of our life, turning to Jesus in the midst of the sudden chaos. Yes, that is true, but remember what I was saying before? Everybody was amazed at this Jesus, there was no one like him, there was no one that could teach like him, they'd never seen it before. There was no one that was casting out spirits like Jesus was doing. There was no one that was healing like Jesus was doing. They were all amazed and their response in verse 41 says they were even more amazed, and they were even more afraid, meaning that they were in awe. Y'all, we need to recognize that Jesus is God and that he is worthy of our worship.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:28:02] Here's the connection that I think the disciples made that we need to make. In the Old Testament, God, not man, is the one who commands and controls nature. They would have known this because that's all they had, and they knew these things, they learned about him all the time. For example, Psalm 65, verse 7 says, "Who stills the roaring seas, the roaring of their waves, and the tumult of the peoples." Psalm 89, verse 8, "O LORD God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty LORD? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. 9You rule the swelling of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them." Psalm 104:7, "At Your rebuke they fled, at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away. 8The mountains rose; the valleys sank down to the place which You established for them. 9You set a boundary that they may not pass over, so that they will not return to cover the earth." Psalm 106:9 "Thus he rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up, and he led them through the deeps, as through the wilderness." God is the one that stills the seas. He's the only one that can put limits on the seas. Nothing that man can do.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:29:25] Psalm 107:23, listen to this, you can kind of equate this to what's happening in Mark 4, "Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters; 24They have seen the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep. 25For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind." Jesus led the disciples into a storm, "Which lifted up the waves of the sea. 26They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths; their soul melted away in their misery. 27They reeled and staggered like a drunken man, and were at their wits’ end." The disciples were in peril and at their wits' end, "Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distresses. He caused the storm to be still." Can you see the parallels, "So that the waves of the seas were hushed."? Hush, be still, "Then they were glad because they were quiet, so He guided them to their desired haven." The response, "Let them give thanks to the Lord for his lovingkindness, and for his wonders to the sons of men!" Yahweh, God, controls the waters, controls the storms.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:30:52] The disciples were going, only God can do this. And hold on, we just saw Jesus do what only God can do. "Who then is this?" Jesus is God, he has to be, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being." Several verses in the Bible talk about Jesus being the Son of God, Jesus gives life, and he gives it abundantly. Jesus is the good Shepherd. Jesus is the author of life, Peter says in his sermon in Acts chapter 3 verse 15, he says. And Paul says that he's the wisdom of God. John says in chapter 1, verse 29, that Jesus is the Lamb of God. Jesus himself says in John 14:6 that “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." Jesus is living water for those who are thirsty, and you've all been called, you've been invited to drink from him. Anyone who believes in him may come and drink.

Jermaine Arphul: [00:32:29] And when Jesus rose from the dead, he proved that he was God, that he could forgive sin, and that he has the power to change my life and your life. By trusting in him for forgiveness, we can begin a new life with him as our guide. Y'all, church, Jesus is not just a man, He's more than a man, He's fully God, recognize and worship him. There's a quote from R.C. Sproul, and I want to leave you all with this before we transition to worship. He says this about this passage, "Not only do people tremble at his voice...the seas that have no ears listen to his command, and winds that have no knowledge know enough to stop blowing when he says, be still." Who is this man? Jesus is fully man and he's fully God. We need to be like Peter in Luke chapter 5 verse 8, when Jesus did the miracle of bringing all these fish into the nets. He didn't say, Hey, Jesus, man, I tell you what, I'll give you 50% of my fishing business. You don't have to set up the nets or anything like that, I just want to go ahead and give you, you know, part of this business so you can kind of help me make some more profits. No, no, no, he said, Depart from me, I'm a sinful man." Before that, it says, "He dropped to his knees." That's the response, if Jesus were to walk in here, we wouldn't say, Jesus, nice to meet you. I've been reading all about you. I'm a fan. No, we would all drop to our knees because he's holy, Jesus is different from any other person on the face of the earth; and when we're in the presence of the Holy One, we need to recognize it. We should drop to our knees, and we should worship him. We'll leave that up on the screen, and we'll have just a brief minute to think about that. Who is Jesus to you? If you were in the boat with the disciples and Jesus calmed the winds and the waves, what would your response be? To the One who the seas listen to his commands, and the winds stop blowing when he says, be still. Do that for a moment, reflect on that, and we're going to worship some more.



Recorded in Grapevine, Texas.