A Haven in Turbulent Times (Matt 14:22-33)
by Rev. Jeremiah Cheung
[iframe http://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL74DC41E746B44947&hl=en_US 500 500]
Several stormy incidents are mentioned in the Bible. One is Jonah’s storm. Jonah took a ship headed towards Tarshish and suddenly a storm came up. During Jesus’ time, the disciples’ boat was swamped by a storm while they were on the lake. When Paul was on a ship to Rome, he was caught in a storm that appeared suddenly. Storms appear suddenly, allowing little time for preparations. Where is the safest place one can be when storms happen in life?
I. What are Life’s Storms?
In his first miracle, Jesus turned water into wine at Cana. Why did Jesus perform this miracle? The Bible said: The wine was gone. This is a storm in life. Why? Wine in a wedding represents the joys and pleasures of life, suddenly, the wine is gone. How can the wine be used up? When we prepare a wedding, we make a head count of how many people will be invited, how much food need to be prepared, and we prepare more than enough, so how can the wine be gone? Something must have happened which was beyond expectations, maybe some guests brought the whole family, or some guests drank a lot and so the wine was used up.
Isn’t it that way with life too? At first, everything goes on smoothly; then something unexpected happens. Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy impacted the whole world economy, terrifying flooding occurred in the Philippines last year – storms happen. At home, suddenly someone fell ill to cancer, a storm has come. Someone in the family has been kidnapped, a storm of life occurred. Job 5:7 “Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.” Job 14:1 “Man born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.” Life is full of trouble, we must be prepared.
II. Why do Storms Happen in Life?
1. God’s Discipline – Jonah’s Storm
We are all familiar with Jonah’s story. The Lord wanted Jonah to preach in Nineveh, but he was not willing, so he set off for Tarshish. Because Nineveh was the capital of Assyria and Assyria was Israel’s enemy, Jonah did not want to preach to them, he went instead to Tarshish. When the ship was in the middle of the sea, the Lord sent a great wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. Even the sailors became afraid and each cried out to his own god. Only one person wasn’t praying, only one person was fast asleep, that was Jonah. He wasn’t praying, he wasn’t afraid, he went off to sleep. The captain asked him, “How can you sleep?” Jonah said, “I am not praying, because I know what caused this storm, it is because of me, because I did not obey God. Throw me into the sea and the storm will stop.”
The Lord brought on the storm to bring Jonah to repentance. This was a storm of God’s discipline. Jonah’s name means `dove’, but he was a disobedient dove flying to a place God did not want him to go, so God sent a storm to discipline him. If you are in one of life’s storms now, you must examine yourself and see if it is a storm of God’s discipline, because he disciplines those he loves. And if you would but turn back, then you can begin a new path in life!
2. Satan’s Attack – Jesus Rebuked the Wind and the Waves
Mark 4:37-39 records Jesus and his disciples on a boat when a furious squall came up suddenly. Jesus was asleep. When his disciples woke him up, Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves. Who or what do we rebuke? Usually, we rebuke humans, animals, plants and trees, because all these have life, for how can we rebuke non-living things – winds, waves, stones, wood? But Jesus sternly rebuked the wind and the waves. Seemingly, there was some question about the wind and waves this time. Jesus wasn’t rebuking the wind and the waves. Jesus was reprimanding the power behind the wind and the waves, which was opposing God’s power, and that is, the devil’s power.
Mark 5:1 records that Jesus was on his way to Gerasenes, because a man was possessed by an evil spirit there. Jesus went to bind the evil spirit. The devil caused the storm, and that is why Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves. In life, some storms happen as a result of Satan’s attacks. He wants to keep us from walking in God’s path, lead us away from God, but as long as Jesus is in our boat with us, we need not fear. With Christ in my vessel, I can smile at the storm.
3. Doing God’s Will – Jesus Walked on Water
Matthew 14:22 “Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side.” Jesus urged his disciples to get into the boat, and he himself went up on a mountainside to pray. This is difficult for us to understand. The disciples obeyed Jesus and followed his will, yet they met a storm. Don’t we often say, as long as we live in God’s will then everything will go smoothly? Psalm 1:3 says `…whatever he does prospers’. Then why are there storms? We discover that those who walk according to God’s will encounter a lot of difficulties, too!
Joseph learned from his dreams that his brothers and his parents will bow down to him someday. But first, he was sold off by his brothers to Egypt as a slave for 13 years, yet he had followed God’s will! Moses went to see Pharaoh according to God’s will, but first Pharaoh increased the burden of the Israelites. After leaving Egypt, Moses faced the Israelites’ grumbling again and again, in fact, they wanted to stone him. Yet, he was doing God’s will! David was anointed by Samuel to be king at a young age, but for more than ten years he was pursued by Saul, he had to be a fugitive though he was obeying God’s will! Nehemiah gave up his duty as the king’s cupbearer to rebuild the city wall in Jerusalem, but enemies attacked and persecuted him, even the Jews. And he was doing God’s will! In the New Testament, the 12 apostles obeyed God’s commission, preached to the nations, as a result, one by one they were martyred for the Lord. John was exiled to the island of Patmos in his old age, even if he obeyed God’s will! The great apostle Paul obeyed God’s will all his life; he said, “I have not betrayed the vision from heaven”, but he died by martyrdom. That was despite his obeying God’s will!
Do not presume that when we obey God’s will we will not encounter difficulties. Neither think that everything will go smoothly as you walk in God’s will. Life will always have troubles and difficulties, the only difference is: when you obey God’s will, the Lord will increase your strength so that you are able to face them. When we obey God’s will and yet encounter storms in life, we must ask the Lord to increase our strength to face them.
3. Where is the Safest Place during Life’s Storms?
The Gospel of Matthew records Peter saying to Jesus, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus said, “Come.” Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. Sometimes we are biased against Peter, because Peter spoke and acted impulsively. All twelve disciples were inside the boat, but Peter said, “If it is you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Annoying? However, if you think about it, was it because Peter felt that the safest place to be in that storm was not in the boat but beside Jesus? `The boat is about to drown, it is not a safe place; to be beside the Lord, that is the safest place for me.’ When you meet life’s storms, where do you think is the safest place to be? Is it beside a good friend? with your family members? in money? in power? I hope that we will all be like Peter, and know that where the Lord is, that is the safest place to be.
From Peter, we can learn three things: First, prayers need not be lengthy, but must have substance. If Peter prayed quoting verses beginning from the Book of Genesis, then his `O Lord, save me!’ would have been uttered under water by then. Second, Peter had already walked some distance on the water. Although he began to sink, yet Peter had one unforgettable experience -he had once walked on water. Although the other 11 disciples did not sink into water, they did not experience walking on water. Third, I realized that when Jesus reached out and caught Peter, the Lord and Peter walked hand in hand towards the boat, for surely Peter wouldn’t have let go. Peter will never forget how he had walked with Jesus in the midst of the wind and the waves. This is such a precious experience, no matter how much money you have, you cannot buy this experience.
We may not ever have the experience of walking on water, but we can experience walking hand and hand with the Lord during life’s storms. The safest place to be during such times is beside the Lord. Paul wrote in 2 Tim 4:17 as he was facing death, “But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength.” When the Lord is beside us, we need not fear anything at all.
During life’s storms, the safest place is not in the boat, but beside the Lord. Is the Lord with you? Do you have the Lord with you?