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Life is not in your control. That is the basic truth in life.
Jesus led the disciples into the boat to cross over to the other side. But a great storm came upon them.
Our life is like that. We need to get into the boat to get to the other side.
But storms can come at any moment. You cannot control when they come, or whether they come.
Storms are powerful forces. They can be overwhelming.
You are so small compared to the big storm. You are helpless in it. You can only try to withstand it and come out of it alive.
Storms create havoc and difficulty. But most of the time, they come and go. If you can withstand that storm, it will pass and calm will come. Storms are powerful, but most of the time, they’re temporary.
Storms may come and go, but their effects can remain.
The real power of the storm is the fear it leaves in your heart.
That’s the issue Jesus focuses on when he asks this question:
Why are you afraid? (Mark 4:40)
At the retreat, I shared the story of my year at the small law firm.
It was the year from hell. Being yelled at by my boss on a regular basis. Being chained to the desk 12 hours a day.
After I quit that job, I started my criminal law practice. I rented an office in the basement of a law chambers.
My landlord was a lawyer. When he walked by my office, I would tense up and get stressed out. He was not my boss. I was paying HIM rent.
I was no longer at my old job. But the effects of that stormy year were still with me.
The greatest power of storms is the fear it leaves in your heart.
Storms are powerful. The storm overpowered the disciples.
But Jesus had even greater power. That’s what Mark wants to show.
Jesus had power to still the storm.
Often, our circumstances themselves become the storm.
Financial difficulty becomes the storm. Bad health. A difficult and strained relationship.
These storms make us anxious, fearful and overwhelmed.
But Jesus is more powerful than those storms.
Jesus doesn’t necessarily take those circumstances away. But he nullifies the power of these storms.
He makes it so that those circumstances are no longer a storm.
Those same circumstances may exist, but they’re no longer a storm. It is calm water.
How amazing that is! That is the power of Jesus.
Maybe financial difficulties are still there. Maybe you’re still in poor health. But they are no longer storms.
They no longer have power to strike fear in your heart. You can live with it.
It no longer overpowers you or strikes fear in your heart. You can face it with great calmness.
When you have no more fear, you’re free. That’s when you can really live your life. You can live your life the way you’re supposed to.
Be driven by bigger purpose and dreams. Let love and passion drive you.
Living without fear is the best life to live.
A life connected with Christ is a powerful life that’s free from fear.
You have the power of Christ that stills storms. The storms become calm and have no more effect on you.
What a gift! What a treasure.
That is what St. Paul discovered in Christ.
That is why knowing Christ became the most precious to him:
I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him… I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:8, 10)
To know Christ is to know his power.
Faith is trust in the power of Christ. That faith gives you peace.
With that faith, you can withstand the storms of life and not become fearful. This is why faith is a gift.
I’ve come to realize that you never know what your faith really is until you encounter your own storms in life.
Faith is not what you say or think it is. Faith is how you respond to storms that overwhelm you and make you feel helpless.
The disciples left everything to follow Jesus. They were so inspired by his teachings, healings and miracles.
But when the storms came and overwhelmed them, they didn’t have faith. They were just like us.
But the good news is that today’s story is not about your faith. It’s about what Jesus does.
The disciples did not yet have faith. But what they did do was call out to Jesus. They didn’t just call out, they woke him up.
They woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38)
Jesus responded:
And waking up, he rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Be silent! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. (Mark 4:38)
It’s not about your faith. It’s about what God does.
Jesus, do you not care? The answer is a resounding “yes”, I do.
God is merciful. God hears your cry. God is awake to your calling out.
I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep. (Psalm 121:1-4)
Whether or not you have faith is not the issue here.
When the storms hit you, cry out to God.
You do not need strong faith right away. You simply need to cry out to God when you feel powerless and overwhelmed.
Don’t try to figure things out on your own. Don’t turn away from God.
Cry out to God. God will hear you and respond.
The disciples witnessed the great power of Jesus. The one who stilled the storm.
This was their response:
And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41)
When you experience the great power of God in your life, you will be filled with great awe. That is the beginning of faith.
Yesterday we had the funeral for Jacob. It was a difficult funeral.
Jacob was so young. He still had so much life to live. So many things to experience. Our hearts break for Marie and their children.
But we reflected how it’s not the length of life we live but the quality of life we live.
Jacob lived a good quality of life. He lived it fully.
Our time on earth is short. If we can stretch it out longer, that’s a blessing.
More than the length, it’s about the quality of life we live while we have life. And that life is to live free from fear.
The disciples did not have faith at first. But by the end, they had faith.
That faith freed them from fear. They lived boldly. That faith became the seed for our faith
As you experience the power of God in your life, your faith will grow.
God will grow your faith into a mighty source of strength that can withstand any storm without fear. That is what God will do.
But right now, even if you don’t have faith, take heart that God hears your cry.
When storms come into your life, cry out to God. Let Jesus do powerful things in your life.
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