Both this page and the page “Thank God for the storm” link together. I am talking about storms—one of which could be your storm—one you might be in right now! Storms come and storms go. We can go through them and come out the other side. Storms come...to pass. Your present storm will pass.

Jesus has a purpose and is working towards a plan. We might not always see it clearly of course which is why we need to learn to trust Him, recognize His voice, know His word and cultivate a deep personal relationship with Him.

Imagine a married couple never getting to know each other properly in all respects.

When I make a coffee for example, I do not ask my wife if she wants milk because I know she does and I do not put sugar in her cup because I know she does not take sugar. I know this by close, regular, intimate association and communication.

Do you know what the Lord likes or dislikes? It’s all in the bible. There are definite things that He abhors and He has written them down. I’m not going to tell you...find out for yourselves!

In this story, we shall see that Jesus was, as usual (sometimes the bible says “as was His custom”), working to a pre-determined, specific plan and this is one.

When we read certain stories in the bible we sometimes forget that they are often a series of interwoven events. It is like sharing your testimony, such as, “We were doing this and then such-and-such happened.” The book of Acts is a prime example and the Gospel narrations are often like that too. I will refer to Mark chapter four today as such a series of events.

Our core text is Mark 4:35-41, but it really starts well before that. In verse one, Mark states that Jesus started teaching...Again!

Teaching is a very important part of His ministry and should be a very important part of ours also. You’ve got to have something to teach however. It is all very well in hyping people and ourselves up with positive faith affirmations and getting them to say the sinners prayer, get them saved and think we are doing great, but Jesus told us to make disciples! People can get all excited and jump and yell in a service, but behave totally different elsewhere. 

Our tasks should include the various aspects of evangelism, but we pastors in particular Must do more than hold church and have programs, no matter how good they may be. We really do not need props, because the word of God itself is the liberating, life-changing force. Present the truth and the truth itself is what makes people free. Jesus was about to set a key player free as we shall soon see.

The early parts of Mark 4 are often misunderstood, with the focus on the kinds of people who hear the message and what they do with it. People often often focus on the kinds of soil in which the seed is planted, of the different kinds of people, or on their responses, but this parable is not about them.

Much ado is made of all of the parables and Jesus clearly said that if we can understand this particular story, we can understand them all!

Jesus also said that we should be careful in how we hear and act on what we hear as well as what we hear. He clearly stated that the sower sows the word (Mark 4:14) 

The seed is the word!

Let’s see it again:
On that day, when evening had come, He told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” Mark 4:35 

It was evening time when most people are thinking of the evening meal, but His bread was to do the will of the Father. Most people are thinking of sleep and rest, but He was already in His rest. Sleeping came later.

He had a plan or an objective and it was to open a branch of The Jesus of Nazareth Evangelistic Association over there. He had a special appointment to keep with the man he had chosen to represent Him in that part of the world.

What I am going to do now is break this down because what happens is very important.

Let us look at it again, this time in the authorized version.
And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. Mark 4:35

That word for day is Hēmera. It is the space of time between dawn and dusk of course, but one meaning means Tame or Gentle!
Jesus was sending them over during the tame and gentle part of the evening. There was no indication whatever of a storm coming.

Cyclones, hurricanes and tornadoes create havoc and leave a trail of destruction behind them, but we are fortunate today to have technology to warn us of impending danger. We also have the natural warning signs such darkening clouds, temperature changes, feelings induced by atmospheric pressure or increasing winds. Wildlife activity often ceases, almost as if the birds in particular know something is coming and take cover. There were no such warning signs that day when Jesus told them that they were going over to the other side of the sea in ships.

I said, “Ships”...plural. That means there were other boats accompanying Him.

It stands to reason that if the word of God is not sown, there is no seed sown and thus no harvest. There are different kinds of harvests also, so it all depends on what we sow, where we sow it, to whom we sow it and what we say about it that matters. I am careful in where I sow my seed, because I adhere to the principle of sowing in good fertile soil...

Churches and other religious organizations differ in the matter of giving, The tithe is an example and I will not discuss this now, but please allow the Lord to direct you regarding money. Do not allow anyone, no matter who they are, to put pressure on you for your money. That is not correct. Be careful of people who keep doing that. Let the Lord inspire giving.

The Lord then revealed all there was to reveal to His disciples and to those who were joining themselves to Him and His group.
He didn’t hide anything.  Things are hidden For us and not From us! They are revealed only  to those who are in close intimacy with Him.
He did not tell them anything without a parable; but privately to His disciples (those who were peculiarly His own) He explained everything [fully]. Mark 4:34

OK. That’’s the preamble. It all leads straight into our core message.

On that same day [when] evening had come, He said to them, Let us go over to the other side [of the lake]. Mark 4:35

He had been in teaching mode all day and had an unfinished assignment, quite likely teaching more in the process when He told them that they were all going to the next assignment.

The Lord was going to minister to one man and call him into the ministry. He had chosen that man.

There is a big difference between the people who desire to enter the ministry or do something for God and those He chooses. He chooses us—we do not choose Him. We can see this principle in John 15:15-20; Ephesians 1:1-4; Deuteronomy 7:1-9; 1 Peter 2:1-10; Colossians 3:1-12; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-6; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17. This is not the pre-destination doctrine often taught, for we are all “called” as in invited to the Lord for salvation, but that is a matter of our free will choice.

The “calling” is to ministry. In Ephesians 4:8-16, Paul said that Jesus appoints the five ascension gift ministries  of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers to His Church. Man does not do that—He does.

Being “chosen” is an honour—a privilege and a sacred calling not to be taken lightly and there are clearly defined qualities and traits of a genuinely called “chosen one” most people would prefer to avoid. A quick analysis of Hebrews chapter eleven may reveal startling truths.

There are many times in scripture when we see the phrase “fear not”. On analysis, it is often a command!

Fear can attract the very thing we fear. Job’s problem was that the very thing he feared most was what happened to him.

When we fear something, it is like putting our trust in that thing’s ability to harm us or do what we fear it doing than we do in God. This is why we are often told, “Do not fear”.

Jesus has already won the victory over all of the power of the enemy. It is sometimes said that we are to fight the good fight of faith and whilst there is truth in that statement it is often misunderstood. Jesus cried triumphantly that it was finished at Calvary and this meant more than dealing with the sin issue. It meant that the authority that Adam gave him in the garden was reclaimed. John revealed in 1 John 3:8 that all of the enemy’s power or authority was eradicated.

This does not mean that he is not active in the earth, because he is. He is like that lion Peter spoke of in 1 Peter 5:8, but cannot resist us.

You might get a bloodied nose in the ring like Rocky did in those Rocky movies,  (Hey, Adrian! Duh! We dunnit), but it’s not over, ‘till its over and the referee lifts your hand and declares you the winner. We do not win by a points decision but by a TKO. The devil has been KO’d and It’s just a matter of time, till the referee says, “You’re Out!” and that day is fast approaching.

Jesus could sleep in that storm,because He was resting in God. There is a place by God whereby we can enter into His rest. This is part of our covenant promise. God rested on the 7th day after His labor, not because he got tired from hard work, but because He had competed His task. This does not mean that He has stopped doing things. On the contrary, His “work” is ongoing, but we are now part of it. If His work is already completed, we do not have to stress out, struggle and strive, trying to do things for the Lord, but co-laboring together with Him as the burden bearer.

I’m not talking about laziness or such things. I am talking about taking His light and easy yoke that is not burdensome on us.

How does this work in everyday modern life?

I like to give practical illustrations. Before I was saved, I was a heavy smoker. I tried so many times to quit it was not funny. I did this and did that but nothing worked and I was hooked. After I was saved, I was sitting in my home one evening reading my new bible and had a cigarette in my hand. I just decided that I did not need the stuff any longer and told the Lord, “I will quit for you.” No one in the church told me to quit! The Lord never said a word. It was my own decision and because “I” decided it, “I” wanted to do it. The Lord never said a word so it was my decision. Sometimes we need to do such things, but for the right motives. On this occasion, yours truly was going to be a great guy and say, “Look what I did for you.”

After several weeks of unsuccessful attempts, failures, reverting to old habits, I reached the position whereby I knew that it was now all or nothing.

I told Him, “Lord. I’ve tried and I can’t do it. It is your problem. I give it to you. Please help me and take it from me” and so on. Some time later, He told me a truth I have never forgotten. It was, “whey you learn to let go, My power will flow.”

The change was instantaneous. I never touched cigarettes again. The reason was that I had tried to carry a load myself without involving Him. It is an exchange of lives that matters.

The bible says that when Jesus died, I died with Him and when God raised Him from the dead, I was raised with Him. I had to learn that I was a dead man. When you are a dead man, things do not affect you!

Jesus was dead to everything the world offered Him, but was alive to God. By living on this earth as a dead man, He was able to rest in the provision, protection and stability of the Father’s way of doing things.

When those waves smashed into the boat, not one drop fell on Him. As far as He was concerned, He was going to step out of the boat onto the beach on the distant shore, because that was where the Father had sent Him.

If God has dispatched you on a specific assignment, He can do the same for you. I say it again. It has to be a God assignment and not a man made assignment.

Jesus was sleeping so peacefully and soundly , they had to shake Him awake, saying something very negative. They asked Him, “Don’t you care?” Only a few hours beforehand, He had revealed the secrets of the universe to them and only a short while before that healed many sick people and cast out demons. How quickly did they forget, but aren’t we like that too?

“Jesus. Jesus. Wake up. We are all going to drown. We are all going to die. Don’t you care?” They had forgotten that He said we are all going over to the other side.

Let us now look at something else He said. It is about prayer. In Mark 11 Jesus had cursed the fig tree by speaking to it in passing.

When Peter commented on it later, Jesus said:
...Have faith in God.
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark 11:22-24 

He told us to have the God kind of faith. He said “Whosoever”. This means that whosoever can have the God kind of faith. He said that the whosoever’s shall (not might be able) speak to the mountain (whatever your mountain is) and get results.

He did not tell us to pray about the mountain.

This is where most people fall down. They walk into trouble and start asking God to help them. So we should of course, but there are times when God expects us to deal with it ourselves. The reason is that He has given us the ability and authority to do so. We should also take into account that we can walk into that trouble,but should not be there.

He did not tell us to talk to others about your problems, although there are times we can and should share with others for mutual help and encouragement.

A common problem is that people turn to God or pray as a last resort. Put Him first. Get His mind on the situation. Get a word about it and then start saying that word! Speak that word to that mountain.

Jesus also said not to doubt in our hearts. Doubts are like cancers. Doubts can become words that when spoken become a creative force.

Jesus did not tell us to believe. He told us to believe that we receive when we pray. I emphasized the word them, because it does not appear in the original language.

Those waves kept pounding into that ship, over and over again until it was full to the brim—but it didn’t sink. The Greek word is Gemizō that describes the state of being so full, you could not get another drop into it and that it was so full, the boat began to bulge and swell. Normally, a boat would sink under such conditions, but Jesus was going on an assignment and nothing was able to prevent Him from fulfilling it.

He was sleeping like a baby in the stern in the middle of all that chaos, howling wind and drenching waves pounding into the ship to fill it to overflowing. Even if the hind part of the boat had a raised platform, anyone there would be drenched, cold and miserable—but it did not move Him.. 

We have to remember that everything Jesus did on the earth was as an ordinary human being, but He was able to sleep like a baby.

We shall now look again at the storm.

When they woke Jesus, He stood up in the stern and Spoke!

And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Mark 4:39

Sometimes we have a little difficulty in becoming full conscious, but He did was not merely wake up like that. The Greek word Diegeirō is used and it means much more than simply waking up.

When Jesus woke up, He jumped up, aroused, stirred up and immediately alert.

In our modern world we have to be very alert to things. The bible talks about waking up to those who slumber and it is not speaking about physical sleep.

Jesus told us of the ten virgins and every one of them was asleep when the bridegroom arrived.

We often think that this refers to the bridesmaids, but should look more into Jewish wedding manners and customs. It is more likely that these women were not brides at all but bridesmaids.
They should have helped the bride to be ready for the groom. Today we may liken them to different ministries that Jesus gave to His Church who should be helping The Church to be ready for the Lord’s appearance.

Jesus immediately knew what was happening and why and immediately sprang into action.

He stood up  and immediately dealt with the cause.

It is useless putting bandaid treatment on something without dealing with the thing that caused the problem. One dear lady in my church kept coming up for prayer for severe headaches. She received prayer and told the people she was healed and people gave her the attention she wanted. She was an attention getter; a time waster and her pride was the cause.

She kept returning with the same problem and the cycle went around and around.

I knew something was wrong and asked the Lord about it and He told me to stop praying for her. The Lord told me to tell her to stop it and start using her reading glasses. Her eyesight was the problem. Once she stopped her vanity and started wearing her glasses, the headaches stopped.

When He rebuked the wind, Jesus dealt with the cause of the problem first.

The word is Epitimaō. It is a straight up rebuke. “Stop that!” It was a censure or admonishment. He forbade it from operating. He gave it little respect or value and it was like He said “Stop that. Behave yourself. Is that all you can do?” It was as if He mocked it.

Jesus then said something to the sea or the waves. It was a “Be quiet!” This word for peace in this text is Siōpaō. 

You or I would probably tell it “Shut up!” He dealt with the cause and then dealt with the effect.

He had stopped the wind from doing its stirring and agitation and now told the waves to be still and to be dumb, hold your peace, be silent, settle down.

When He then told them to be still, it was an act of muzzling them. Constant yap, yap yap of dogs can be very annoying.  Muzzle the things.  Jesus muzzled the waves. That word is Phimoō.

This is where I got the title for the message. Shhhhh!

When Jesus told those waves to behave themselves it was like He said  “Shhhh” and a great tranquility immediately fell over the water and it became like a sheet of glass.

One of the words Mark used to tell us what happened is Kopazō and it means that the wind simply—ceased.  Wind often takes a little time to slow down and stop, but this time the wind literally grew tired! It relaxed and wore itself out so quickly that a great calm came. Mark did not say that it became calm, but a great calm or tranquility came over the storm. 

If you feel as if you have just had 15 rounds with Cassius Clay, then 15 with Joe Frazier and see Mohammad Ali waiting for you cheer up, you’ve got them on the ropes. Remember that TKO a little while ago? Postage stamp Christians might take a licking, but they reach their destination on the other side and there is a great calm ahead.

The Lord had said that He was going over to the other side of that sea and He got there.

Mark tells the story of the purpose for that journey in chapter 5 and I will not touch on that now.

What I want to do is to tell you that when storms come up as they sometimes do, several things need to be considered. 

One is that if God has sent you on that journey, He fully intends you to get there. If you are encountering a storm on the way, it could be for a variety of reasons, some of which I have touched on.

The devil could be trying to hinder you.

There are things that you are doing that you should not be doing

There are things you should be doing but are not

You have associations with people you should not be with

There are lessons to be learned in the process

God is giving you an opportunity to flex your own spiritual muscles and prove Him

God is trying to get your attention

In closing, please remember that storms do come and go and do not last forever. 

If you are in one right now and are doing everything right before God and there is nothing to hinder your progress, get alone with the Lord and ask Him for the solution.  Ask Him to reveal a specific word—for you, not what someone else did and then start seeing yourself stepping out of your boat on your distant shore. Speak to that mountain. If it is finances you need, don’t talk to God about them, but talk to them about God.

If it is a relationship issue, see that other person in the place where God says He wants him or her (not necessarily where you want them to be) and start talking to that issue, not the person about God. Don’t nag him or her. Pushing can have the reverse effect. Name this person before God in the process.

I could continue, but you know what I mean. I know, as I knew last time, that God is talking to specific people. He is on your case. He wants you to make it. He needs you to start telling that storm, “Shhhh”.

Robert