two miracles here…

the third thing you do when you face a crisis and they will come is rely on GOD’s control. 

mark 4:39 (niv), JESUS got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “quiet!  be still!”  then the winds died down and it was completely calm.

this is the incredible power that JESUS demonstrated over nature.  the storm is about to capsize the boat and JESUS says, “quiet!  be still!” that’s really kind of a wimpy translation.  the greek literally means JESUS said, “sit down and shut up!”  HE wakes up and says to the winds and the waves, “sit down and shut up!”  instant quiet.  placid seas.

actually there are two miracles here.  first the winds stopped instantly.  we’ve all been in situations where the winds stopped instantly.  but if you’ve ever been out in a storm in a boat you know that even after the winds quit, the waves still keep going for a long period of time.  it takes time for a sea to quiet.  so it says that not only did the winds stop but the lake went absolutely placid.  double miracles.  amazing power! 

what is the point of all that?  just to show off?  no.  JESUS did that to point out that nothing is beyond GOD’s control. absolutely nothing.

just a thought from the front porch…  

HE cares about what’s going on…

during an unexpected crisis in my life i rely on GOD’s care.

HE’s not only close, HE cares about what’s going on.  He’s not only present, HE loves me. 

now the story of the unexpected storm is told in three gospels. in mark 4.38 (niv), the disciples said to HIM, “teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”  that’s a typical reaction isn’t it?  don’t you care, GOD, when we go through a crisis? 

the first thing we tend to do is question GOD’s love. “ what gives?  why is this happening to me?  LORD, don’t you care?  i’m facing this disaster, this crisis, don’t you care?  don’t you love me?”  the answer is, of course HE loves you.  absolutely HE loves you.  yes, HE cares. 

i heard a story about a pastor who went to the hospital to visit an elderly man who was dying.  he walked into the hospital room and there was an empty chair sitting by the bed and the pastor said, “i see you’ve already had a visitor today.”  the man said, “no, i need to explain that to you.” 

“many years ago, i went to another pastor and told him, ‘i’m having a hard time praying.  i just don’t know what to say.’  that pastor told me, ‘why don’t you get an empty chair and set it in front of you.  then just imagine JESUS CHRIST sitting in that chair.  then when you pray just talk to HIM in conversation like you would have with a friend.’  i started doing that and that’s how i learned to pray and i’ve done it ever since.” 

the pastor said, “that's a great story.  would you mind if i shared that with some other people?” so he finished the visit and left.  two days later the pastor received a phone call from the elderly man’s daughter.  she was in tears.  she said, “my father has passed away.  i don’t know what happened.  i had just fed him his meal and walked out of the hospital room for a little bit.  in a couple minutes i walked back in and he had passed away.  nothing had changed.  it was exactly the same except he had his arm outstretched on an empty chair.” 

you have no idea how much GOD cares about you.  you have no idea! if i tried to explain it, i couldn’t!  the bible says it’s wider, greater that anything you can imagine, how much GOD cares about you. 

just a thought from the front porch…

two different responses…

now there are two different responses to an unexpected storm.  matthew 8.24-25 (niv), without warning a furious storm came up on the lake so that the waves swept over the boat.  but JESUS was sleeping.  the disciples went and woke him up saying, “LORD, save us!  we’re going to drown.”

this shows how serious the reaction was and how serious the storm was.  these disciples were not novices.  they were professional fishermen.  they grew up on this lake.  it wasn’t just a little choppy water.  if they thought they were going to die, this must have been a life-threatening storm because these guys were pros and the pros panicked.  that’s how serious it was. 

the greek word for storm here is the word we get seismograph from.  what does a seismograph do?  it rates earthquakes.  the word literally means “violent shaking”.  it says the waves swept over the boat.  if you’ve ever been in that kind of situation you know that’s scary.  so they panicked.

compare that to JESUS’ reaction to the storm.  HE was filled with peace.  it says a furious storm came up on the lake and the waves swept over the boat and in at the end of verse 24 it says, but JESUS was sleeping.  sleeping!  you talk about a heavy sleeper!  these guys are professionals but the water’s pouring in and JESUS is sawing logs! 

this tells me two things about JESUS:  one, HE’s human.  HE had just taught all day and HE was worn out.  HE was fatigued and HE needed HIS sleep.  JESUS understands when you get tired and fatigued.  HE understands.  HE’s been there. 

but it also tells us that HE wasn't worried.  HE knew the FATHER would take care of HIM.  this is a picture of complete trust in GOD.  HE’s not worried about the storm.  HE’s sleeping through it.  i think HE was giving a visual object lesson.  HE set an example for HIS disciples. 

did you know that sometimes sleeping can be a statement of faith? “i’m not going to worry about it.  i can’t do anything about it. i’m going to bed!  i trust GOD.”  sleeping can be a statement of faith.  it says i’m trusting GOD.  i’m not worried about it. 

isn’t this typical?  ironically, human reaction is the opposite. usually when a crisis occurs we lose sleep.  when a crisis happens, our mind goes into overdrive, we lay awake wide-eyed with our minds going a mile a minute, worrying.  americans spend over a half a billion dollars a year on sleeping aids.  why?  because we live in a very fearful society. 

but the point here is that JESUS could sleep anywhere.  HE’s not afraid.  the boat is crashing in the waves and HE’s sawing logs!

just a thought from the front porch…

they are unpredictable…

crises in your life are inevitable, they are variable, they are impartial and they are unpredictable.  they can come suddenly, unexpectedly. 

in the story of JESUS and the storm, the disciples got in the boat and went out on the lake of galilee and it says in matthew 8.24 (niv), without a warning a furious storm came up.

the mediterranean sea is relatively near and storms often sweep in real quickly into the lake of galilee.  there are some steep mountains there and storms can come up quickly. 

if you talk to pilots, they talk about clean air turbulence when they’re flying.  you can’t see it but, when you hit it, you feel it. 

a crisis is like that.  you can’t see it coming.  none of us can predict tragedy.  that’s what scares us about it.  you don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month, next year.  you can’t predict it but when you hit it, it will hit you.

a fifth reality about a crisis is, i can choose my response to it.

in looking at verse 24 in its entirety we see two responses.  in verse 24a we have the response of the disciples.  in 24b we have the response of JESUS.  there are two options when you have a crisis.  have you noticed you can have two people, put them in the same crises and they react differently.  different responses.  the options you have when you face a crisis:  you can be filled with panic (like the disciples in 24a) or you will be filled with peace like JESUS. 

we’ll look in more detail at this tomorrow.

just a thought from the front porch…

the only thing CHRISTianity exempts you from…

another fact about crises is they are impartial.  they happen to both good people and to bad people.  crises happen to believers as well as unbelievers. 

matthew 5.45 (niv), HE sends the rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  that means CHRISTians are not exempt. 

the only thing CHRISTianity exempts you from is hell.  you’re going to have the same problems everybody else does, you just have a different source of power to deal with them.  you will experience as a believer, defeats, depression, discouragements, disappointments, diseases.  the only thing CHRISTianity exempts you from is hell.  what GOD gives you is the power to overcome those problems. 

some people imply that if you get saved, if you give your life to CHRIST, you’ll never have any more problems.  that’s just not true.  you’re living proof of that!  so am i.  no matter how committed you are you’re going to have problems. 

so might say, “if you're in a crisis, you must have disobeyed GOD.”  that’s not necessarily true either.  it is true that a lot of problems we bring on ourselves when we disobey GOD.  but some problems come in spite of the fact that you’re doing the right thing.  JESUS told the disciples to get into the boat and they obeyed and they sailed right into a storm.  they were obedient and experienced a crisis.

just a thought from the front porch..

facing an unexpected crises…

here are some safety tips i read this week…

1)       do not ride in an auto because they cause 20% of all fatal accidents. 

2)       do not stay at home because 17% of all accidents happen there. 

3)       do not walk in the street; 15% of all accidents happen to pedestrians. 

4)       do not travel by air, rail or water; 16% of all accidents result from these activities. 

5)       only .001% of all accidents happen in church. so go to church.  

the fact is life can be dangerous.  but solomon in proverbs 3.25-26 (niv) says, have no fear of sudden disaster for the LORD will be your confidence.  GOD doesn’t want you to be uptight when you face unexpected crises in your live.  you’re going to have them constantly throughout life. in other words crises are inevitable.  you’re going to have them. 

james 1.2 (niv) says, when you face trials.  no one has an easy time through life.  we all have to deal with problems.  life is one continuous string of problems.  life is a consistent solving of those problems.

another facts about crises is they are variable.  there are many varieties of crises.  they’re not all the same. 

some are situational.  that means external circumstances that work against you, murphy's law – if anything can go wrong it will.  that’s a situational crisis.

relational crises.  relationships when they’re strained to a breaking point can be a crisis.  between a parent and child, a husband and wife, a man, a women.

emotional crises.  when people are overwhelmed by feelings, overwhelmed by depression, by fear, by guilt, by regret, by worry, by anger. 

there used to be a soap opera a long time ago called “secret storm”.  a lot of people are having secret storms in their life.  on the outside everything looks cool, placid, everything’s all right, but inside they are churning in an emotional crisis.

just some thoughts from the front porch..