Storms in a life journey with Jesus-2

하나님은 우리의 피난처시요 힘이시니 환난 중에 만날 큰 도움이시라 ² 그러므로 땅이 변하든지 산이 흔들려 바다 가운데 빠지든지 ³ 바닷물이 흉용하고 뛰놀든지 그것이 넘침으로 산이 요동할찌라도 우리는 두려워 아니하리로다(셀라). God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. ² Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, ³ though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah (Ps. 46:1-3).

²³ 배에 오르시매 제자들이 좇았더니 ²⁴ 바다에 큰 놀이 일어나 물결이 배에 덮이게 되었으되 예수는 주무시는지라

 ²⁵ 그 제자들이 나아와 깨우며 가로되 주여 구원하소서 우리가 죽겠나이다 ²⁶ 예수께서 이르시되 어찌하여 무서워하느냐 믿음이 적은 자들아 하시고 곧 일어나사 바람과 바다를 꾸짖으신대 아주 잔잔하게 되거늘 ²⁷ 그 사람들이 기이히 여겨 가로되 이 어떠한 사람이기에 바람과 바다도 순종하는고 하더라. ²³ And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴ And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." ²⁶ And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷ And the men marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?" (Matt. 8:23-27)

FCF: We tend to fear death amid storms in a life journey with Jesus.

주제: 예수님은 만물의 통치자이기에 인생의 풍랑에 중에도 예수님을 의지해야 합니다.                               

Theme: Because Jesus is the Ruler of all things, we must trust Him in the face of storms in life.

Introduction: As driving through a storm dims our sight, so living through a storm in life dims our sight of faith. While focusing on overcoming it, we may lose sight of the Lord’s presence. However, being conscious of the presence of Christ during a tempestuous storm in life is critical in overcoming faith-paralyzing fear. We often forget Christ is with us as we go through a life-threatening storm. The eye of faith is dimmed. The power of faith is dwarfed. We feel at a loss without knowing what to do next. We forget to see Christ who is always with us and flounder in a violent storm in life. When we are panic-stricken, we are blind to the presence of Christ, which is within us. This is exactly the way the disciples were.

When they were with Jesus in land, watching the manifestations of His divine wisdom and power, the disciples didn’t feel a need of Jesus working for them. According to the Lord’s command, they were going to the other side of the lake with Jesus, they were at first in peace, rowing toward the destination. However, when a violent wind threw them into panic, they summoned all their strengths to drive their boat to the shore. However, all their efforts went futile against the raging sea and roaring winds. Until then, they didn’t suppose they needed the Lord for facing the tempest. Notice the timing that they turned to Jesus for help. They were helpless in rescuing themselves from the storm. At that moment, they came to think of the Lord and came to Him. They woke Him up, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” The storm they encountered revealed not only the limitations of their faith, wisdom, and power, but also their fear and worry. Furthermore, it revealed who Jesus is and what He can do. Storms in a life-journey with Jesus do the same.

When we see our limitations during storms in a life journey with Jesus, we are ready to turn to Jesus for help. We are ready to see who Jesus is and what He can do for us. It is a best time to experience the Lord’s sovereign control over all things. This is what we can learn from the panic-stricken disciples. No matter how hard they might have tried, they couldn’t extricate themselves from the overwhelming thunderstorm. It is nothing wrong for them to try to save themselves from drowning. It is quite natural for the to do their best without waking the Lord up. They may not have wanted to disturb the Lord’s sweet nap. Through the storm, however, they realized they needed the Lord. Surely, salvation came not from them, but from the Lord. The Lord calmed down the raging sea and violent wind and brought them safely to the land. Again, this story is didactic in that it teaches who we are and who Jesus is. We learn from the story that Jesus has authority over nature. He can quell storms in our lives. Knowing this truth, we we must trust Him rather than fear. With this mind, let’s get into the second major point, which is…   

      I.         인생의 풍랑은 우리의 한계를 드러낸다.

Storms in life reveal our limitations.

    II.         인생의 풍랑은 예수님의 주권을 드러낸다.

Storms in life reveal Jesus’ sovereignty.

Storms in life are a revelation of the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is not only perfect man but also perfect God. The tempest in the Sea of Galilee obeyed His powerful voice and showed homage to His divine presence. All His healing miracles, His teachings, the manifestations of His supernatural power, and His resurrection demonstrate the Person of Jesus as the Son of God. Such miracles as turning water into wine, feeding tens of thousands with five loaves of bread and two fish, walking on the water, or raising Lazarus from the dead, reveal His divine authority over nature, life and death, which implies He is the sovereign Creator, Ruler of all things. All these miracles are not intended to show off Jesus’ power, but to demonstrate His divinity and call for faith in Him as Savior and Lord. The apostle John records the purpose of sings and miracles as follows: ³¹ 오직 이것을 기록함은 너희로 예수께서 하나님의 아들 그리스도이심을 믿게 하려 함이요 또 너희로 믿고 그 이름을 힘입어 생명을 얻게 하려 함이니라. ³¹ but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (Jn. 20:31).

This verse gives a crucial interpretive key to understanding the signs and miracles of Jesus Christ. All of them point to the truth Jesus is the Anointed One, the Son of God and we are to trust Him to receive eternal life from God. With this mind, we are to read all the miracles, signs, or wonders recorded in the Gospels. The miracle we are dealing with now in Matt. 8:23-27 reveals the person and work of Jesus. Now, let’s see what we may find in the narrative about Jesus.

First, Jesus is our caring Companion. Jesus was so tired of ministering to the crowds the whole day. So, he fell fast asleep in the stern. All of a sudden, a strong squall of cold wind broke the calmness of an idyllic night. The sail began to flutter loudly. The disciples took immediate action to get the boat through the storm to the destination. But They were unable to fight the high waves and the terrifying whirlwind. They found themselves caught up the raging tempest. They tried to steady themselves in the canting boat. They shuddered with terror as a flashing strike of lightning through a dark night. Heaving waves tossed the boat back and forth. Wave after wave surged against its dies. Some of the disciples pulled at the oars, while others wrestled to subdue the fluttering sail. This unexpected tempest instantly threw the disciples into panic.

In the meantime, there was a quiet eye amid the tempest. The Lord was fast asleep. The disciples interpreted His slumber as His uncaring for them. They saw His inaction as absence of His concern and care. Mark records their complaint as follows: 선생님이여 우리의 죽게 된 것을 돌아보지 아니하시나이까? "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" (Mk. 4:38). They inferred from the Lord’s inaction that He was not caring about them even though they were dying. At first, they seemed to understand the Lord fell asleep because of a tiring schedule throughout the whole day. At first, they didn’t care even though the Lord was not giving them a hand against the tempest. They may have thought that they would be fine through the storm. However, when they felt as if they were perishing in the sea, they turned their eyes to the Lord, finding out He was still sleeping in the midst of such a horrifying situation. So, they were kind of blaming Jesus for not caring about their predicament.

However, Jesus knew what was awaiting them when He said, “Let’s go to the other side of the lake.” Since He was able to put the tempest under His authority, He was neither disturbed nor agitated. He was in complete calmness because He trusted His Father. Indeed, Jesus was still with the panic-stricken disciples. The disciples should have had calmness like the Lord even in the midst of the life-threatening tempest because they were with the Lord in the same boat. But they at first didn’t think the Lord wouldn’t be much help to them in reaching the shore through the storm. However, when they were at the end of their wits, they turned their attention to Jesus for help. Whatever they were thinking about Jesus doesn’t seem to be right because Jesus was perfectly caring about them and knew how to rescue them from the storm. If they had remembered Jesus was their caring Companion, they wouldn’t have been paralyzed by fear of death.

In fact, the Lord was in perfect peace in the midst of the storm because He trusted His Father’s care and power. In Moments with the Savior: A Devotional Life of Christ, Ken Gire wrote: “Jesus is fast asleep. What a profound slumber must have overcome the weary Messiah. And what a profound faith He must have had in the Father’s care. For it is not the wooden hands of the stern that shelter Him from the storm, but the powerful hands of His heavenly Father. Jesus, however, is the only One in the boat who knows that. The others are in a frenzy. With the sea threatening to swallow them, they shake Jesus awake, yelling at Him to drown out the competing howls of the wind. “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Jesus awakes to a dozen pairs of faithless eyes, bloodshot with terror. He turns His piercing gaze toward the storm. He gets up and speaks to the wind first and then to the waves, almost as if speaking to unruly children, playing too loudly in the house. “Quiet! Be still!” What a wonderful Companion Jesus is! Don’t you want to have such a caring Person in your life-journey?

However, our problem lies in a frustration that arises from our long, repeated attempts to wake Jesus up in our life-threatening trouble. Some of you may have been trying to shake Jesus awake in your cry. Others of you have cried out, “Lord, Lord, why are you not taking care of this problem of mine? Why are you standing aloof without doing anything for me?” Certainly, you feel uncared by Jesus like the disciples must have felt about Jesus. I believe it is part of the Lord’s training of our faith. Saints in the Bible went through such a long process of struggle between faith and doubt.

David also doubted the Lord’s help as he went through his elongated problem. He was disappointed with His seeming inaction and uncaring attitude. He expressed his frustration as follows: 여호와여 어느 때까지니이까 나를 영영히 잊으시나이까 주의 얼굴을 나에게서 언제까지 숨기시겠나이까 ² 내가 나의 영혼에 경영하고 종일토록 마음에 근심하기를 어느 때까지 하오며 내 원수가 나를 쳐서 자긍하기를 어느 때까지 하리이까 ³ 여호와 내 하나님이여 나를 생각하사 응답하시고 나의 눈을 밝히소서 두렵건대 내가 사망의 잠을 잘까 하오며. How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? ² How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? ³ Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death (Ps. 13:1-3). But his frustration gave way to his faith in Yahweh’s unchanging love. He ended his song with his confidence in Yahweh and his promise to praise Him: ⁵ 나는 오직 주의 인자하심을 의뢰하였사오니 내 마음은 주의 구원을 기뻐하리이다 ⁶ 내가 여호와를 찬송하리니 이는 나를 후대하심이로다. ⁵ But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. ⁶ I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me (Ps. 13:5-6).

Here is what we should affirm as we go through a life-threatening storm in a journey with Jesus: ⁴ 이스라엘을 지키시는 자는 졸지도 아니하고 주무시지도 아니하시리로다 ⁵ 여호와는 너를 지키시는 자라 여호와께서 네 우편에서 네 그늘이 되시나니 ⁶ 낮의 해가 너를 상치 아니하며 밤의 달도 너를 해치 아니하리로다. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? ² My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. ³ He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. ⁴ Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. ⁵ The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. ⁶ The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night (Ps. 121:4-6).

The Lord Jesus is our ever-present Companion, who keeps us as our Good Shepherd, as He was with the disciples in the middle of the storm. All kinds of stormy trouble may rock and shake us and try to destroy our faith in Christ. We may misunderstand His seemingly long inaction as a sign of His absence. However, He is always with us because He is within us through the Holy Spirit. We can never run away from His presence. We are living in His world. David says, ⁷ 내가 주의 신을 떠나 어디로 가며 주의 앞에서 어디로 피하리이까 ⁸ 내가 하늘에 올라갈찌라도 거기 계시며 음부에 내 자리를 펼찌라도 거기 계시니이다 ⁹ 내가 새벽 날개를 치며 바다 끝에 가서 거할찌라도 ¹⁰ 곧 거기서도 주의 손이 나를 인도하시며 주의 오른손이 나를 붙드시리이다. ⁷ Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? ⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! ⁹ If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, ¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me (Ps. 139:7-10).

When we are in trouble, we should talk to Jesus right away because He is within our hearts. Truly, Jesus is our caring Companion. This is the truth we should hold unto by faith. But many of us will go through a period of doubt, disappointment, or frustration as we struggle through storms in life. Some storms in life pass quickly and so are manageable. But some last for a long time. We do not know when they will come to an end. During this process, we cry out to the Lord for immediate help. But the Lord seems to be sleeping, uncaring about us. In such a time, we must trust the Lord Jesus who truly cares about us. He has the best in store for us. We must repeat these nuggets of truth to ourselves and pass through them with Jesus Christ our ever-present Companion. He never sleeps nor slumbers. He is there with us, knowing what we are going through and what we need. When He gets up to rebuke storms in our lives, we will realize how loving and caring the Lord is for us. Jesus Christ is our eternal Companion who died for our sin on the cross and rose again from the dead. So, we are to trust Him for life and death, no matter what happens to us or no matter what we go through in life.  

Second, Jesus is our powerful Rescuer. The disciples faced the two issues within their hearts with regards to Jesus Christ. The first issue was whether Jesus was truly caring about them or not. They raised this question because Jesus was sleeping fast when they were about to perish in the sea. So, they tried to wake Him up. Indeed, Jesus rose up and stood facing toward the storm and waves. They were watching Jesus being about to do something for them. So, the first issue seemed to be resolved. However, another issue came up, which was about His power. Could He do something to rescue them from the terrifying tempest and lashing waves? Since they were about to perish, their minds were not working properly. They were gripped by fear of death. At any rate, they assumed there would be something Jesus could do for them. They couldn’t have imagined Jesus would rebuke the storm and waves as if a father were rebuking their unruly children in the house. They had seen such stupendous miracles as cleansing the leper, casting out evil spirits, and rebuking the fever. Could they have inferred from their experiences with Jesus that Jesus had the authority over diseases and unclean spirits? Then, could they have inferred from them that Jesus had authority over natural elements, storms, waves, waters, etc.?  

Jesus is a Savior, which means He delivers His people from sin, danger, trial, or persecution. The name Jesus suggests He is Savior. The storm episode is recorded in all the four Gospels. The book of Matthew records it twice in 8:23-27 and 14:23-33. The second event took place after He fed tens of thousands with the five loaves of bread and two fish. After sending the crowd home, Jesus went up to a mountain by himself to pray. Night fell while He was there praying alone. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a tempest had risen. They were struggling to fight heavy and high waves. About three o’clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them, walking on the water, knowing they were in trouble. Indeed, He came to rescue them from the tempest, whereas He was sleeping in the stern when the first storm episode took place. He rebuked the storm and the waves in the first episode to deliver His disciples from perdition in the sea. But in the second occurrence, the disciples failed to recognize Jesus coming toward them through the storm. They mistook Him as a ghost. They were flabbergasted. On top of their fear of the tempest, they were terrified by fear of a ghost. So, they were even more convinced they would perish in the sea, assuming the Lord was away from them, unable to save them from the tempest as He had done so in the past.  

These two stories demonstrate the truth that Jesus is our almighty Deliverer. We must hold unto this truth as we go through a strong wind. We have watched many parts of Florida devasted by Hurricane Ian. People are in trouble. We can easily imagine how terrifying and devasting real storms are, how they rob us of faith and hope. Even though the disciples in the second episode experienced the Lord’s rescue awhile ago, they were under deep water. They were heavily beaten up by the wind. Their boat was filled with chilling water. Their destination was in no view. When they were totally exhausted and felt helpless, Jesus came to their aid. How did He come to them? Well, He came toward them by walking on the water. Who would expect Jesus to come to their rescue? When they least expected of Jesus’ rescue, Jesus indeed came to them to save. Again, Jesus intended to teach them about His person and work. So, He had been waiting for a right time to rescue them and teach them of His divine power. However, the disciples had no idea what Jesus was doing for them and what He had in His mind for them. Being frightened, they saw something approaching them when a flash of lightning dissipated darkness for a few seconds at three or four o’clock in the morning.

In their mind, it couldn’t be their Savior. In their sight, it was a ghost. They assumed that it might be a time to answer the call of death. They thought the angel of death came to claim their lives. They never imagined it could be their Lord. Hearing their terrified cries, the Lord tried to calm them down, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” At first, they were in doubt. But soon they came to realize it was their Lord to rescue them from what they feared. They were saved from the storm at the moment they felt they were dying in the water. Instead of calming down the tempestuous storm far away, Jesus Himself came down where they were suffering and walked through the storm into the midst of their suffering. Again, this fact illustrates the truth that Jesus really cares for His people, suffers together with His own people, and eventually saves them from trials in His time.  

When we go through a turbulent time and suffer doubt, fear, or frustration, we must remember the Lord Jesus is our powerful Deliverer. With this truth in mind, we must face storms in life and go through them with the Lord. We may feel that the Lord is not with us when we go through tempests in life. As we have seen in the two episodes, Jesus is with us. Even though we may not feel His presence, Jesus is still with us. Also, He is our compassionate Intercessor. Hebrews 7:25 says, 그러므로 자기를 힘입어 하나님께 나아가는 자들을 온전히 구원하실 수 있으니 이는 그가 항상 살아서 저희를 위하여 간구하심이니라. “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” Unlike in the two stories, Jesus may not quell our storms right away. Even though we try to wake Him up and call His attention to our serious issues in life, Jesus knows everything about us and what we are going through internally and externally. Like the psalmist, we may call Jesus as our present Help. Storms in life are under Christ’s sovereign control, we should trust Christ as our present Help. He intercedes for us, coming to our aid in the midst of storms. He calms us down by grace, encouraging our faith. We should not misunderstand Christ who is coming to our rescue. We should not misunderstand Christ’s goodness. We should neither let our fear paralyze and cripple our faith nor misunderstand Christ.

Needless to say that we are quite often disturbed and terrified by gigantic storms in life like the apostles, without knowing the fact that Jesus is our High Priest interceding for us. We are never out of His reach, though we feel as if He were far away from us. As a matter of fact, however, we may lose sight of the fact that Jesus makes intercession for us when we are overwhelmed by the monstrous bellow of a storm and thunderous dark night sky. All we see around is a specter of drowning to death. No matter how hard we try, we are unable to save ourselves from them. The apostles had no power to save themselves from the storm. They may have been thrown into the raging sea and drowned. Or they may have luckily clung to a panel broken out of the boat, as in many fascinating stories of deliverance. But Jesus was with them. Or Jesus was coming to rescue them. This truth comforts, strengthens us, and gives us hope for salvation. Surely, Jesus watches over us all the way through all our trials. He never takes His eyes off from us. We are His precious people whom He shed His blood to redeem from eternal hell. Thus, we must recall the fact that Jesus is our powerful Rescuer and draw comfort and strength from His love.

Indeed, Jesus our caring Companion and powerful Rescuer. Thirdly, Jesus is our sovereign Lord. Surely, Jesus is with us through our life journeys, our storms in life. He truly cares about us. His care for us is manifested through His help or rescue. He is both our Companion and Helper. This truth should never make us use Him only for our benefits. If we experience His care and power, we should bow down before Him because He is truly our sovereign Lord who controls all things for His glory and our good. The fact that He walked on the water and controlled the wind and waves lead us to one inevitable conclusion that Jesus is divine. The apostles came to confess Jesus as the Son of God as a result of their experience with Jesus’ divine power.

Who could command the natural elements at His disposal? The hurricane-like wind and raging waves were at His command. It is all because Jesus is Creator. He is sovereign over all His creation. Nothing happens apart from His permission. Jesus permitted the storm to buffet His disciples. He permitted it to scare them. He permitted it to test their faith. He knew what he was doing for His disciples. Indeed, Jesus Christ is the second Person of the holy Trinity. As Thomas said, “My God and my Lord,” Jesus is our God and Lord over all creation. Therefore, we can humbly commit all our cares and concerns to Him. We are to be convinced that Jesus perfectly knows what we are going through and that He will come to our aid. We are to be convinced that Jesus is the sovereign Lord over all of our lives. The one thing we are required is to trust Jesus as our Savior and Lord.

Surely, the apostles feared drowning in the sea. But when they watched Jesus rebuking the winds and the sea, they marveled, saying, "What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?" Actually, they were at first speechless, processing in their minds what they were watching and what was happening right in front of them. They were raising a question, “What kind of man is this Jesus?” They had seen His miracles, healing miracles, exorcisms, etc. They believed Jesus was a great teacher of the law. They believed Jesus was a great miracle worker. They believed Jesus was a great physician. They were inferring from their experiences that Jesus might be the Messiah He claimed to be. So, they decided to follow Him. However, His supernatural power of calming down the storm and the sea was something they had never imagined in their minds. Like the Israelites, who were jammed between the Red Sea and the most powerful army of Egypt in the world and completely terror-stricken, and soon watched the great ocean beginning to be parted right in front of their eyes, the apostles were under great awe and wonder. For the first time, they may have felt divine awe before the presence of Jesus. They began to change their thoughts about the identity of Jesus. He was not merely a great prophet of God, but primarily the Son of God. They witnessed the divinity of Jesus.

For this reason, they felt great fear before Jesus. Mark records it this way: 저희가 심히 두려워하여 서로 말하되 저가 뉘기에 바람과 바다라도 순종하는고 하였더라. 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?" (Mk. 4:41). Their fear of the storm turned into their fear of Jesus, which was kind of awe before the presence of God. Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah. This is the conclusion of every miracle episode. The conclusion of the second storm episode in Matt. 14:23-33 is the same; the apostles worshiped Jesus, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God” (14:33). Every time we experience Jesus’ companionship and miraculous help, we should feel reverential awe whereby we praise Him as the Son of God. Worship is a natural outcome to those who have experienced Jesus’ deity proven in His rescue work. We can’t truly revere Jesus only as a moral teacher without worshiping Him as the Son of God. He commands us to worship Him as Savior and Lord. But some deny the deity of Jesus. They only admire Jesus for His moral excellences. But if He is morally excellent, then His every word recorded in the Bible is to be true. Denying His claim on His deity is impossible without denying the excellences of His moral example and teachings.    

The former president Ronal Reagan said, “A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father's shop. One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father's shop. He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside, walking from place to place, preaching all the while, even though he is not an ordained minister. He does this for three years. Then he is arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal, so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family cannot afford a burial place for him so he is interred in a borrowed tomb. End of story? 이 학교 교육을 받지 못하고 재산도 전혀 없으며 어떤 글도 기록으로 남기지 않은 이 젊은 사람이 지금까지 살았던 모든 통치자, 왕, 황제, 정복자, 장군, 제독, 학자, 과학자, 철학자가 남긴 영향력보다 더 큰 영향을 남겼습니다. 이것을 어떻게 설명할 수 있을까요? 분명 이분은 자기가 자신에 대하여 말한대로 바로 그런 분임에 틀림 없습니다. No, this uneducated, propertyless young man who...left no written word has, for 2000 years, had a greater effect on the world than all the rulers, kings, emperors; all the conquerors, generals and admirals, all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who have ever lived -- all of them put together. How do we explain that?...unless he really was who he said he was." 

The apostles came to believe all of Jesus’ claims and teachings after they witnessed the risen Christ. Even after they witnessed His supernatural power over nature, they came to worship Jesus as the Son of God. Simply following His moral example is impossible while denying His incarnation, virgin birth, miracles, vicarious death, resurrection, and ascension. They should believe Jesus as recorded in the Bible. Jesus is our sovereign Lord who controls all things for His glory and our good. Thus, we should trust and worship Him as our Lord. Storms in life are designed to turn our attention from our problems to Christ. Storms in life are designed to reveal Jesus’ divine identity to us. Storms in life are designed to lead us to worship. Even today, we are worshiping God in the name of Jesus Christ through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The triune God is the Object of our worship. That we are worshiping God now implies that God’s sovereign and good Hand guides and protects us through storms in life.

 Now, what kind of trouble are you in now? Do you feel as if God were nowhere in your sight? Remember Jesus is not only interceding for you, but also He is coming to your rescue. You may feel as if you were dying soon. But remember He will certainly come to your aid. He is coming through storms in your life and saying, “Take heart. It is I. Do not be afraid.” If we hear Jesus praying for us and see Jesus walking toward us through storms, we will enjoy calmness even in storms in life. We have the same Jesus the apostles believed, experienced, and worshiped. He is our Companion, Rescuer, and God. Storms in life may be beneficial to us in that they lead us to experience the power and presence of Jesus Christ. Not only so, but also they make us experience the deliverance of Jesus Christ. When we really experience Jesus’ rescue from storms in life, we will ultimately worship Jesus the Son of God. Through trials in life, we come to realize how good, gracious, and powerful our Lord Jesus Christ is for our sake. Without them, we wouldn’t really get to know God’s character. Thus, we can say that God bring storms into our lives and use them to teach us what we are and what Christ is. Since storms in life are under Christ’s sovereign control, we should trust Christ as our Object of worship.

Conclusion: Their fear of the windstorm turned into the fear of Jesus after they witnessed the windstorm and violent waves obeyed the stern voice of Jesus. This is what we need in order to stir up our faith in Christ and overcome fear of storms in life. Jesus is everything to us. He is our Friend, Rescuer, and Lord. He meets all our needs by love. He is the subject of all our ministries. He is the best we have both in life and death. We are to trust Him during storms in life. We desire to experience His holy presence and great power both in our everyday life and our troublesome crises. He is the One that we need and love. Do you know Him as your Companion, Deliverer, and Lord? Have you experienced His saving grace and mercy? He is here with us. Let’s bring all our problems to Him. And let’s bring ourselves before His presence. He is the One we need and worship during a storm in life.

I read the following story from Jesus Mean and Wild written by Mark Galli: “A group of Laotian refugees who had been attending the church I pastored in Sacramento, California, approached me after the service one Sunday and asked to become members. Our church had sponsored the newcomers, and they had been attending the church only a few months. They had only a rudimentary understanding of the Christian faith, so I suggested we study the gospel of Mark together for a few weeks to make sure they knew what a commitment to Christ and his church involved. They happily agreed. Despite the Laotians’ lack of Christian knowledge—or maybe because of it—the Bible studies were some of the most interesting I’ve ever led. After reading the passage in which Jesus calms the storm, I asked about the storms in their lives. There was a puzzled look among my Laotian friends, so I explained that we all have storms—problems, worries, troubles, crises—and this story teaches that Jesus can give us peace in the midst of those storms. “So what are your storms?” I asked.

Again, more puzzled silence. Finally, one of the men asked, “Do you mean that Jesus actually calmed the wind and sea in the middle of a storm?” I didn’t want to get distracted with the problem of miracles, so I replied, “We should not get hung up on the details of the miracle. We should remember that Jesus can calm the storms in our lives.” Another stretch of awkward silence ensued until someone said, “Well, if Jesus calmed the wind and the waves, he must be a powerful man!” At this, they all nodded vigorously and chattered excitedly to one another in Lao. Except for me, the room was full of wonder. I suddenly realized that they grasped the story better than I did.

Do you believe the historicity and actuality of the event that Jesus calmed the tempest and the waves down? We are not trying to pull spiritual meaning out of this actual event? Because Jesus demonstrated His sovereign authority over nature, we can trust Him as our Savior and Lord who can also calm down the storms in our lives. Do you believe Jesus who died for your sin and rose again from the dead? Jesus is the One who truly cares about us, delivers you from trouble. And He deserves our worship. Let’s continue to worship Him in awe.

Benediction: ²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, ²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. 능히 너희를 보호하사 거침이 없게 하시고 너희로 그 영광 앞에 흠이 없이 즐거움으로 서게 하실자 ²⁵ 곧 우리 구주 홀로 하나이신 하나님께 우리 주 예수 그리스도로 말미암아 영광과 위엄과 권력과 권세가 만고 전부터 이제와 세세에 있을지어다 아멘 (Jud 1:24-25)