Hidden Blessings In The Storms Of Life Pt 1

[Music] open your Bibles with me into the Gospel of Mark at chapter number four I'm gonna get back to my job series in a minute but a word needs to be spoken about this storm that we just recently experienced because last Sunday God spoke powerful and unusual way and we who are the people of God order listen whenever God speaks to us mark chapter 4 commencing in verse 35 through verse 41 and the same day when the even was come he said unto them let us pass over unto the other side and when they had sent away the multitude they took him even as he was in the ship and there were also with him other little ships and there arose a great storm of wind and the waves beat into the ship so that it was now full and he was in the hinder part of the ship asleep on a pillow and they awake him and say unto Him master carest thou not that we perish 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 and he said unto them why are you so fearful how is it that you have no faith verse 41 reads and they feared exceedingly and said one to another what manner of man is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him thank you you may be seated the grass withers and the flower fades with the word of our God shall stand forever I like verse 41 in the new American Standard Bible in the new American Standard the scripture says who is this that even the wind and the sea have to obey Him I want to talk to us this morning about hidden blessings in the storms of life hidden blessings in the storms of life in this in this passage of Scripture we find the disciples of our Lord trapped in the grip of a fierce storm define themselves in that storm because they have been commanded by the Lord to cross the Sea of Galilee to the other side these men are in the will of God and yet we see them struggling against the storm try as they might it appears that they are unable to make any headway the wind is in their faces and they are stuck in a storm and they are unable to get out have you ever found yourself in that place have you ever found yourself stuck in one of life's storms and no matter how hard you try no matter what you do it seems that you can't make any headway last weekend Houston was in the grip of a fierce storm named hurricane Harvey the amount of rain that fell in Southeast Texas is hard to imagine the National Weather Service used the word unprecedented to describe the amount of rainfall and the rapidity with which it fell the colors that the National Weather Service uses to show rainfall on its maps shaded in yellow and red and orange they had to change and make new colors they could not represent the amount of rain in yellow red and orange it added the weather servers added two new shades of purple to register the rain in Houston for prospective roughly nine trillion gallons of water fell on the Houston area alone in a 36 hour period is really tough to visualize the Empire State Building is over 100 stories tall you could feel it 33,000 times according to a student in the atmospheric sciences department at Harvard you could feel the Empire State Building 33,000 times with the rain that fell just in Houston he estimated that it would require 14 million Olympic sized swimming pools and to further illustrate if you took that amount of water and spread it equally over the 48 contiguous United States of America it would equal point 17 inches of rain coming over the entire country and the United States from one coast to the other coast is 3.8 million square miles that's how much water fell in Houston in 36 hours it would fill the Great Salt Lake in Salt Lake City Utah twice to get you to understand what that means the Great Salt Lake is 75 miles long and 35 miles deep and you could fill it twice with the water that failed in Houston just in 36 hours it seemed like the great niagra's of the heavens opened in our city and with people in shelters and stores closing early and gas being rationed and people are bitter because their stuff is on the road homes flooded neighborhoods evacuated all kinds of rivers and bayous overtopping their banks and worse lives lost it may seem that the citywide nightmare will never end but this morning our presence here this morning says that this Sunday does not look like last and our elders didn't have a whole lot of education but they saying I'm so glad [Applause] trouble don't last always thankfully there is some good news for us this morning from the Word of God while storms are never a pleasant they do produce certain benefits in our lives that we would do well to take note of this morning Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 11 says for the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it let's join the disciples this morning in their storm and as we do I want to show you that the storms of life contains some hidden blessings for the children of God now in this particular this is the first of Jesus's nature miracles in the Gospel of Mark a nature miracle is a type of miracle that is different from a healing miracle or an exorcism or raising the dead where Jesus demonstrates his authority over the forces of the natural world now this episode brothers and sisters has some interesting parallels with the Old Testament story of Jonah when you read Jonah and this episode in the Gospel of Mark both of them are vividly and graphically described Jonah is asleep on a ship Jesus is asleep on a ship Jonah is asleep while Mariners are fearful for their very lives Jesus is asleep while these disciples are fearful for their very lives but that's where the similarities end because Jonah is in a storm because of disobedience but these disciples are in a storm because they are baying what Jesus told them to do with Sesame you can run into a storm doing right I wish I had somebody to help me hear you use some some prisons here in our congregation lost everything they had and you didn't lose what you had because you were doing wrong it just so happened that a storm came and took it all away and those of us who did not lose anything did not lose anything because we're so holy God just decided to skip over our residents I wish I had two or three witnesses here I want you to see with me brothers and sisters the power of the storm the suddenness of this storm in the Gospel of Mark the Sea of Galilee lies 700 feet below sea level in a basin surrounded by hills and mountains the interchange between the cold upper air from Mount Hermon and the warm air rising from the Sea of Galilee produces furious squalls of wind the sea can become one minute and violent the next minute that's just like life one phone call one 24-hour period one doctor visit one tick of the clock 136 hours of rain and what was come in your life can turn violent in just a moment but what I want you to see brothers and sisters is that each of us this morning is in either one of three situations you are either headed towards a storm or you are just coming out of a storm or you are in a storm right now but whatever your situation God is in control storms come suddenly but God is not surprised storms come with suddenness and severity somebody's suffering in here this morning so severely that no matter what words of comfort we give to you you can't even hear what we are trying to say and then somebody is suffering some insuperable sorrow this morning because of a loss of a loved one somebody you cherished and loved is gone physically from your presence and then sometimes we suffer the severity of storms of our own creation someone ought to help me preach it storms sometimes come because of our sin it's your fault talk about to me if you can you sometimes you're not bearing a cross you're reaping a crop and because it hadn't happened to you today don't think you've gotten away with it because God doesn't settle all of his accounts in one storm I wish I had somebody to help me preach it our brothers and sisters sometimes God sends the storms he sent the storm in David's life he sent the storm in jobs life and then sometimes Satan is allowed to bring the storm I think I need to say to us right now I heard this civil engineer talking about it on television and it goes right here he was talking about these people building houses in this in this storm plane in this floodplain and you do need to know that Houston is a swamp that's been concreted over Houston is just a wetland to keep Dallas from flooding somebody gonna get me here in a minute from from Galveston all the way up to Houston is wetlands to keep Dallas from flooding but we have turned Houston into the fourth largest city in the country and the civil engineer was talking about these people building these houses in the flood plains and he says every storm is a natural disaster as a matter of fact your insurance company calls it an act of God but every flood is man-made because it does not have to flood if we don't bill there because we love money wish I had somebody to help me here every time a storm comes in your life you ought to shout because God sent the storm but if it's a flood is coming from your enemy and the enemy knows how to flog you to make it look like a godless storm but it was the storm that sent from God the Sun go shine after why but if it's a flower that comes from the enemy you may not get out of it right away be sure that you're in a storm and not in a flood because if it's a storm God knows you in it if it's a flower your enemy sent it to keep you from giving God praise that's the power of the storm but I want you to see within a second the problem of the storm my brothers and sisters hear me the greatest storm that night on the Sea of Galilee was not the storm on the Sea of Galilee the greatest storm that night in mark chapter 4 was in the heart of the disciples and the greatest storm last week was not in Houston but in the hearts of many of the residents of Houston who don't trust God [Applause] they doubt in the in the text they doubt his goodness they say master carest thou not they were looking at the situation and not the Savior they were looking at the storm and not to save you and when your eyes are on the storm is hard for you to see the Savior they doubted his goodness and then they doubted his grace they said master don't you care that's that's Dalton his goodness don't you care that we are about to perish that's doubting his grace Jesus did not save you to abandon you when the storms of life get rough Jesus did not bring you out of darkness into the marvelous light to leave you when the seas are chopping God will protect you even in the midst of your storm they doubted his goodness they doubted His grace and they doubted right in the text his guarantee he said let's go over to the other side if he says go over you never have to fear going under [Music] you don't have to be afraid of the storm when it's in the hands of the one who loves you brothers and sisters listen to me storms are essential to spiritual development never say that again storms are essential to spiritual development I was I was studying and writing this message the other day Thursday or Friday I don't remember which day it was and the Lord sent Jason Brown over to the office he had gone to Pam Hall's house to to help them with they were flooded out and Jason just just dropped by to to talk with me a minute and we were eating cracklings my head still hurting from the cracklings we wheat and Jason took the bag of cracklins with him I believe and God just just used that serendipitous moment to help me preach this message Jason said after the storm he and his neighbor were in their yards surveying damage and he said the neighbor has a tree or sapling in his front yard that's not growing much and so he calls this tree doctor to come over and see what the problem is with the growth of this tree the arborist comes along and takes a look at the tree and says to the homeowner next to Jason nothing is wrong with it is small it's a sapling but it's still strong the problem is you got to move those chains off it because as long as those chains are holding it it can't rock from side to side because when it becomes wind tossed the roots grow deeper and the tree grows taller somehow lord help me preach this morning Oh God did last weekend was take the chains off of them so that our roots could grow deeper and we could grow taller in the Lord you will never be a strong Christian until you've been winters you're never Shout until you've been wind toss you'll never give God glory and open your mouth and raise your hand until the winds have blown on your life some of y'all ain't got it yet because you're not shopping yet that means the storm hadn't been strong enough in your life but is there anybody here who's been through the storm who's on the other side testifying he's able [Applause] he's able is he he's able that's the the power of the storm that's the problem of the storm well that's not who you to long there's a purpose in the storm Jesus was asleep Jesus in the midst of a furious storm Jesus is sleeping this is the only time in the Gospels that you hear of Jesus sleeping come on come on come come on ask me why ask come ask me come on come come why was Jesus in the midst of a furious squall a hurricane on the Sea of Galilee sleeping come come on [Applause] wrathful Smith despite danger indicates trust in God [Applause] restful sleep despite danger indicates trust in God Psalm number three and verse five says I made me down and slip I de wait for the Lord sustain me Psalm number four and verse eight says I will both lay me down in peace and sleep for the our Lord only makes me dwell in safety proverbs 3 and verse 24 says window- vows thou shalt not be afraid and your sleep will be sweet when you trust God close the door get in the bed and pull the covers up to your neck and let it rain cuz when you trust God your sleep is sweet I need two or three people here who went to bed Saturday night and say Lord I'm in your hand I know it's raining outside but it ain't raining in here if I kind of witness here the wind is blowing outside but it ain't blowing in here god I'm going to bed because he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep the Lord is my keeper I wish I had a Bible reader the Lord is a shade upon my right hand the Sun shall not smite me by day neither moon by night for the Lord shall preserve me from all evil he'll preserve my going out and my coming in from this time forth and even forevermore I called many of you to see how you fared in the storm you'll help me close this won't you and I heard from just about everybody what the water was doing but the Lord rose me out of bed this morning stood me up in his pulpit this morning to tell you what the walk what the water didn't do [Applause] [Music] nine trillion gallons fell on Houston proper CNN NBC MSNBC all of the television stations all the programming was canceled to tell us what the water was doing but God stood me up in linear old pulpit this morning to tell you what the water didn't do because in the midst of that storm last week God was in control let me tell you what God told the water not to do he told the water get in the ditch but don't get in a yard and then he said get into y'all but don't get on the step and then he said get on the step but don't get in the house and then you say get in the house but don't drown them and then you say if you're drowning them bring them home to me cuz they belong to me I wish I had somebody to help me here if the water got on your street you ought to be shouting if the water got in your ditch you ought to be shouting if the water got up to your step you ought to be shouted if the water got in your house you ought to be shouting and if the water took everything you have you still ought to be shouting cuz God coulda took your life [Applause] master don't you care that we're about to perish and Jesus is sleeping I'm gonna take my time right here cuz we don't we don't have Sunday screw this morning cuz I need to hollow I didn't get a chance to holla less and you didn't get a chance to shout last Sunday so that's a praise in you that you kind of ought to want to just get out this morning you're gonna help me preach this one thing Jesus is asleep and he would have stayed sleeping if somebody didn't say master don't you care that we're about to perish cuz when they raise that question they brought his character under investigation master don't you care that we are about to perish and Jesus got up that try did what the storm couldn't do don't miss that that was the real shock he slept during the storm but he got up when he cried out [Music] [Applause] maybe they're gonna get it at 11 o'clock he slept while the storm was raging but when they said master he got up and if you're here this morning and there's a storm in your life it may look like he's sleeping he's just waiting for you to cry they say master don't you care that we are about to perish and Jesus woke up stood on that ship raised his hand and said peace , be still let me let me let me unpack that for he rebuked the wind he talked to the wind like it was a person he spoke to the wind second person singular when you be still it literally Mark's Gospel is so vivid it doesn't read like that in the English but in Mark's Gospel in the Greek it reads when hush he spoke to the wind second person singular but he spoke to the sea present perfect imperative when second person singular see waves present perfect imperative let us put those two together when I want you to hush see later on until I tell you to get up [Applause] [Music] and when the storms rage in your lives all you have to do is call Jesus and he'll say when I want you to hush waves laid out until I tell you to get up and there was a great well here my brothers and sister after he rebuked the wind he rebuked his disciples he's right here in the text he said why are you so fearful where is your faith those two questions those two rhetorical questions fear and faith can sit in the same boat you got Jesus on board your ship and you think he's gonna let you drive someone ought to help me preach it all you got to do is call him and he's gonna get up I'm through now but here's the shot the late Reverend Nelson Smith who passed it in Birmingham Alabama was late coming home from church one night and he left his keys his house keys on the desk in his office and he got home and his wife was sleeping on the couch you need to help me because I'm about to run right now he said he rang the doorbell and she didn't answer he said he knocked on the door and she was still sleeping on the couch he said he took the screen door and and banged it against the frame and she wouldn't wake up he said he saw a stick in the yard and he got that stick and got under the house that was built on stilts and knocked underneath the place where he thought the sofa was where she was sleeping he made noise under the sofa and she didn't wake up he said he got so scared he ran across the street woke up his neighbors and used their phone and called his house and rang the phone 22 times and she didn't wake up he said his neighbors got up and put their rolls on and ran across the street with him because they were afraid that she was dead on the couch and he said when he finally got to the door he's looked inside and she jumped up from the sofa and ran upstairs and when she came downstairs she said Nelson how long you been standing out there he said God what's wrong with you I ring the bell and you didn't answer she said I didn't hear it he said I knocked on the door and you didn't answer she said I'm sorry I didn't hear it he said I bang the screen against the friend he said Nelson I didn't hear it he said you started on stick in the yard I got under the house not where I thought the sofa was and you still didn't respond she said baby I did not hear it he said I ran across the street got the neighbors out of bed and we called you and let the phone ring 22 times and you didn't answer she said Nelson I'm sorry I didn't hear it he said when we ran across the street and looked in the house you jumped off the sofa and went up Stan what made all that happen she said I heard my baby crying [Music] now if a mother has that kind of love for a child how much more does your heavenly father have love for his children [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: lillygrovembc

Views: 65,086

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Id: YzSK_sDUoWY

Length: 38min 51sec (2331 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 10 2018