October 1991, the Andrea Gail, a seventy-two foot long fishing boat, with a 365 horsepower turbo-charged diesel engine, leaves a New England port headed for the Atlantic Ocean. It is going on what was supposed to be another routine fishing trip. But it was to be her last voyage.
Why? Because she ran into the most powerful and dangerous force on earth—a full-blown hurricane on the open seas. An ocean hurricane is so powerful that the combined nuclear arsenals of the United States and the former Soviet Union, do not contain enough energy to keep that hurricane going for one day. One average hurricane encompasses a million cubic miles of atmosphere, and could provide all of the electrical power needed by the United States for up to four years.
Winds can be so high that when they hit the coast, people have been sandblasted to death. So much rain can fall— up to 5 inches per hour—Birds have been known to drown in mid flight as the water clogs their upward-facing nostrils.
The Andrea Gail had the misfortune of running into of all things a storm called "Hurricane Grace." It was a storm so powerful that it had the highest significant wave heights ever measured or calculated from 1899 to 1991. In fact, this storm has been given the nickname "The Perfect Storm." This storm brought waves ten stories high with pressure of up to six tons per square foot of water. The winds were measured at 120 miles an hour. The Andrea Gail never had a chance because she had encountered the "perfect storm."
Well 2,000 years ago there occurred in the Sea of Galilee the first "perfect storm." It was perfect for this reason: Not because it was as violent, but it was far more important. Because this storm taught twelve disciples then, and hopefully will teach you today, how to navigate the ship of your life through the stormiest of seas.
Nobody has a life of all sunshine and no pain; no loss and all gain. Into every life some rain, and I might add thunder and lightning, does come. So when you go through the inevitable storms of life, what should you do to make sure you can get safely to shore?
I. Remember the Promise of Jesus
Verse 35 is the key to this entire story. "On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, ‘Let us cross over to the other side.'" Now Jesus had just told them what they were going to do. This was not just a statement. This was both a promise and a prophecy. When Jesus told those disciples to cross to the other side, there was no way they were not going to make it because Jesus never prophesied anything that didn't come true, and Jesus never promised anything that He didn't deliver. With Jesus a statement is a guarantee.
His commandments are always His enablements. If Jesus says an elephant is going to lay an egg, don't stand around, get out the skillet. The minute Jesus said, "Let us cross over to the other side," neither the devil nor every demon, nor Caesar and all of his armies, could have stopped that boat. You may as well have named her "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."
You see, if that boat had not made it to the other side, regardless of the reason, then Jesus would have been a liar. Well, I've got great news for you. The sun will quit shining, the moon will quit glowing, the stars will quit twinkling, the wind will stop blowing, and the waves will stop crashing, before one promise of Jesus Christ will ever fail.
You know there is one promise they should have remembered as they crossed this sea. "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you." (Isa. 43:2)
They couldn't drown because they were with Jesus, and He couldn't drown. How do I know that? Because of the promise, the purpose, and the plan of His Heavenly Father. He had not yet been nailed to the cross; He had not yet shed His blood; He had not yet been buried in a tomb; He had not yet been raised from the dead; He had not yet ascended to the Father. He could not drown, and therefore neither could they. They had His promise.
I read a true story of an old grandmother who lived in an English Town many years ago. She lived with one of her sons, but she was too ill to participate much in family activities. She would simply sit in a rocking chair most of the day reading the Bible. Often she would doze off for a few minutes with her glasses still on her Bible in her lap. But every day she would talk with a glow about her about the promises of God that she would find in the Bible.
One day she slipped into a deeper sleep than usual and she just didn't come back. She awoke in heaven having crossed over to the other side. In fact, she died with her Bible on the lap of her now empty body.
Well, that Bible became a treasured family heirloom. Her married son and his wife began to read that Bible and they were interested that in the margins of the Bible they would find these letters "t & p" and they found it on many of the pages. They wondered what those words meant until they began to notice that every time they found the words "t & p" it was always beside some promise in the Bible. One day toward the end of the Bible she found where this sweet grandmother had written those two words—"tried and proved!" The Lord Jesus, through His word, has made unbelievably strong and innumerable promises that He will always get you safely to the other side of the storm.
II. Rest In The Presence of Jesus
"Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him." (v.36) Now there is a little detail that Luke adds to the story that is not found in the other gospels. Luke tells us that "other little boats were also with Him." In other words, this was a little navy that was sailing across the sea on this night.
But there was one difference with the disciples' boat and all of those other boats. You know what it was? Jesus was in their boat! When you give your heart to Jesus, He gets into the boat of your life. When you get the Savior into your ship, your ship will be safe in the storm.
Well immediately they run into the storm. "And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling." (v.3) Now you may wonder how this happens, but the Sea of Galilee is like a basin surrounded by hills and mountains. Cold air from the mountains will hit the hot air coming up from the water and a storm can rise very quickly. That is the way it is in life. You can be sailing along in the ship of your life and the sea of circumstances can be as smooth as glass, but just one phone call from a doctor, a hospital, a police department, or a morgue, and you are in the middle of a storm.
You see, Jesus knew something they didn't know, and saw something they didn't see. He knew the storm was coming. He saw the storm coming before they even set sail, because nothing ever takes Jesus by surprise. Yet, He is the one who told them to cross over. Do you know what I'm saying? It was Jesus that led them into that storm.
Many people think that when storms come they must be out of the will of God; they've done something wrong; they've disobeyed the Lord and God is not pleased with them. Well that is not true here. The disciples were not in the storm because of disobedience, but because of obedience. Storms can come to the guilty as well as to the innocent. Many times storms will come into your life not because you are doing what is wrong, but because you are doing what is right.
I read a story about an Ohio gentleman whose oil well caught fire, and he put out an all-points' bulletin for help, to make sure that anybody and everybody would come and help him. He offered a $30,000 reward to whomever could put out that fire. With all the large firehouses from cities like Newell, Chester, Wellsville, Dillonvale sent help. They sent their best companies accompanied by the most modern fire- fighting equipment available, but not one of the trucks could get within 200 yards of the blaze because the heat was just too intense and the fire was too big.
Finally, the Calcutta Township Volunteer Fire Department appeared on the scene. Amazingly they had only one rickety truck equipped with a single ladder; only two buckets of water, three buckets of sand, and a few blankets. It didn't even come with a hose. When that old truck reached the point where all those other fire companies had stopped, the driver didn't even hesitate. He just kept barreling ahead until he and his crew were right in the thick of that blaze. They jumped out of that truck, threw the two buckets of water and three buckets of sand on that fire and then beat the fire out with those blankets.
That oil man was so impressed by that unbelievable display of courage, he gave the driver $30,000 in cash on the spot and said, "What are you and your men going to do with all of that money?" The driver, shaking like a leaf, said, "The first thing we're going to do is to get those stupid brakes on that truck fixed." Sometimes we are thrown into the fire through no fault of our own.
Well, the ship is filling with water and the disciples are filling with worry. "But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?'" (v.38) Did you know this is the only time in the Bible where you will ever read that Jesus was asleep?
Now why was Jesus at peace while the disciples were going to pieces? Well, the reason is because He remembered something, but they forgot something. He remembered that He was right where God wanted Him to be. But the disciples had forgotten that Jesus was right beside them.
There is no panic in heaven, just plans. But these disciples had to learn there is no need to fear when Jesus is near. Your ship is safe in any storm if the Savior is in the boat. I hope you will learn a great truth today. Safety is not the absence of problems; safety is the presence of Jesus. The next time you are buffeted by the tornado of trouble, or the hurricane of hurt, just remember Jesus is right beside you, and there is no storm He cannot handle.
III. Rely On the Power of Jesus
"Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!' And the wind ceased and there was a great calm." (v.39) First of all, Jesus rebuked the wind. The word rebuked is the same word that's used for rebuking demons. Then he spoke to the sea. The words "Peace be still" literally means "to be muzzled." Do you know what Jesus really said to the wind and to the waves? He said, "Sit down and shut up." As one great preacher said, "That wind and those waves laid down at His feet like whipped puppies."
You see, there were really two miracles that took place in one. There was the miracle of the wind, but there was also the miracle of the waves. Normally, when the wind dies down in a storm, the waves will continue to roil and boil for hours. But in this case both the wind and the waves were calmed immediately. Ps. 107:29 says, "He calms the storm, so that its waves are still."
Now notice that Jesus did not keep the storm from striking the boat, but He did keep the storm from sinking the boat. When Jesus told them to cross over, He didn't promise them a smooth sailing, but He did guarantee a safe landing. It ‘s unfortunate in this case that this miracle is divided by a chapter ending because if you will notice chapter 5 and verse 1, we really read the conclusion of the story when it says, "Then they came to the other side of the sea"—just like Jesus said they would.
So now we come to the real lesson that is found in this miracle. "But He said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?'" (v.40) There are two lessons found in these two questions. There is a lesson about fear and there is a lesson about faith. You see, every time you face a storm in your life you can face it with fear, or you can face it with faith. Now what is the difference? It's very simple. Fear looks at the storm, faith looks at the Savior.
You see, the greatest danger to these disciples was not the storm, it was their doubt. Jesus rebuked the disciples for their lack of faith. But He didn't rebuke them because they didn't have enough faith to still the storm. He rebuked them for not having enough faith to stay calm in the storm, believing that Jesus would take care of it. Fear cuts the legs of faith right out from under it.
The reason Jesus was irritated was they had no reason to fear. Why? They had already seen the power of Jesus. Do you know how many miracles Jesus had already performed before this one in the gospel of Mark that they had witnessed with their own eyes? In Mark 1 He cast out an unclean spirit; healed Peter's mother-in-law of a fever; healed an entire city of both disease and demonic possession, and cleansed the leper. In Mark chapter 2 He healed a paralytic. In Mark chapter 3 He restored a withered hand. He had already proven that whether it was disease or demons or danger, He could handle any problem.
But the reason why they had fear was because they had forgotten what Jesus could do. You know what fear is? Fear is Forgetting Every Available Resource.
His love in times past
Forbids me to think;
He will lead me at last
In trouble to sink.
2 Tim. 1:7 says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." 1 Jn. 4:18 says, "Perfect love casts out fear." Again, I say, no need to fear when Jesus is near.
But there's also a lesson about faith because Jesus asked this question: "How is it that you have no faith?" Every time you go through a storm Jesus is always going to ask you that question: "How is it that you have no faith?" Corrie ten Boom used to say, "When the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not. You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through."
I'm going to say something that may shock you, but we need storms. You know why God sometimes leads us into storms, and at other times allows us to walk into storms and sail into storms? Because it forces us to remember His promises. It forces us to rest in His presence. It forces us to rely on His power. Nature itself tells us this is true.
A tree that is planted in a rain forest is never forced to extend its roots downward in search of water because it has all the water that it needs. Therefore trees in the rain forest are poorly anchored and can be blown over by just a moderate wind.
On the other hand, out in Texas there is a mesquite tree that is planted in a dry desert. It's threatened by a hostile environment. It has to face unbearable heat, tremendous winds, sometimes extreme cold, and it can only survive by sending its roots down 30 feet or more into the earth seeking water. But because it sinks its roots into the soil so it can stand against all of the challenges of the desert, one of the hardest trees to uproot is the mesquite tree.
I have said many times you are either in the middle of a storm, you've just come out of a storm, or you're about to get into a storm. The next time that storm hits unexpectedly and your world collapses around you, I want you to remember this story.
The 1989 Armenian earthquake needed only four minutes to flatten that nation and kill 30,000 people. Moments after that earthquake had stopped, a father raced to an elementary school to save his son. When he arrived, he saw the building had been leveled. Looking at that mass of stones and rubble, his heart sank until he remembered a promise he had made to his little boy, "No matter what happens, I'll always be there for you."
Driven by that promise he found the area closest to his son's room and began to pull back the rocks and dig out the dirt. Other parents arrived and began sobbing for their children. They were saying things like, "It's too late. You know they're dead. You can't help." Even a police officer encouraged him to give up.
But that dad refused. For eight hours, then sixteen, then thirty-two, and then thirty-six hours he dug. His hands were raw, his energy was gone, but he refused to quit. Finally, after thirty-eight gut-wrenching hours, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son's voice. He called out his boy's name, "Arman! Arman!"
A voice answered him saying, "Dad, it's me!" Then that little boy added priceless words that dad will remember to the day he dies: "Dad, I told the other kids not to worry. I told them if you were alive you would save me, and that when you saved me they would be saved too. Because you promised Dad, "No matter what, son, I'll always be there for you."1
Dear friend, how much more should we remember the promise of Jesus. How much more should we rest in the presence of Jesus, and how much more shall we rely on the power of Jesus knowing when He says we'll cross over, we will make it to the other side.
1. Jack Canfield and Mark Hanson, Chicken Soup for the Soul, (Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications, 1993), pp. 273-274.