Pressing through the storms

Pressing through the storms

Last week our topic was about perfecting or maturing our Faith, the scripture reading was from Mark 4 v 35- 41. Jesus takes his disciples on a journey over the sea of Galilee. The 12 men who are with him, find themselves in a state of fear, doubt , unbelief, and confusion.

Jesus had invited the disciples to follow him, he taught them many powerful lessons during this time on the boat.
He also teaches us Faith lessons, showing us what to do in times of difficulty and crises.

A deeper question must be asked about this journey he took the twelve on across the sea of Galilee.
What motivated Jesus to go on this journey?

Was there something more to this journey than crossing the lake and experiencing this storm.

The Bible passage we read today is in the next chapter of Mark
Chapter 5.
The first verse says
Mark 5:1 
And they came over to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.

I wonder how the twelve felt at that moment.

They had set out when evening had come the previous night with Jesus in the boat.
Perhaps at the end of the day they were thinking that Jesus was taking them on a sunset cruise.
What they got was much more terrifying and exciting than a sunset cruise.

They had encountered this huge storm, they watched Jesus sleeping in the storm, wake up, rise up, rebuke the storm, speak to the sea, and then he turned and challenged them about Faith.
If this was me, I think I would have been exhausted from a night at sea, relieved that it was over, happy to be alive.

Little do they realize that this adventure is not over,
lets see how this account unfolds
As Jesus steps out of the boat he encounters a man with unclean spirit.
This is how the Bible describes him.
Mark 5:2-5

Lets consider this poor man, imagine what he must have looked like, imagine what he must have smelt like. Imagine what he must have sounded like.

He had been treated like a dog, chained by his fellow man, living among the dead in tombs.Cutting himself with sharp stones, Tormented day and night by demons.
No one was able to keep him in chains, no matter how strong the chains, no one was able to care for him, everyone terrified, of this terrifying man.

The sequence of events that follow encourage us and teach us.
Here is the man kneeling at Jesus feet, acknowledging Jesus for who he is
Mark 5:7 
Jesus casts demons out of the man,
They beg him to send them into pigs which he does, the pigs run into the sea and are drowned.
The man is set free, and is restored immediately
The people who looked after the pigs ran away told the people in the region what had happened.
The people become afraid, they beg Jesus to leave
Mark 5:17 
Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.
As they climb into the boat to leave
The man asks Jesus if he can go with them, Jesus says no,

Mark 5:19-20 

As we continue, lets pay attention to another aspect.
Why were the people of the place afraid of Jesus?
Why did they beg him to leave?
He had performed mighty miracles, surely they would be excited and happy for this poor wretched soul.

But all they wanted, was for Jesus to leave.
Why was this ?
Jesus had sent the demons into the pigs,
The pigs had run into the sea and drowned.
Imagine how the owners of these pigs felt about this.
2000 pigs were worth a lot of money.
Pigs were unclean, pigs were forbidden according to Jewish law.
Jesus had exposed this operation, pig farming by Jews

Here these people are, on the other side of the lake, hiding from society, raising pigs for profit.
Jesus has just destroyed their whole business.
They are terrified that if he stays he will uncover and destroy more illegal businesses, destroy their wealth, so they ask him to leave.

Isn’t that like so many, afraid to follow Jesus because of what they might loose.

Lets review the events which have occurred in these two chapters of Mark.
At the end of a day, Jesus invites the disciples into the boat
Lets Go to the other side
They encounter the storm.
The disciples become full of fear.
Jesus rebukes the storm, he is rebuking demons, which ones?
The ones which were in the man of Garasene
They knew that Jesus was on his to deliver the man
They trying to stop Jesus from reaching the other side.

In the middle of the storm, Jesus takes authority over them, when he
arrives on the other side, these demons have already been defeated, they are kneeling in front of Jesus begging him to torment them no further.

The man is delivered, illegal businesses are destroyed The man goes and
tells his family all that has happened He preaches in the ten cities in the area about the goodness of Jesus.

Lets stop and ask a question here

What would have happened when the The 12 disciples cried out to Jesus in fear he decided to turn the boat around.
The end result
None of the miracles and events which had occurred would have happened.

This whole event teaches us some amazing lessons about the Christian life.

I believe that Jesus was fully aware of this poor tormented man, when he invited the 12 into the boat,
His mission was
To train the disciples
To display his authority over the demonic in the storm
To demonstrate peace in storms
To Calm the sea
To deliver the man from demons,
to expose the hidden motives of the pig operations
To commission the man for ministry

How about us, how do we respond to storms when they come.
Do we cry out in fear, Accuse Jesus of not caring
Perhaps try and run away from difficulties and crises.
Jesus teaches us the most powerful lesson of all.

Miracles occur on the other side of our storms.
If we wont or don’t press through the storms
Difficulties and crises which we face

How can we enjoy the miracles that are waiting on the other side.

Jesus took his disciples into the boat, they thought he was treating them to a sunset cruise.
Jesus invited them into something much more amazing and powerful than a sunset cruise or a huge storm.
Jesus invited them to the other side
Jesus invited them into his world, the world of the supernatural.

In the darkness of the night he showed them his power.
He brought them safely, to the other side.

How often do we want to invite Jesus into our world to come and fix our messed up broken lives.
We should know that Jesus invites us into his world.

The world of the supernatural,
The world where we gain Victory over fear, peace in the storms , power to stand, authority over the demonic, ministry to the broken, and deliverance to demonically bound souls of this world.

All of this is happens on the other side.
Examples from scripture

David the shepherd boy had kingship waiting for him on the other side of Goliath.

Three young men in a fire had great favor and promotion on the other side of the fire

Danial in the lions den,
King Darius acknowledged the Hebrew God, wrote a letter to his whole nation.
Daniel lived a blessed life on the other side.

Dear family, many of us have or are experiencing storms right now.
Stay in the boat, press through the storms, experience the mighty power of the supernatural rescue you, encourage you, minister to you and through you, on the other side.

One day when people write your story
What will it say