The Storms of Life

John 6:15-21 Jesus sends his disciples to the other side, it is just an evening like any
other... The disciples get into the boat to go to the other side and Jesus stays behind on
the mountain to pray...

Jesus stayed on shore, praying & sends His disciples on ahead.

A storm kicks up about 3 miles from shore…

In the dark they see a ghostly figure walking on the water to them.

But it’s not a ghost… It is the master…

We’re going to learn this morning three things that this story teaches us concerning
storms.

 The storms will come

 He will come to me.
 He will see me through

1. The storms will come

John 6:15 So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force
to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.

The crowd that Jesus had been ministering to were wanting to make Him their king,
Jesus not wanting His disciples to get caught up in the temptation of the crowd, He told
them to leave and go to the other side.

The disciples got in their boat and started rowing toward Bethsaida… doing exactly what
Jesus had told them to do…

Mark 6:45 Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him
to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away.

I would imagine they wanted to wait for Jesus to come with them and go on their journey
with them.

Apparently, Jesus wanted them to go alone while he spent time with the father...

Mark 6:46 And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.

Jesus told them to get to the other side and they had everything they needed to get
there… He gave them a crash course in storms earlier…

The disciples were in the Will of God and doing the Word of God, how could anything go
wrong?

A storm came up that was off the scale, so powerful it was sending them further into the
middle of the Galilee…

Matt. 14:24 But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the
waves; for the wind was contrary.
Mark 6:47 When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was
alone on the land.

It was dark and that made it more dangerous, it was uncomfortable, they can’t see their
way to safety, there was no hope was in sight...

I wonder how many of us are going through a storm right now, there is no reason for it,
but the storm is strong and we feel we may not make it?

Jesus wasn’t with them: If Jesus was with them he would know just what to do, they had
seen him calm a storm another night when he was with them but this time he stayed
behind to pray...

The sea arose by reason of great wind that came from nowhere: It wasn’t stormy when
they got in the boat:

This shows us that we have to be prepared for trouble because it will happen when we
least expect it…

Despite the bad weather, the disciples just kept rowing because that’s what Jesus told
them to do…

Matt. 14:25 NKJV Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on
the sea.

You know what strikes me about this verse… Jesus was on top of the mountain, it was
dark, he was at least 4 miles away, but he still seen them and he came to them…Jesus
knows, Jesus sees and he comes down…

The fourth watch is at 3am, it is known as...

 The darkest time before the dawn

 The most difficult time
 The time when we have lost all hope
 The time when the body is most tired

This is a miracle in the making... Jesus is walking on the water, what is he planning to do,
he sees them struggling and he came to them on the water to help them?

The storms of life come to all of us but it’s what we do when they come…

You can do everything right and still have your world turned upside down and collapse
around you.

The storms of life will come to all of us, none of us are exempt…But what do you do
when you are in the storm?

2. He will Come to You

The disciples were rowing their little hearts out, Jesus is praying to the Father and sees
the disciples in distress.

As Jesus is praying… He hasn’t forgotten them.

Matt. 14:23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain
apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

God doesn’t operate on our time schedule; Jesus is on the mountain praying but he
hasn’t forgotten about his disciples…

Mark 6:48 And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them:
and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea,
and would have passed by them.
I want you to notice this phrase here... he would have passed by them.

 What do you mean he would have passed them by?

 I though he came to help them?
 I thought he came to rescue them?
 I thought he was bringing them a miracle?

But here is the key, you must invite him into your boat... You see he would have passed
then by, he would have, it says right here he would have passed them by...

Jesus only gets involved when we invite him in, contrary to what people believe he will
NOT force himself on you, it is completely your choice whether you invite him into your
boat in the middle of your storm or not

Have any of you ever heard of, or used the expression... if it is for me it will not pass me
by...

That has to be one of the most useless sayings ever, no matter what you want in life you
have to go after it, you can’t just sit back and do nothing...

He comes out to them, defying the laws of gravity, and walks on water.

Storms they were used to… seeing a ghostly figure approaching their boat was a
different story.

In all three accounts (Matt. Mark, John), the disciples never showed fear about the storm,
wind, rain, waves... It was the sight of a ghost that freaked them out!

Matt. 14:26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled,
saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.

Mark 6:49-50 But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been
a spirit, and cried out: For they all saw him, and were troubled.

John 6:18-19 NKJV Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. So when
they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and
drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.

It’s more frightening to wrestle with the rulers of darkness of this world than with a
stormy sea.

If we saw the supernatural element to our troubles would we be less or more frightened?

Please don’t think that demonic attacks do not exist. There are demonic attacks with
your name on them.
Jesus doesn’t leave when you’re in the storm, He draws near to you when you’re in the
storm.

Why didn’t the disciples recognize Jesus? Because they weren’t looking for Him!

If they were expecting him, they would have recognized Him immediately. Sometimes
God shows up in the middle of our situation and we don’t recognise him, because we‘re
not looking for him…

When they realise it is Jesus they invite him into the boat and into their personal storm...

John 6.21 NKJV Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the
boat was at the land where they were going.

Now this is the key to this story, when they invited Jesus into the boat they were at their
destination... Jesus is the destination in life, everything we go through in life are all to
bring us to Jesus that is our destination...

3. He will see us through!

The moment Jesus got on-board, they didn’t row any further. The moment Jesus got on
board he calmed their fears but he also calmed their storm, he brought rest into the
chaos...

Every person alive is going through this world, struggling and striving in their personal
storms and Jesus prays for us from heaven and as we sees our struggles he comes to us
walking on the water, he is come to deliver us from our storm but he will pass us by if we
do not call out to him...

Matt. 14:33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a
truth thou art the Son of God.

What Jesus starts, He always finishes; Where He Guides, He Provides.

He’s not limited by anything . . . except our faith.

Notice two things about their miraculous deliverance:

 They wanted Jesus to deliver them, but he first had to enter the boat.
 They were immediately saved, rescued.

How is it with you, have you willingly invited Jesus into your boat, Jesus is passing by
again today... What are you going to do?

Jesus is never far from each of us, he is always near, just a prayer away but have you
invited him into your boat, have you invited him into your storm?

Once Jesus gets into our boat he will deliver us from our troubles, from the storms of
life…

Storms will come to all of us… It is a fact of life… It’s what you choose to do in the storm
that will determine the outcome…

That’s not saying that when you know Jesus that you will have no problems, in fact Jesus
told us we would have problems...
John 16:33 NKJV These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In
the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

In this world you will have tribulation, trouble, storms but be of good cheer, I will come to
you on the waves and give you peace...

Matt. 11:28 NKJV Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest.

Moments before they were rowing for all they were worth and getting nowhere...

Their boat was tossed at sea, but because of Jesus it wasn’t lost at sea; The moment
Jesus came on-board they arrived at their destination.