Luke 8:22-25
"Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him," Luke 8:22-25.
Our Lord and His disciples have been ministering to the multitudes. "And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him," Luke 8:1. Christ has been teaching and preaching hard truths. He has commanded the people to examine themselves to make sure they are in the faith. Christ is shedding light on people's lifestyles. We do not like being exposed for what we really are. "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil," John 3:19. People naturally kick against and want to get away from the light. This puts much pressure on those who are proclaiming the truth. There is great joy when one person repents, even all of heaven rejoices. This is encouraging to all who are laboring in the ministry, but there is still much pressure in ministering, especially when they of your own household are against you. This pressure can wear you down mentally, physically, and spiritually. You begin to look for an out; not to quit, but a respite. If we aren't careful we can get tunnel vision looking for a break and forget that our rest is truly in Christ alone, no matter what is going on in our lives. This is easier said than done.
Picture the mood of the disciples in Luke 8:22 as Christ tells them, "Let us go over unto the other side of the lake." Finally, they can get a break from the religious leaders, from the multitudes, and from all those who oppose them. They are looking forward to a change of scenery. There are four or more professional fishermen on the ship. They have spent their whole lives on the water. Getting back in the saddle would be a relief for them, and it would be a relief for the other disciples trusting the professional fishermen to navigate the sea. In their minds they were about to get a much needed and much deserved break. Surely there would not be anything that would be against them on the sea with Jesus Christ in the ship. So "they launched forth".
"But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy," Luke 8:23. "Storm" in this verse is a fierce tempest with driving wind and rain, a whirlwind, hurricane. Spoken of storms on the sea of Galilee. The sea of Galilee is surrounded by mountain ranges; some are 2,500' above the sea and some are called lower hills but are still 1,400 feet above the water. As a result of the lay of the land, hurricane like storms can form quickly and come down from the mountains onto the sea of Galilee. The waves can get as high as 10', catching those on the sea by surprise, and have the potential of sinking any ship and drowning the crew, even experienced sailors. All on board were in jeopardy, they were in danger of death by drowning.
Can you picture the men fighting with the sails while others are trying to bail the water out of the ship? It was an "all hands on" deck moment. During this struggle there came a time when they knew there was nothing else they could do. They set sail expecting a time of rest, but now they are fighting for their lives. They did not see this storm coming. This was not part of their plan. "A man's heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps," Proverbs 16:9. I wonder if we really believe this? "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose," Romans 8:28. Again, do we really believe this, or do we put a "but" in there somewhere? We blame people, we blame circumstances, and even the devil, but we must remember that God is Sovereign, alone. We find a good example of this in Psalm 107:23-32. Notice that it is God Who is in total control. With this in mind, let us turn to Psalm 23.
"And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm," Luke 8:24. After having done all they could, but to no avail, they came to Jesus. "Came" in this verse means to draw near. They called Jesus "Master", which defined means an appointee over, i.e. commander (teacher):- master. How often do we call out to Jesus not understanding Who we are talking to? They call out to the Master, and they inform Him that they are about to perish. "We perish" in this verse speaks of persons to be put to death, to die, perish, relating to physical death. Master, we have done all we can do, now we will perish. Christ got up, rebuked the winds and the waves, which means He restrained the wind and the waters by His command. The storm did not resist, the storm could not resist. He who sends the storm is in control of the storm. We are by nature blamers, and are always trying to find someone or something to blame. We dwell in the "if", when we should be focused on He Who is Sovereign. Not only is God Sovereign, but He is also Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent. When we grasp these truths we see that God never loses, and the devil never wins. Nothing can ever happen to us that is outside of the will of God. Do we believe that? Is our faith in Him?
"And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him," Luke 8:25. Have they been walking with Christ for so long, yet they do not really know Him? How about us? Some people actually think that if the Lord has saved us that we should not have any problems in life. They think we should have smooth sailing, and if we don't, then God is doing us wrong. We have learned that it is God Who sends storms into our lives. These storms do not grow our faith, but they do reveal where our faith is. Our faith in God grows as we learn of Him through the Scriptures. Our Lord and Saviour is worthy of our trust. He has never failed us, and He never will. The disciples only saw the present. They had no idea they were headed for a divine appointment on the other side of the sea of Galilee in a place called Decapolis. In reality it is not about us, it is about Him; His purpose, for His honour and glory. Are we trusting the Lord, or are we trusting ourselves? A storm in our lives will reveal the answer. Lord help us.
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Soli Deo Gloria.
