We’ve been studying Jesus in Matthew 12 and 13, and we need to review the kind of day He has had. He has healed the demon possessed man, refuted the attack from the Pharisees, dealt with an interruption from His earthly family, moved down to the shore from the town, and started teaching parables. The crowd was so large that He had to get into a boat and get a little away from the shore to teach. He had not even been able to eat. Sounds like a tough day!

Don’t you think He was TIRED? He needed to rest! Everybody needs rest sometime, to press on doing what God wants them to do effectively. That’s the background for what happens next. Matthew omits this story, so we’ll look at Mark.

Mark 4:33-37

33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it;

34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.

35 On that day, when evening came, He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side."

36 Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.

Jesus had to get into a boat to teach the huge crowd, and there were people on the shore and even following Him in other boats. When it says the disciples took Him “just as He was”, it means that they took no provisions. They were literally making a break for it!

37 And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.

Luke gives us an even better account of the predicament they are in:

Luke 8:23

23 But as they were sailing along He fell asleep; and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake, and they began to be swamped and to be in danger.

Some of the disciples (Peter, James, and John) were seasoned seamen. This sudden storm (the Greek word means hurricane) even had them worried. From their perspective, their lives were at stake. While panic sets in on the boat, the Lord is getting His much needed rest.

Mark 4:38a

38 Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; …

What was the purpose of the storm? I believe there are two.

1. To facilitate the Lord’s rest. There was no way the huge crowd, and the boats that were following, were going to leave Him alone.
2. The same purpose that all storms in life have – to test their faith!

Following the Lord requires faith in Him and His Word above and beyond the visible. The disciples are facing a hurricane, the boat is filling up faster than they can bail it, and the Lord appears to be doing nothing but sleeping! Maybe it’s just me, but have you ever been in a storm in life, and felt like He was sleeping and not at all worried about what you were going through?

He might have been asleep, but He still had everything under complete control! Just like He does when we face storms in our life. HE IS GOING TO SEE YOU THROUGH YOUR STORMS, JUST LIKE HE DOES FOR THESE DISCIPLES. But He wants you to have faith in Him and in His Word.

Mark 4:38b

…and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"

Notice they called Him Teacher, not Lord! This storm has caused them to lose focus on exactly who He is! Think of what they have seen Him do – change water to wine, cleanse lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons. But they have allowed the storm to distract them. DO YOU?

And what a ridiculous question they ask Him! Of course He cares. Just because it APPEARS as though He is doing nothing doesn’t mean He doesn’t care. The storm was designed to test their faith. It was designed to be beyond their ability to handle by themselves – even the fishermen.

The only solution for storms that are beyond our ability to solve ourselves is to have faith in the Lord. We all know what the Lord does next:

Mark 4:39-41

39 And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.

The wind quit, and the sea became like glass IN AN INSTANT. He miraculously and instantly solved their problem. Don’t think that He can’t do exactly the same thing for YOUR storm!

40 And He said to them, "Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?"

41 They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

These disciples were still growing in their faith. The storm was designed to test them, just like storms in our life are designed to test us, and bring us to greater dependence on Him and His Word.

Remember, the Lord may be sleeping on the job from your perspective, but He is not – He is always in complete control.