Surviving Life's Storms, Part 2

If you and I are seeking in our situation, change what you're looking at. Don't give all your attention to the winds and the waves of your circumstances. Dr. Tony Evans says in the midst of life's storms, we need to keep our focus on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He gets you started and he carries you to completion, even if there are storms in between. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless Biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Sometimes life gets so stormy that we wonder if we're going to make it through.

But Dr. Evans says even when things are at their worst, there's something bigger at play than the storm. Let's join him in Mark chapter 4 as he talks about Jesus. He comes to the end of the day.

He's been teaching all day to the large crowd, which included his disciples. At the end of the day, dusk is setting in and he says in verse 35 to his disciples, let us go to the other side. He's talking about the other side of the Sea of Galilee. So he gets in the boat with his flotilla joining him. It says other boats were with him.

Everybody couldn't fit into his boat, so there were other boats alongside as they went across the Sea of Galilee. On their way across, we're told there was a fierce gale of wind, verse 37 says, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. They didn't leave in a windstorm. They got hit by a windstorm very quickly since they were going a fairly short distance in the boat.

But out of nowhere, they run into hurricane season. They run into something that is overwhelming them, and it is wicked fierce. They found themselves in an overwhelming situation. They found themselves with a problem that was too big for their professionalism to handle.

Everything changed from where they started to what was going on now. That's when we hit verse 38. Jesus himself was asleep in the stern, asleep on the cushion.

Okay, let's stop right there. Jesus is asleep in a storm. We just read it's a fierce storm. It's hurricane stuff. This boat is being tossed all over the place.

It's filling up with water. But Jesus himself was asleep in the stern on a MyPillow. And the circumstances didn't wake him up.

I mean, these are bad circumstances. This is a fierce problem, a devastating problem, and Jesus is asleep on a cushion. So we read in verse 38, And they woke him up and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? The problem, the wind, the waves, the storm did not wake Jesus up. Jesus didn't wake up till they woke him up. He didn't get up because times were bad.

He got up because they were desperate for him when times were bad. So he gets up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, hush, hush me still. Jesus is speaking to Mother Nature, and Jesus is telling Mother Nature to calm down. He's telling Mother Nature, hush your fuss. He's telling Mother Nature, settle down. And it says in verse 30, and it became perfectly calm.

The Greek word for perfect is the word mega. The sea became like glass. So he told the wind to stop. Well, if he only told the wind to stop, the waves are still going to be going for a while. But he told the wind to stop, and he told the waves, stop, stop moving. He spoke. Things changed. They were in a problem that came out of nowhere, and they resolved the problem that came out of nowhere. In other words, bam, bam. In between this and that, they were terrorized. We're going to perish.

We're not going to make it. Jesus speaks to nature and says, you've got to shift your operation now, because I said so. Then Jesus says to his disciples, why are you afraid?

How is it that you have no faith? That seemed like an odd question. We've got a hurricane, but this windstorm is sucking down to the 700-foot below sea level sea of Galilee.

The boat's filling up with water. It doesn't look like we're going to make it, and you want to know why we spurred. You want to know. That's like asking somebody who just got out of the swimming pool, why are you wet?

I mean, it's like an obvious answer. We're scared because we're scared. We're terrorized. Why do you have no faith? Oh, Jesus, maybe because we're getting ready to die. Is that maybe a little bit insensitive, a little bit cruel, God, Jesus? Come on, man, you've got to understand.

We're only human, and we're in a devastating, dangerous, diabolical, difficult situation totally outside of our control. Come on, Jesus, come on, you've got to cut us a little slack here. Well, remember now, if it's a good teacher that gives you a test, the test is over information taught. The purpose of the test is to see whether not only were you paying attention, but did you embrace the information? The purpose of a test is not just whether you said amen in class. Praise the Lord, ain't God good all the time?

All the time God is good, show you right. Purpose of a test is not tied to your temporary affirmation of the information. The purpose of a test is have you embraced it to the point of utilization?

So what was the test? Remember now, Jesus has been teaching about the kingdom of God and about the seed, which is the Word of God. He said to them when they got in the boat, in verse 35, let us go to the other side. I can hear them now, other side, other side, other side. Other side, God's going to take us to the other side, I know we can fix it.

Put my eyes to the hills from which cometh my help, my help cometh from the Lord. Your other side. Peter, did you hear him? He said other side, other side, other side. Jesus didn't say let me go to the other side. He said let us, all of us are going to make it to the other side. He didn't say that we're going to be no problems on our way to the other side, but he did say we're going to make it from here to the other side. So from where you are to where I'm taking you, you got to trust me on the journey. So I'm going to allow there to be a hurricane to see whether you were paying attention to what you were amen-ing when I gave you the message.

I said let us go to the other side. So if you were really paying attention when the storm hit and the boat got full of water and you saw me pick up my pillow, you would have picked up your pillow and we would have all been laying here because you will remember I said let us go to the other side. How easy it is for all of us to forget God's word in a crisis. So there's a curious relationship between a crisis, God's word and our response.

And Dr. Evans will explore what that is when he continues in just a moment. First though, don't miss the chance to get your own copy of all six messages in our current series, Having Faith During Fear. If you contact us right away, the full-length versions of these messages are yours on CD or downloadable MP3 along with our thanks when you make a contribution in support of the Ministry of the Alternative. And right now we'll also include a special bonus, our substantial Hope for the Hurting Leader Kit including the Hope for the Hurting book, study guide, printed material for six study sessions, teaching videos and more.

This study unveils God's purpose and power during times of suffering and helps us realize God is working on our behalf in ways we might not easily see. This is a great package for a small group study or even for your own personal growth. To request your copy of this bundle, visit us today at TonyEvans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222. This is a limited time offer so visit us as soon as you can.

Again, that's TonyEvans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night. We'll return to Dr. Evans with more of our message right after this. Well, let's return now to more of today's lesson from Dr. Evans. How easy it is for all of us to forget God's word in a crisis. But the only way you know you're holding on that word is in a crisis. It's when you have to use it, not just when you happen to hear it.

Not just when you happen to hear it. He says, why are you so afraid? Yeah, we got a hurricane. We've got a problem, but you got a promise. So don't let your problem override my promise. My promise did not say there would be no problem. And don't allow circumstances to determine your theology.

Don't decide what you're going to believe based on what you're going through. And so he challenges them in the midst of their crisis. And then we come to this last verse, verse 41. They became very much afraid. Now they were already afraid because Jesus said, why are you so afraid? Now they're scared to death. The first time they were scared was because of the circumstances. This time they are scared because of who Jesus is.

How do I know? Because the end of verse 41 says, Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him? What have we gotten ourselves into? The psalmist says in Psalm 89, verse 9, when talking about the power of God, he says, you rule the swelling of the sea.

When its waves rise, you still them. That's talking about God. He says, they say, oh, we're terrified. We get scared of the wrong thing. We get scared of the problem in our humanity. Now they were scared of something bigger than the problem. They were scared of the problem solver.

Their fear causes a question. Who then is this? What have we gotten ourselves into here that even nature obeys Him?

So let's answer this question. Who then is this? Because a lot of Christians don't know who He is.

No, He's a Savior, died on the cross. There's a lot more to this than this. Who then is this that nature has to do what He says?

Do we know who we're dealing with here? In this one passage, we see the manifestation of the hypostatic union. Now, the hypostatic union is a theological phrase that simply means two natures in one person unmixed forever.

Two natures in one person unmixed forever. One minute, Jesus is asleep. Sound asleep because He's fully man. We see Jesus in the Gospels getting hungry, like any human being, because He's fully man. He has to be thirsty. He has to get a drink because He's fully man. He has to go to sleep and then be in deep sleep after a tiring day because He's fully man. He bleeds on a cross and dies because He has the nature of a man.

So throughout the Gospels, He's called the Son of Man because He is fully human, but the hypostatic union says there's another nature rather than in the same person. So He can be asleep one minute and tell nature what to do the next minute because He's fully divine. He can have to drink water, but then He can walk on water because He's also fully divine. He can be human and need to eat, but He can also turn sardines and crackers into a Moby Dick sandwich because He's fully divine. He can die because He's Son of Man, but He can rise from the dead because He's Son of God.

Who then is this? He is the one of a kind. He is the unique one. He is Son of Man, Son of God. As Son of Man, He feels you. As Son of God, He helps you. As Son of Man, He knows your problem and your pain.

As Son of God, He can address both. When you deal with Jesus, you're dealing with God become a man who can be full of humanity without sin and at the same time full deity. In Him, heaven and earth come together. In Him, God and man come together. When you step across the pearly gates in glory, He will be the only scarred person in heaven. He will be the only person with scars on Him.

You will have a glorified body. He has a glorified body, but when He rose from the dead, He showed Philip his scar in his hands, his scar in his feet, and his scar on his side and told him to touch it. Told him to touch it.

Why? Because I want to reveal to you I'm fully man, but I want to demonstrate to you, to Thomas, that I'm fully God. And what he wants you to understand is if you really want to deal with Jesus, don't let Him sleep on you, because He'll be quiet as long as you don't disturb Him. He'll let you sink in the water until you wake up to Him. Just a little bit later, Peter asked Jesus, can I walk on water like you walking on water? Jesus said, Peter, come on and walk on water. Peter started doing his moonwalk. He started doing his moonwalk on the water. He started walking on water, but then it said he took his eyes off of Jesus, and when he took his eyes off of Jesus, it says he began to sink. He can walk on water when he kept his eyes on Jesus, but he says he saw the wind and the waves, and when he looked at the circumstances, he began to sink. If you and I are sinking in our situation, change what you're looking at. Don't give all your attention to the winds and the waves of your circumstances. Looking unto Jesus, the Bible says, the author and finisher of our faith.

He gets you started and he carries you to completion, even if there are storms in between. In closing, a few years ago, I was on a cruise coming from Alaska. I was on a cruise coming from Alaska. It was a ministry cruise.

We took many of our supporters for our national ministry, the Urban Alternative, who listen to us on radio and support the ministry, and we took them on this cruise. Coming back from Alaska, we hit the worst storm that Royal Caribbean ever faced. Waves hit this cruise liner with waves 50 feet high, and it was knocking this cruise ship with 5,000 people around like it was a tin can. People were screaming and hollering. People were throwing up in the halls in the dining room. Pianos were rolling down.

Plates were rolling off. The stewards had to crouch down. They told everybody get into their cabins, and we were being tossed around like a tin can, and the ship was terrified. There was a call to the captain. The call to the captain says, why did you do this? You've got sophisticated equipment on this boat that would have told you we were headed to a storm.

And there was another path we could have taken. It's called the inside passage. So you can go from Alaska to Vancouver or to Seattle either in open sea or by means of the inside passage.

If you use the inside passage, it limits the effect of the storm because it's inside. You're kind of surrounded before you hit open water. But they had to get back to let us off to take on another group, so they came in open water, and this storm hit us and was knocking us around.

And they said, why did you do this? A call came back from the captain. I know this is uncomfortable.

I know this is difficult. But what you need to know is that this ship was built with this storm in mind. When we were at dry dock building this boat, we knew a day like this was going to come. And we constructed this thing that while it's uncomfortable for you, you're going to be able to handle it because the boat you are in is able to handle the storm that is coming against you. I don't know what storms you're in, and I don't know what storms you're going to.

But I do know this one thing. Your salvation by Jesus Christ was built with that storm in mind. And if you hang on to Jesus in the middle of your storm, you're going to make it to his destination for your life.

As we learned today, the anchor we hold on to when the waves of life get rough is our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. If you're not exactly sure what that means, visit tonyevans.org today and follow the link at the top of the home page that simply says Jesus. There, Tony will explain everything you need to know about what being a Christian is all about and how to start a brand-new life. That's tonyevans.org. And while you're there, don't forget to take advantage of our current resource offer, all six full-length messages in our current series Having Faith During Fear, along with the added bonus of the Hope for the Hurting Leader Kit, including the book, Bible study, study resources, teaching videos, and more.

These resources are all yours along with our thanks for your donation to help keep this listener-supported program coming your way. Just visit tonyevans.org before time runs out to make the arrangements or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night. Again, that's tonyevans.org or by phone 24-7 at 1-800-800-3222. I'll tell you what's in store for us next time right after this. Visit tonyevanstraining.org to get started today.

That's tonyevanstraining.org. Even when you feel at the top of your game, you can count on hitting a slump sooner or later. Dr. Evans takes a look at turning life's valleys into life's victories next time on the Alternative Broadcast. I hope you'll be back with us for that. ? ?