One of the Bible studies I had this week was over the story in Matthews where Jesus claimed the storm.

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

‭Mark‬ ‭4:35-41‬ ‭ESV‬‬

When we run a Discovery Bible Study we read through the passage, some times with everyone reading a few verses. Then we try to retell the story in our own words. This is sometimes done by one person sharing the first thing that was done followed by someone else share the next step. Then we will ask five thought-provoking open-ended questions, What do you like about this story? What is difficult? What does it show us about God? What does it show us about people? and then, Is there anything (command) that we need to obey?

This was going well I had eight young men and another volunteer in my group. We were able to read this passage and a gentleman was able to resight the entire story on his own. We when thought the questions, with almost every man answering the question. We got into how God is there for us at all times. That most of us will call on Jesus only in hard situations, and not when things are going well.

Then God dropped a new revelation on this scripture that I have never heard before. I saw the disciples struggling with keeping the boat afloat. some of them came from a fishing background and has handle storms before. I was allowing my imagination to run and I could see then yelling commands to the others, while some were bailing water back into the sea.

Then I hear in my heart,
What if they woke Jesus first and asked Him what to do?

They know their destination, Jesus already told them that they were going to the other side, so they should have known that they were not going to sink. By this point, they have seen Jesus performed many miracles, like feed thousands, healing leapers, and setting people free. They already accepted as their Master and Rabi and started to believe that He was the Messiah, the Christ.

What God downloaded to me and I shared with the men. I think the disciples, especially the fisherman, saw the storm coming across the sea, They were taught by their father how to handle a boat in a storm. So they figure they could handle it without waking the master. They struggled with the boat in their own strength doing all they knew how to do, then when all else failed they called on Jesus.

We could recognize that this is us, we will begin to do a task or project without checking with God, just because it was something we are familiar with. I am not saying that we have to check every choice with God but that we have to know when it is more then we can handle and when to call for Him.

If they were to wake Jesus when they saw the storm coming in and checked to see if he need them to change course. it might have sounded like this. “Jesus sorry for waking you but there is a storm coming in do you wish for us to change course or press on?”. Jesus might have canceled the storm before it reached them or told them what to expect. Either way, Jesus might have said: “What Faith, your faith has saved you!”

Instead of waking Jesus up we need to wake up and realize that Jesus wants us to depend on him. He has given us a vision and wants us to press forward, but not in our own strength, relying on Him all the way to the other side. If we do get into the midst of the storm remember that Jesus is still in your boat, He has made a way of escape for us.

APPLICATION

• Once you have your course, and a situation changes check with God for any course corrects
• …Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Zachariah 4:6 ESV
• If your boat is in the storm, it ok to have other help but call on Jesus first