Find peace in the almighty Savior

0:00Thanks for tuning in to Manna, a short daily meditation to feed hungry souls with God's Word. These episodes were prepared by our Dane Ministers for a radio broadcast called Voice of the Church and are now republished by the Reform Perspective Foundation, a Canadian charity that applies biblical truth to the issues of our time, here's today serving. Your day listeners, welcome to today's broadcast. When things go wrong in life, how do you react? What do you do when you find yourself in a tight spot when the unexpected suddenly shatters your regular day to day life? What do you do when you find out that you've lost your job or that a loved one has become ill or injured? How do you react when you are faced with injustice or when a natural disaster makes a simple journey into a fearsome experience? How do you handle the unknown in the uncertain?

1:02In the earlier part of Mark chapter 4, the Lord Jesus had just finished explaining to His disciples what it means to have true faith and to respond to the Word which He gives to them. The one who listens to the words of Jesus Christ must respond in faith and act on the Word that He hears. Believe them and bear fruit in accordance with these words. Now on the evening of that day of much teaching through the disciples, the Lord Jesus gives them an opportunity to show their faith. Jesus tells His disciples that they should together go over to the other side of the lake. They left a crowd behind and started across the Sea of Galilee. Now, the Sea of Galilee is a lake where storms can come up quickly and unexpectedly. In verse 37 we read, a furious squall came up and the waves broke over the boats so that it was nearly swamped. The boat was filling with water and it seemed that at any moment it would sink. How would they ever be able to survive this?

2:05And when the boat sinks, they'll be helpless in a raging sea and would most certainly drown. And the situation, therefore, was desperate. Luke records for us in Luke 8 verse 24 that they were in great danger. And therefore, their reaction to the seriousness of the storm is understandable from a human point of view. They are at their wits end. They are all filled with fear and terror. They could feel death coming very close and they are at a loss as to what they should do. Their end has come. They are in a state of great fear such as they have not experienced before. By contrast, the Lord Jesus Christ is a picture of calmness and tranquility. Mark tells us in verse 38 that he was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. Even though the storm is raging around them and the boat is filling with water, the Lord Jesus is sleeping peacefully on his cushion.

3:05There is no hint of panic or terror. He rests in the everlasting arms of his father in heaven. He sees no reason to be concerned about their situation. He goes on sleeping. There is no reason to be concerned because he knows that his heavenly father will take care of him no matter what the circumstances might be. But the disciples are besides themselves. They go to him and wake him up and say to him, Teacher, don't you care if we drown? They cannot understand how it is possible for him to be so unmoved by the events of the dangerous storm. Is their teacher so uncarrying? Isn't the lies of his disciples in his own life precious to him? Can't something be done? They can't just let their teacher sleep on his cushion in these dire straits. They show the panic of unbelief here and allow themselves to be overcome with terror and dread. They have lost their bearings when faced with death.

4:06They have forgotten the lessons which the Lord has been trying to teach them. They look at their situation only from a human point of view. Such a state of extreme fear and panic is never right for a Christian for a child of God. It's only those who have no hope in this world who are to act like that, but a child of God who trusts in his Heavenly Father never needs to be without any hope. There's always reason to be a good cheer and even to rejoice in the midst of great trials. This message of hope and always being a good cheer can great and rub the wrong way when we hear it with just our human ears. It can sound unrealistic and very harsh even. It can sound out of touch with reality and too idyllistic. Nevertheless, this is exactly what our Lord and Savior teaches us. When faced with the panic of unbelief, the Lord Jesus turns through disciples in verse

5:0940 and He says to them, Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? In the version which Luke records, Jesus says, Where is your faith? The Lord Jesus asks to disciples why they did not exercise faith in these circumstances. He rebukes them sharply and tells them that they should have had faith and believed. He offers no escape via friendly excuses to His disciples, but He confronts them very clearly with their lack of faith. In the question, Why are you so afraid? Jesus implies that there was no need for them to be afraid. Jesus realized that they were filled with terror and dread, but He now instructs them that they should not have been so fearful. If they had had faith and used that faith, then they would not have been afraid. The circumstances of the storm should not have led to fear, but why is that exactly? Because they should have factored in the unseen reality of their Heavenly Father.

6:13They should have been living their lives in communion with God in Heaven. If God had been a living reality for them, they would have gone to Him immediately and entrusted themselves into His care. They should have gone to Him in prayer and realized their lives were in His hand, also now in the storm. They knew the truth about their faithful father. The Lord Jesus had been teaching that to them so many occasions. They knew that they had to listen to the Word of God and bear fruit in God's service, and now they had a golden opportunity to show that. They had understood God's Word, but they failed in doing that. In a situation beyond all human hope, they neglected to lift up their eyes to Heaven. They were not yet accustomed to living by the heavenly realities, but were too fixated on the things of this earth. As if that is the only reality. They live by sight, not by faith. How do you deal with tests of faith in your life?

7:16Do you view them as opportunities to show that the love of God and the communion with Him is a foremost thing in your life? Or are you overcome with fear and terror at the ugly situation? The Lord Jesus and the rest of the Bible do not mean to exclude all human emotion and reaction in the face of difficulty and trial. The Lord Jesus Himself showed this in the Garden of Gethsemane, where He showed real emotion at having to drink the cup of God's wrath. Nevertheless, He submitted Himself to God's will and asked God to accomplish His will in His life. A Christian is never in a hopeless situation. Let me repeat that. A child of God is never in a hopeless situation. And therefore, Christians must also not behave as those who are caught in hopeless circumstances. There's only true hopelessness, which results in terror and being at one's wit's end.

8:17There's never a reason for a Christian to be at wit's end. There's always a way out of each trial and struggle that we may encounter in life. No matter what it is, the Lord provides a solution. When the disciples went to the Lord Jesus in their despair and woke him up, Jesus showed to them His power and majesty as God's Son. He stood up from His cushion and rebuked the wind and said to the ways quiet, be still. He simply speaks the words, and the result follows, as we read further in verse 39, then the wind died down, and it was completely calm. The Lord Jesus speaks and the wind and the waves obey Him. The storm dies down completely, and the sea is as smooth as glass. This miracle shows us all, while we may always have hope with the Lord Jesus Christ. He is all powerful and able to do anything. He's able to do any miracle, solve any problem, work any wonder, for He is God Himself.

9:24For those who believe in Him, there's no reason to fall to the level of panic and being at one's wit's end, because with Him there's always a solution and a way out. That's always live our lives as God's children, as those who know their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Walk by faith, and you will see before you at all times our wonderful Savior, and keep in view the things which He has done for us. Relive on His heavenly majesty, His everlasting love, and His enduring faithfulness in all circumstances and situations of life. When you look only to yourself, there are many reasons for despair and anguish, and then life can seem hopeless, and then it can seem that there is no solution at all. When you look to Christ above, and we call the love and mercy of your Heavenly Father, then you will always have reason for great joy and exaltation. Then all panic and terror is banished from your heart, and you may go forward free from

10:25worry and anxiety. Our Savior commanded us not to be filled with worry and dread, because our Father is watching over us and taking care of us. He will take you in His everlasting arms, and He carries you especially when the road is too difficult for us. We may live our life in the perspective of the peace that surpasses all understanding, the peace that our sins are forgiven in the blood of Jesus Christ, and that our Heavenly Father will never forsake us. It is Jesus Christ who has endured that torment and anguish of hell itself. He went there, so that you would never need to undergo such utter despair and suffering. He was rejected by God, so that you might be accepted by God forever and received into His Heavenly through His intercessions. Live out of that sheer hope, and rest in the Lord all your days in all circumstances of life.

11:26When things go wrong in life, look to God above and find your peace and comfort in Him alone. Thank you for listening. Till next time.