Mark 4:35-41 NIV ³⁵That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." ³⁶Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?"

³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"

Every person reading this is in one of three places. You are either in a storm, coming out of a storm, or about to enter a storm. Storms are just as much a fact of life as are death and taxes. By the way, storms do not respect people. They befall the rich and the poor, the young and the old and any other category in between. Storms are simply a part of life.

Not too long ago an American (Ken Barnes), safely headed toward land after three days adrift, said a driving storm off the tip of South America snapped his masts and rolled his yacht, shattering his dream to make a nonstop, round-the-world voyage. "I lost my boat, but I preserved my life," Ken Barnes told a group of reporters in a radio conversation from the fishing vessel that rescued him.

Often we survive the storm, but the injuries stay with us for a while. The storms of life frequently come without warning:

o A phone rings and a doctor asks, “Could you come to my office. . . now?”

o A letter in the mail. . .

o A knock on the door. . .

o A phone call. . .

o A severe look from the boss. . .

o A clearing of the throat followed by the words, “We need to talk. . .”

Storms can approach in velvet slippers with silent footfalls but in the end thunder roars from the steps of the storm.

Many people want the great calm without the storm. But the great calm cannot be fully appreciated until the storm has torn us apart.

I want an anointing but no storms.

I want a prayer life but no storms.

I want a great life but no storms.

I want to know the Book but no storms.

I want to win souls but no storms.

This sometimes is the prevailing pattern of life in where there are great successes that there are also great afflictions: Pentecost is followed by persecution - Peter's sermon is followed by imprisonment - The disciples experienced the greatest calm and it is followed with the overwhelming tempest.

May I tell you that just in case you thought it might happen, it will not happen in a million years? What you need is gut-wrenching, nerve-twisting, sleep-stealing storms.

If you want the sun to stand still, you have to be in a fight.

If you want the water to be sweet, you have to taste the bitter water first.

If you want manna, you have to get hungry.

If you want fire to fall from heaven, you have to be surrounded by doubt and unbelief.

If you want the birds to feed you, you have to be on the run

If you want the axe-head to float in the water, it has to be lost in the pond.

Storms:

• will give you an opportunity to grow.
• will draw you to another world.
• will bring you to your knees.

Storms will come ... but in the midst of the storm, there is a Savior who will let His peace prevail!!