God Is In Control Even When Your World Is Spinning

Reverend Leo H. McCrary II

In stormy seasons like now, when our world is spinning out of control, we must remember that God is in control of all things in His creation.

Introduction

Do you believe that God is in control in a stormy season like now?  I hope you take a moment to join me for this week’s lesson, because it’s in the midst of storms when we must hold fast to God the most.  This week’s Sunday School commentary covers Mark 4:35-41.

Jesus Calms a Great Storm

Our lesson opens with Jesus and His disciples getting in a boat, crossing over the sea, heading to the country of the Gadarenes, where a man possessed by Legion was located (Mark 4:35; 5:1).  

Before setting sail, Jesus had been healing, teaching, and gaining a great following in Capernaum.   In fact, we’re told that in Mark 4:36, other little boats sailed with them, likely filled with some of the multitude trying to follow Christ across the sea. 

With all of the ministering He had been doing, Mark 4:38 tells us that Jesus was weary and fell asleep in the back of the boat as they sailed across.  We often highlight whenever Jesus fell asleep in scripture because it shows that while He was divine, He still faced what we face in the flesh.  It is scripture like this that could lead someone like Paul to write that we have a High Priest who can sympathize with what we go through (Heb. 4:15).

So, with Jesus asleep in the boat, Mark 4:37 tells us that a great windstorm arose on the sea and the waves beat into the boat so that it was filling.  I can only imagine what became of the other little boats as the implication that boat Jesus was aboard was bigger.  That being said, I don’t believe any of the boats were prepared to come into a windstorm.

Something that we should remember is that most of the disciples were experienced fishermen who had years of experience at sea.   Yet, in all of their experience, we don’t have to imagine how the disciples were responding.  When they woke Jesus, they said to Him, “Do you not care that we are perishing (Mark 4:38)?”  

Those men were panicking!  In my mind, I often picture these men doing everything they could, at first, to fight the storm.  I even imagine them trying to scoop water out of the boat they were sailing in.  Yet, in all of their worrying, Jesus was so tired that the storm hadn’t even woken Him out of His sleep!

So, when Jesus arose, Mark 4:39 tells us that Jesus rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” After His command, we are told that there was calm.  After calming the sea, Jesus turned His attention to His disciples and asked, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith (Mark 4:40)?”

The Omnipotence of God

Now, this passage of scripture is pretty straightforward, as it shows the power of God.  Let us always remember that God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

This week’s lesson continues to demonstrate God being the Almighty God.  God is omnipotent, meaning He is all-powerful; He created all that is seen and unseen, known and unknown.  Moreover, the Lord is the sovereign ruler over His creation as His creation obeys His every command.

The Lord often used nature to demonstrate His power and authority to mankind.  In the lesson commentary – God’s Way Through the Wilderness of the Impossible – the power of God was demonstrated through the parting of the Red Sea.  Exodus 14:21 tells us that God caused the sea to go back by using a strong east wind all that night.

Why is it that the Lord often used nature to demonstrate His power to us, mankind?  Well, such forces of nature, like a storm, are beyond our ability to control.  We have learned to harness the power of the sun, the water, and the wind, yet we cannot make the sun shine, the wind stop and go, or the rain fall.  Here in Georgia, we have seasons of drought where the only thing one can do is hope and pray for rain.

Nature is also used metaphorically throughout scripture.  For example, the storm in this passage of scripture seemingly came out of nowhere.  Some suggest that this storm was demonic and Satanic, trying to keep Jesus from reaching the man possessed by Legion, hindering his blessing.   So, storms metaphorically represent the trials and tribulations of life. 

Other natural events, like famine and drought, often hit the children of Israel, which hindered what they would be able to gather.  I think of the great drought that Elijah endured with the widow and her son.  So, a season of famine and drought often represents one being in lack. 

Yet, what is shown to us throughout scripture is that God is in control.  God causes His sun to rise and His rain to fall (Matt. 5:45).  As the Lord has control over natural forces, let us also understand that He has the same authority over spiritual forces.  If this storm at sea was demonic or Satanic, look at how effortlessly Jesus calmed the storm!

Mark 4:41 tells us, “They feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”  They were stunned at how immediately the windstorm stopped at His simple command. 

What to Do in the Midst of a Storm?

So, should we panic and fear in a stormy season or in a season of drought?  If I were to answer that question, I would answer with a question:  Why should we panic or fear in a stormy season or a season of drought?

The fact of the matter is that the disciples shouldn’t have been so panicked about the storm at sea because Jesus was with them.  When we see them wake Jesus up, they seemed bothered and frustrated that they had to wake Him up.  

Be prayerful

The frustration of the disciples is the same frustration that many believers have when it comes to prayer.  

Some believers believe that they ought not to have to ever pray to God because if God is watching over them, aware of what they’re going through, and already knows their needs, He should bless them without their prayers.  This thought is why many nonbelievers choose not to believe and even speak against prayer.

As I preached about in a series of sermons – Living by Prayer – prayer has little to nothing to do about God.  God is with us, but the question we must answer is whether or not we are with Him.  God, we should understand, is always going to be who He is as He is faithful.  However, are we going to be faithful and turn to Him, or will we try to take on things that are beyond our control, like we can’t easily talk to God through the Spirit?

Let’s be clear about this, we need to pray, God does not need our prayers.  What do our prayers do for God?   I know some supernatural shows and movies like to imagine that prayer empowers God, but you should leave such thoughts to Hollywood.

Prayer is not for God; it is for us.  Calling on the Lord is a show of our faith and our dependence on Him.  When we pray to Him, it shows that we know that God will tend to our needs and make a way for us.  The sincere believer prays because they feel the need to do so.

Don’t delay to move in faith

Now, some believe that prayer doesn’t work because God is either asleep or doesn’t care about what we go through.  Jesus falling asleep and remaining asleep through a storm at the rear of a boat is not indicative of what God does.  As I mentioned earlier, the Son was dwelling in the flesh, enduring what we endure in the flesh.  However, as the Lord said, He is everlasting, and He neither grows weary nor does He faint (Is. 40:28).

The storm hadn’t disturbed Jesus, but there is certainly a hint that Jesus did not like that His disciples had not come to Him in the first place!  Notice, Jesus asked them, “How is it that you have no faith?”

Something that is truly disturbing me in this stormy season we are currently in is how few of us are turning to the Lord.  We should not only be turning to God in prayer, but we should be turning to God in our worship.  

Now, let me be clear about what I mean by our worship.  When we think of worship, we think of going to worship service, right?  I do believe that local churches ought to be filled up today, as we ought to have a burning desire to come together and praise God in this season.

Yet, worship of God extends beyond the worship service.  Jesus told the Samaritan woman that those who worship the Lord will worship Him in Spirit and truth (John 4:23-24).  True worship takes place in the heart of those who don’t give in to fear.  In His sermon on the mount, Jesus told the disciples not to worry but to seek first the kingdom of God, and all their worries will be taken care of (Matt. 6:33).

In this stormy season, many of us are doing everything but what we ought to do.  If we were to simply turn to the Lord, He’d calm our storms just by uttering a word.  The Lord calming the storms in your life is God giving to you His peace–true peace.

You see, God is in control and has the power to end storms and bring you through them.  Jesus said to the disciples, “Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:  and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock (Matt. 7:24-25).”

So, as it storms in this season, don’t hesitate or delay to turn to the Lord.  This is a season when faith and prayer are certainly needed.  God is omnipotent and He will deliver you from your storm.