author: Ryan Hayden Take your Bibles with me and turn to Luke 8. Luke 8. We are going to just jump right in and read our text - which is very short today. Luke 8:22-25:

[!bible] Luke 8:22-25 - KJV 22. Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. 23. But as they sailed he fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy. 24. And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25. And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

I want to talk today about why we have storms. Why we have storms.

We just had a storm. Amanda woke us up on Friday night in the middle of the night and rushed us quickly over to the church basement (which is our safe place in storms.) We spent about an hour down there waiting for the storm to pass over. Fortunately, it didn't have too much of an effect here - a few downed limbs. But it was pretty bad elsewhere.

Nathan Stahlman's town of Villa Ridge, MO was hit directly and it caused a lot of damage there (it missed the church.) But not far away, in Peidmont, MO it hit the home of someone Nathan went to church with years ago, killing this man and his wife and one other person.

Literal storms are very real to us, aren't they. They are scary. They are out of our control. We are just at the mercy of the wind and the rain and the random path of a tornado.

But what about the metaphorical storms of life? That is what this little story speaks to.

Just like the storm that hit us on Saturday, things can be going well. We can have sunny skies and warm days and then out of the blue, we are in the middle of something scary and dark and completely out of our control.

I'm not going to spend a ton of time explaining this story today because it is very simple and very well known. In fact, as I was reading it you probably were thinking of details in this story that you know that don't show up here in Luke.

Like -

• What was Jesus sleeping on? From the book of Mark? (A pillow)
• What did Jesus say to the storm? (Peace, be still.)
• Does anybody remember what Jesus said to the disciples when they woke him up? (O ye of little faith.)

So you know this story, and it is a short story anyway. We won't spend a lot of time on explaining it, but we will consider what it means to us.

And here is the lesson I believe God wants us to learn in this story:

Christ leads his followers into storms because it is in storms where His power becomes real and where our faith is strengthened.

Here is how I want to approach my sermon today: I'm going to start by talking about the power of this storm and how all of us have storms in our life. Then I'm going to talk about three more things we see in this story:

• The path to the storm.
• The pacifying of the storm
• The purpose of storms.

And with each of those three things, I'm going to show you an important lesson this passage teaches us about difficulty, hardships and trials.

Let's pray and get into our message today.

The first thing I want to talk about today, by way of introduction is...

Introduction - The power of the storm.

In the story, Jesus has just finished preaching to maybe the biggest crowd of his whole ministry. A massive crowd gathered at the lake to hear him, and it was so big Jesus had to teach from a boat. Well, at the end of the day, Jesus was exhausted and said to the disciples in the boat, let's go over to the other side.

So they are travelling here at night across the Sea of Galilee.

The sea of Galilee isn't actually a "sea." It's actually a lake. Today it's called Lake Kinesseret. And it's actually a little bit smaller than a lake I've been on boats in many times in New Hampshire: Lake Winnipesaukee. As a lake, it's actually pretty calm most of the time. It's not big enough to have big waves. Most of the time in a storm the waves don't even get one foot high.

But once in a very great while, the wind will howl down from the mountains that surround the lake and stir up the water. There was one storm in the 1990s where the the waves were recorded to be over ten feet tall.

So as Jesus and his disciples were in this boat, just trying to go across the lake (a journey of about 5 miles.) They were overtaken by a furious storm. A storm that was so bad that these disciples - who spent most of their life on boats on that same lake all thought they were about to die.

It's interesting that Luke described this storm with Greek words that are literally "a cyclone of wind" and Mark used the same word for earthquake to describe this storm. This wasn't just any storm - this was THE storm of all storms. This was the storm those fisherman disciples probably warned their kids about and probably had been warned by their dads and grandads. These men were truly terrified.

Look, guys, lets be honest. We have a tough guy reputation to uphold. I'm the last person in my family to admit I'm scared of anything - and you are too. These men were professional fisherman! I bet they didn't want to wake Jesus up. This hurt their pride. They can handle the lake. They can handle a little storm. Until they couldn't and they were scared.

Look, sometimes in life we will be going along, doing our thing, the sun will be shining, we'll be having a good day - and life will through us into a terrible storm. A horrible storm.

• A kid gets sick.
• There is a terrible accident.
• You lose your job and no one is hiring.
• Your spouse wants a divorce.
• The doctor says the C word.
• A child you raised says they never want to talk to you again.

These are powerful storms. Horrible storms. Like the tornados we had this week, they can pick up a house at random and throw it in five different directions.

So why do we have to go through the storm? If God is good, (and He is) and God is in control (and He is) - then why do we have to go through these terrifying storms? Can't He protect us from them?

Let's look at our story again and I want to share three things we can learn about storms here.

The first thing I want to talk about is...

1. The path to the storm

Look at verse 22 again:

[!bible] Luke 8:22 - KJV 22. Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth.

I want you to think about this. Why did the disciples go out into the lake that night?

Wasn't it because Jesus told them to. Jesus said "let's go over to the other side." They sailed across that lake because they were obeying God. God led them into that storm.

They weren't in the storm because they had done something wrong - they were in the storm because they had done something right! They were serving and obeying Jesus!

And I think it is helpful to us when we go through storms in life to remember that we usually aren't in the storm because of something we did. God leads us into storms.

You know, our good shepherd sometimes leads us through the valley of the shadow of death. He sometimes sets our table right in front of our enemies. Maybe we'd prefer to stay out of the valley. Maybe we'd prefer to avoid the enemies. But that isn't how God works.

So if you are going through a storm today, I want you to take comfort and know that it does'n't mean you took a wrong turn, and it certainly doesn't mean that God has abandoned you.

He sometimes leads us into storms. That's the path to the storm.

But consider this - they were in that storm. Probably bailing water out of that boat. Probably on the roller coaster ride of their life as their little boat was tossed about by the waves. They were freezing, the wind and spray was blowing in their faces.

And Jesus is in the back of the boat - asleep. It didn't wake Him up.

This teaches us something about Jesus. It's so interesting. Jesus was really God - He's about to show that when He wakes up - but He was also really a man. He was so physically exhausted by this long day of ministry that He could sleep through this awful storm.

The disciples finally had to wake Him up (I wonder what they had to do to do that if the storm didn't do the job).

• I mean did they yell at Him - the thunder didn't wake Him up.
• Did they shake Him? I imagine the boat was shaky enough.
• Did they throw cold water on Him? The boat was filling up with water. What did they have to do to get Jesus up?

But they did get Him up and asked Him "Master, don't you care that we perish?" "Don't you care that we are going to die?"

And Jesus wakes up and calms the storm. "Peace, be still." and the storm goes away immediately. The water immediately goes calm again. (That's not how water normally works.)

So we've talked about the power of the storm, we've talked about the path to the storm. Let's talk for a minute about...

2. The pacifying of the storm

Here is the thing I want you to remember - Jesus has the power to make storms go away immediately.

With a single word. A single word. Jesus made the wind stop and the sea calm. With a single word - He made the storm go away. He could have done that at any time.

Look again at our text. Look at what Jesus asked them when He woke up and calmed the storm.

[!bible] Luke 8:25 - KJV 25. And he said unto them, Where is your faith?

The disciples were never going to die in that storm. Jesus had told them "we are going over to the other side." So that was going to happen. Jesus could have made the storm go away at any point - but He didn't. He let the disciples go through it. He let them panic.

Because He was trying to do something for them. He was trying to teach them something.

So we've talked about the power of storms, the path to the storm, the pacifying of storms. There is one more thing to consider today and that is...

3. The purpose of storms

Jesus wasn't sleeping through the storm because He didn't care. He wasn't sleeping through the storm because He was calloused. The whole storm was meant to teach the disciples something. To help them learn something.

You know, there is a big difference between the kind of learning that happens when you see something - when you watch a class, when you listen to a sermon - and the kind of learning that happens when you are forced to put into practice what you have learned.

These disciples had seen Jesus heal, they had heard Jesus' message. They had watched Jesus feed thousands and raise the dead. They knew who Jesus was - academically. But it wasn't until this storm that they knew who Jesus was practically.

So what did the disciples learn? They learned that Jesus was in fact God. They learned that He was in control of the whole universe.

There is a Psalm I want to read to you. Psalm 107. Verses 24-30. As men of the water and faithful jews, there is no doubt that the disciples knew this Psalm. Listen to the words:

[!bible] Psalms 107:24-30 - KJV 24. These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. 25. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. 26. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. 27. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end. 28. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. 29. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. 30. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.

They probably knew Psalm 89:9

[!bible] Psalms 89:9 - KJV 9. Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

Those Psalms - those were about God. God is the one who controls the sea. God is the one who can calm a storm.

But here on the boat, it was Jesus who commanded the storm.

So what did the disciples learn in the storm. They learned, in a practical way, in an experiential way, that Jesus is God.

And that was the purpose of the storm. The storm taught them what they couldn't learn in calm weather - that Jesus is God, that He cares about them, that He can still the storm and that He will bring them through to the other side.

Conclusion

So why do we have storms?

Christ leads his followers into storms because it is in storms where His power becomes real and where our faith is strengthened.

We’ve walked through this story in Luke 8 and seen the power of the storm—how it terrified even seasoned fishermen.

We’ve seen the path to the storm—how the disciples ended up there not because they did something wrong, but because they were obeying Jesus.

We’ve seen the pacifying of the storm—how Jesus has the power to calm any storm with a single word, showing He’s always in control.

And finally, we’ve seen the purpose of storms—how God uses them to teach us, in a practical, experiential way, who Jesus really is: the God who rules the wind and waves, the God who cares for us, the God who will always bring us through to the other side.

Folks, I know many of us are in storms right now.

• Maybe it’s a literal storm, like the one that hit Villa Ridge and Piedmont, leaving devastation in its wake.
• Maybe it’s a metaphorical storm—a diagnosis that’s shaken you, a relationship that’s broken, a burden that feels too heavy to carry.

In those moments, it’s easy to feel like Jesus is asleep in the boat, like He doesn’t see or care. But I want to remind you today: He’s not asleep in the way we think. He’s in control, even when it feels like chaos to us. He’s right there with you, and He’s bigger than your storm.

The question Jesus asked the disciples—“Where is your faith?”—is the same question He’s asking us today. It’s not a question meant to shame us, but to invite us to trust Him more deeply. To believe that He can calm the storm—or calm us in the middle of it. To believe that He’s working in the storm, even when we can’t see it, to show us His power and to strengthen our faith.

So as we close, I want to challenge you with this: When the storms come—and they will—don’t be afraid to cry out to Jesus like the disciples did. Run to Him. Wake Him up with your prayers. Tell Him you’re scared, tell Him you feel like you’re perishing. But don’t stop there. Trust Him to be who He says He is—the God who commands the winds and the waves, the God who cares for you more than you can imagine, the God who has promised to get you to the other side.

And maybe, just maybe, when the storm passes and you look back, you’ll see what the disciples saw: “What manner of man is this!” You’ll see Jesus in a new way—not just as a teacher or a healer, but as the God who rules over all, the God who was with you all along.

Let me leave you with this final thought. Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” That’s who Jesus is in your storm. He’s your refuge. He’s your strength. He’s your very present help. So hold fast to Him, church. Hold fast to Him.

Let’s pray.