"The Day IT Happened"

Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake." And they launched out.

But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.

And they came to Him and awoke Him saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.

But He said to them, "Where is your faith?" And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!" Luke 8:22-25
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As I was asking Him to show me what He wanted me to share with you today He stopped me on this passage of scripture. I told Him, "I've already shared this with them." He insisted with a, "No, you haven't. Take a closer look."  So, I hope your ready for our closer look!

"Now it happened," OK, so the first three words tell us that there is an IT and IT indicates that there is something that happened that is worth mentioning. The next four words say, "on a certain day" I looked the word certain up and it simply means; one. So, what we have so far is, IT happened! When? On a day that was like any other till IT happened and it became a certain day. IT happened and caused it to now be one certain day that stands out in their minds to the point that it was written down so that all eternity might see IT!

It must have started out just like any other day until that moment in the day that Jesus and His disciples got into a boat because Jesus said, "Lets go over to the other side of the lake." The next four words in our closer look are, 'And they launched out.' I never really noticed these four words before or never really gave them much thought. But the thing is they are actually pretty important to today's message. "And they launched out.' IT happened because Jesus spoke, "Lets go over to the other side of the lake." The disciples listened, heard the words, and put action to them without even giving it a thought. They got into the boat and launched out to do exactly what Jesus had said. They obeyed and without hesitation they launched out! It didn't even occur to them to think that they were in trouble. They trusted that they had a destination in mind. Why? Because Jesus said, "Lets go over to the other side of the lake."

As we take our closer look at the next verse lets see what there is to uncover. 'But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy.' So, They launched out and Jesus decided He would take the opportunity to get some sleep. Why? That is an easy one to answer. He was tired. The disciples didn't think anything of it until a windstorm came upon the lake. Suddenly they didn't remember that He had said, "Lets go over to the other side of the lake." The windstorm took their eyes off the destination. The windstorm had them feeling nothing but fear and that they were in jeopardy of drowning. Why? They became afraid for the same reasons you and I do. They forgot one really important thing. What had Jesus said? He said, "Lets go over to the other side of the lake."

Jesus hadn't gone anywhere! What He had said to do hadn't changed! They disciples forgot these two really important things because they started paying more attention to the two things that had changed, He went to sleep, and the weather. They were so busy looking at the changes that they forgot the most important thing. Jesus was still right there. He had not left them or abandoned them. He was right there with them. If He has called you to launch out and He has spoken to you to do something then trust Him! Do the thing that He spoke. Don't look at the storm that comes. Don't pay attention to the changes that would draw your attention away from your obedience to do the thing that spoke to you. He is with you! We Can Trust Him even in the storms!

Next up, 'And they came to Him and awoke Him saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm." When they had reached a point of being completely fearful and convinced by the storm that they were 'perishing' they woke Him and declared it to Him. Thank God, His words are the words that 'overcome' the storms in our lives. The minute they turned to Him He took care of it. It says that, 'He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.' At one word from Him the storm ceased. Both the wind and the raging water ceased and there was a calm.

This closer look also highlighted another word to me that I had never paid any attention to. It is the word a. It says there was a calm. A makes it a noun. A thing. I looked up the word calm and it is the word 1055 in the Strong's and it means; tranquility. Jesus spoke and a tranquility settled. The It that happened on this amazing day that we are talking about is this moment when Jesus spoke, the wind and the water ceased, and the most amazing thing happened. A tranquility rested in place of the storm.

But He said to them, "Where is your faith?" And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!" We like the disciples have been given the opportunity to obey and launch out in the things of God. Like the disciples, its easy to start in faith; trusting that what He has spoken will come to pass until the storm comes. We all have storms that come. Did you notice that Jesus was asleep in the boat. He wasn't stressed by the storm. It didn't even wake Him, the disciples did.

Jesus is our perfect example. He was at rest during the whole thing until they woke Him. He spoke to the storm and a calm, a tranquility took over. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1  It seems to me we need to experience the resting, the calm that He did while that storm was raging. Or maybe we should even have faith enough to speak to the storms ourselves! They hadn't seen the other side yet, but what had He said, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake." We, like the disciples need to learn to have faith that His word is the only evidence needed! He said it should be all that we need to take us through.  We need to have faith in His word and trust that it will be accomplished! Then, we too can have 'A Calm' to settle upon the storms in our lives as well.