The message place

If Jesus is in the boat

(Mark 4:35-39 KJV) And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

This story begins with the disciples going across the the water in the evening, they have been with Jesus teaching parables to the multitude all day and now they were going back to the other side of the sea into the country of the Gadarenes.  

We as a people are a lot like these men with Jesus, here they were listening and learning from the master all day, then they are tested with a test that would literally threaten their very own lives.  This was a real test and Jesus was there with them even though he was apparently asleep and did not seem to notice the peril they were in. Can you imagine Jesus sleeping and the boat filling up with water. No doubt He knew beforehand what was going to take place and he had perfect peace knowing that nothing can happen to them unless the father allowed it. This was for the disciples to strengthen their faith.  

The disciples not understanding who they had in the boat though they knew he was the Messiah, they rebuked him like we might do when we are going through some tempest trial.  We say things like "Why God are you letting this happen to ME! I cant take this anymore and I am in trouble don't you care" "Where are you Lord don't you care that I'm sick and hurting," "I don't have any money to pay the bills Lord I'm going to lose all my property and my home." and many more similar rebukes to Jesus.  This just shows are lack of faith in Him but you know what, God is listening even though we think he is sleeping in the back of the boat and not listening or caring that we perish.  He is aware of our condition, he provided us with the essential tools to equip us for anything we might encounter in this life. God is willing to do more than we ask as you see with the disciples and the answer to their need.  Though they were not right in their rebuke to Jesus they knew that they had to go to Him for the help in their need.  Jesus was showing them how much he cared and loved them in this.  He would not have been able to show his power and glory without letting them go through some of the hard trials and near perishing experiences.

So when your faced with some insurmountable trial just remember If Jesus is in your boat he will not let you drown, no matter how you perceive your trouble He is there to take you though it.  He calmed the sea for the disciples he can calm your sea too.  

Now there is a flip side to this now as you can see in this story from the apostle Paul.  Here is the passage in the bible: 

(Acts 27:22 KJV) And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.
(Acts 27:31 KJV) Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.
(Acts 27:44 KJV) And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.

Now this passage of the bible is about how the Lord saved all the men on board ship but they first had to abide in the ship.  This ship can be like our circumstances were we are trapped and we want to flee the inevitable destruction of things we think of as our life and security.  The ship was their only means of safety and Paul knew from the Lord that unless they stayed aboard they would die. There were some who thought of taking leave in the small life boat so we think sometimes we can escape our problems by doing certain things but unless we abide we can lose.  So the soldiers cut off their only way of escape.  We sometimes get our only way of escape cut off too and we then have no choice but to trust in Him who can save us.  Then comes the final blow our very security gets broken to bits our lives get shattered but its the bits and brokenness that then come into saving us by allowing us to swim to safety on pieces. Remember with every temptation God provides a way of escape.  If God did not allow the ship to be busted up the men would not have been able to get to shore as you can see Jesus is our security and His word but we think that our security lies in our abilities and things that surround us and when it fails we want to flee, but if we abide in Him he will get us through these trials even when everything seems to be falling apart. The salvation of your life may depend on the Lord breaking down your false sense of security in this world. Remember if Jesus is in your boat you will not drown in your trials. He will provide you a way of escape, just trust in Him and we will not fail.

(1 Cor 10:13 KJV) There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

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