WHEN THE ROWING GETS TOUGH

Mark 6:45-52

I would venture to guess that all of us, at some point, have found ourselves caught in what we would call

the "storms of life." Those turbulent, troubled, trying times that seem to test us in ways we've never been

tested. Such was the case with Jesus' disciples in this story. This same account is also recorded by Matthew and John in their gospels, and by putting the bits and pieces together from all three accounts we get a pretty good idea of what happens WHEN THE ROWING GETS TOUGH.

I. THE WORK WHICH WAS CONFORMING

A. Mark begins his account of this story by telling us that Jesus "constrained His disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side..."

B. The word "constrained" is a word which means to "strongly insist." Jesus didn't merely suggest that the disciples do so, He pretty much demanded that they do what they did. And because they were His disciples or His devoted followers, they obeyed His words.

C. The point that I want to make is that the disciples were doing what the Lord wanted them to do.

There was no questioning, no second guessing, no arguing, just perfect obedience to the words of Jesus.

D. And I might add, obedience is the only acceptable course of action for a follower of Jesus Christ.

E. Jesus said in John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." He went on to say in that

same chapter and verse 21, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that

loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."

F. So the disciples conformed to the commands of the Lord.

II. THE WIND WHICH WAS CHALLENGING

A. Mark tells us that "the wind was contrary unto them..."

B. When we read those words we are immediately confronted with a truth that we would all do well to come to grips with. Obedience to Jesus Christ does not assure us of always having calm seas and smooth sailing.

C. Obeying the Lord isn't always easy. Sometimes it's hard being faithful to the cause of Christ.

D. The truth is, these disciples were more safe in the midst of the storm in the will of the Lord, than they would have been on the shore and out of the Lord's will.

ILLUSTRATION: Once when Bob Hope received a major award he responded, "I don't deserve this, but then I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either."

E. At one time or another you may have thought yourself, "I don't deserve this." I don't deserve:

1. This Emotional storm

2. This Physical storm

3. This Financial storm

4. This Marital storm

5. Any of these things that I'm having to deal with right now

F. When we use the word "deserve" we automatically think of punishment as if every time trouble comes we're being punished for something. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

G. There are undoubtedly times when God sends the storms to develop us not discipline us. There are times when He's more interested in preparing us than He is in punishing us.

H. The words of author Ivor Powell bring up another interesting thought when it comes to the contrary winds of life. Mr. Powell wrote, "There are times when the waters of Galilee are so calm and placid that storms appear to be impossible. And yet, in frighteningly quick time, the air cools in the mountains and winds of hurricane force rush down the hillside to turn the lake into a maelstrom. To be fishing when this takes place is to be in acute and terrible danger."

(John's Wonderful Gospel, page. 145)

I. How many times have we encountered what these disciples encountered? We find ourselves sailing along the sea of life so to speak, with relative ease, when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, comes a storm of unbelievable magnitude that seems to threaten our very existence?

ILLUSTRATION: A wealthy businessman hosted a spectacular party in which he had filled his

swimming pool with sharks, barracuda, and other assorted dangerous fish. He announced to his guests that he would like to challenge any of them to try swimming across the pool, and he would offer a first prize of either a new home in the mountains, a trip around the world for two, or a piece of his business. No sooner had he made the announcement than there was a splash and a man swam rapidly across the infested waters and bounded up out on the other side. The millionaire said to the dripping man, "That was a stunning performance. What prize do you want?" He answered rather tersely,

"Right now I really don't care about the prize. I just want to get the name of the guy who pushed me in."

J. There have been times in almost all of our lives I'm sure when we've been quietly living our life,

minding our own business, serving the Lord, and the next thing we know it's as if we've been thrown into a swimming pool of dangerous fish and now we're doing everything we can just to stay alive.

K. If you've found yourself in any of these situations, I want you to know, you're not alone. You're not the first person to have ever faced the contrary winds, the stormy seas or the shark invested waters of life.

III. THE WATCH WHICH WAS CARING

A. Verse 48 opens with some rather interesting words, "And He saw them..."

B. It's not as if Jesus had forgotten about His disciples. He knew exactly where they were and what they were going through. He was very well aware that they were "toiling in rowing" as Mark puts it.

C. The word "toiling" in this verse means "to torture." These guys were rowing for their lives, they

were physically drained, no doubt their bodies were writhing in pain, and all the while Jesus was

standing on the shore watching.

D. Does that thought bother you? Do you have a problem with the fact that Jesus had probably

stood and watched these men battle this storm for hours without doing anything about it?

E. If you find yourself struggling with this concept, rest assured, Jesus knew what He was doing.

F. These men knew how to handle the boat. They had been in storms before. It was no big deal

when this storm came up. I'm sure they looked at this storm as nothing more than a minor

inconvenience that would set them back maybe an hour at the most.

G. However, this storm was different. It was one like they had never encountered before. At first

they thought, "We can deal with this. We can handle this." Then the longer it went, the worse

it got and before they knew it, these well-seasoned, sea veterans found themselves in over their

heads, and in much need of some divine intervention.

H. Have you ever wondered why God doesn't just step into our lives at the first sign of trouble and

calm the storm? It could be that He wants us to get in over our heads to the point that the only hope we have is to call on Him.

I. 1 Peter 5:10

J. We are prone to get overconfident at times, thinking that we can handle anything that comes into

our lives. But I'm here to tell you, God has ways of letting us know from time to time that we

need Him.

IV. THE WALK WHICH WAS CONQUERING

A. "and about the fourth watch of the night He cometh unto them, walking upon the sea"

ILLUSTRATION: Mark Twain was accompanied by his wife on one of his visits to the Holy Land.

They were staying in Tiberius on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. It was a moonlit night and the

weather was perfect, which gave Twain the romantic idea of taking his wife for a boat ride on the

lake. So they walked down to the pier, and Twain inquired of a man sitting in a rowboat how much

he would charge to row them out on the water. Mr. Twain was dressed in his usual white suit, white

shoes, and white Texas hat., and the oarsman, presuming him to be a wealthy rancher from the United

States, said, "Well, I guess about twenty-five dollars." Mark Twain thanked him, and, as he turned

away with his wife on his arm, he was heard to exclaim, "Now I know why Jesus walked!"

B. Jesus knew when it was time to come. He knew when it was time to come then, and He knows

when it's time to come now.

C. In John's account of this story he uses and interesting phrase. John says, "And it was now dark,

and Jesus was not come to them." Think about that statement for a moment.

D. Maybe you've been there. Maybe you're there now. Right now your life may be as dark as it's

ever been Emotionally, Financially, Physically, or Materially.

E. If that's the case, may I say to you that Jesus is very much aware of your situation, and when He

senses that it's time to come, He's going to come. And when He does, He, who is the "light of

the world", is going shatter the darkness and scatter the clouds, and He's going to make a

difference in your life.

F. If you can just stay in the boat, in His own time, Jesus will come and conquer the storm. When

He sees that it's time, He will come and speak to you the same words of comfort that He spoke

to His disciples that stormy night on the Sea of Galilee.

V. THE WORD WHICH WAS COMFORTING

A. Verse 50b-51a

B. Jesus has always had a way with words.

C. To the crippled man in John 5 it was "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."

To the man sick of the palsy it was "Son, thy sins be forgiven thee."

To the woman caught in adultery it was "go, and sin no more."

When the disciples found themselves in another boat and another storm it was "Peace, be still."

D. Jesus always knows what to say. He knew what to say to His disciples and He knows what to

say to us.

E. To those who find themselves in an emotional storm right now, the Lord's words are these, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find

rest unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

F. To those who find themselves being tossed around by the waves of financial adversity the Bible

says, "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or,

Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be

added unto you."

G. For the physical storms of life the Word of the Lord is "My grace is sufficient for thee: for my

strength is made perfect in weakness."

H. For the marital storms that you may be facing, there is also hope. The Bible says, "I can do all

things through Christ which strengtheneth me." You can go on. You can survive. You can

do whatever you need to do in the strength of the Lord.

I. The Lord, through His Word, knows what to say to bring peace to our storm tossed life.

J. And may I say to those who may find themselves being tossed to and fro spiritually by the waves

of conviction, Jesus definitely has the answer for you. It could be that right now you find yourself

struggling as to whether or not you're a Christian. You find yourself being tossed between "Yes

I Am" and "No I'm Not." The Bible says, "These things have I written unto you that believe

on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may

believe on the name of the Son of God."

K. Perhaps you're here and you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you're saved and on your

way to heaven, but still there's a storm, of sorts, brewing in your soul because of unconfused

sin. You know as well as I that John said, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to

forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

L. There may be some who are trying to navigate the stormy seas of God's will for their life. To

you God's Word says, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men

liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."

CLOSING: I read the story of a missionary who had been in China for over 50 years and was forced to flee

when the Japanese invaded. Much of the missionary's work had been with orphans and the thought of

leaving them behind was too much. So over a hundred orphans were rounded up and led through the war

zones of China.

On one particular occasion, when things looked hopeless and the odds of reaching Free China alive were

all but gone, the missionary was faced with the task of trying to communicate that message to the orphans.

While trying to explain the situation, a 13-year-old girl reminded the missionary of the story of Moses and

the Red Sea and how God had guided them safely across. The missionary said, "But I'm not Moses." And

in reply the girl said, "No you're not. But God is still God."

Listen to me, GOD IS STILL GOD! He's still very much aware of your situation. He's still very much

concerned with what's going on in your life. And He's still very much able to step into your life and speak

"peace" to even the most troubling situation.