 Yes, it's true. Many Christians hate this Bible story, even though they've heard it a million times. I'm going to share that with you, but first I want to share with you a contrasting story in the Bible that will help flesh out why so many people hate this other story. So it'll all make sense in a second, but let's begin by going to Mark 4 where Jesus calms the storm. He says, on this day when the evening had come, He came to them saying, let us go across to the other side, leaving the crowd. And they took Him with the boat, with Him in the boat, just as He was. And the other boats were with Him. And the great wind storm arose and waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling. But He was at the stern asleep on a cushion. So you see this here, the disciples are in this boat. They're going across to the other side and they see Jesus. He's just sleeping. Meanwhile, the waters are raging. The storm is crushing the boat. And it says, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? And He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. And He said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you so little faith? And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him? So usually we would read that story and just say, okay, Jesus is trying to teach them about faith and He calms the storm and that's a good thing. And He scolds the disciples, that makes sense. He had such little faith in Him and we leave it at that. But I want to show you this other contrasting story to this that a lot of people don't like practically or they don't like what it's saying to them. And we go to Matthew chapter 14 here and it says, immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side while He dismissed the crowd. So you see the disciples, they're getting in this boat, similar kind of occasion. They're getting in the boat and they're going to go across. But Jesus, He sees that the boat is being beaten up by the waves. So He goes across to them, walking on the water and they see Him and immediately they're terrified when they see Him because they think He's a ghost. They're terrified. But what happens? What happens next? It says, you know, He says, don't be afraid, number one. And Peter answered Him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come onto the water. And He said, come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, He was afraid. And beginning to sink, He cried out, Lord, save me. Jesus immediately reached out His hand, took hold of Him, saying to Him, oh, you of little faith, why do you doubt? And they got into the boat and the wind ceased. So why do we hate this? Why do I think that people hate this story? I mean, this seems to be a nice story that, you know, Jesus picks Him out of the water and Peter walked on the water. That's crazy. That's amazing. Here's the truth. Okay. We like the first story. We like the first story because we would prefer for God to calm the storm and for us to be scolded. Then for Him to invite us out into the storm to walk with Him. That's the truth. I look at my own life. I really like the times that God has said, you know what, I will calm the storm. And yet He says, I said, why didn't you have faith? Why didn't you have faith? And I'll take that. I can take that scolding. I can take that discipline and say, you know what, God, okay, I'll trust you next time. I'll trust you next time. Thanks for coming to the storm, though. But then there's been other times in my life that God hasn't calmed the storm as quickly as I've wanted Him to or at all in the way that I wanted Him to. And I'm forced to get out of the boat and walk with Him. He's calling me out to walk with Him. You see, His presence is imminent. He's walking with us in the midst of the storm, but that doesn't, He doesn't always promise deliverance necessarily in the timing that we want or at all in this life. Like if it's me, I like the story of Jesus saying, okay, I'm going to calm the winds and the waves and He's going to wake up and He's going to fix everything. I don't want the winds and the waves to be raging. And for God to tell me, for Jesus to tell me, come out of the boat and walk with me. I'm not going to calm the storm yet. I'm not going to calm the storm yet. And yet you need to keep your eyes on me so you can walk on this water. The truth is, is that we're just like Peter though. We keep our eyes, we take our eyes off Jesus and we begin to sink and we cry out to God, save me. And you know what He does? He does. He does save us and He does bring us into the boat and He does bring us that comfort. But listen friend, there are going to be times in your life if you haven't already experienced them, when God doesn't calm the storm when you want Him to, when He calls you to walk with Him. I think about David. You know, people talk about David being this strong, courageous, you know, man of God, man after God's own heart. And yet you see David experiencing so much agony in his life. He was hunted by Saul for so long and he cried out to God to save him. You look at Psalm 23 and we look at Psalm 23 and everyone quotes it and they love it. And it's just this beautiful picture of peace and rest and comfort in God and how God is with us. And yet you need to go to Psalm 22. So let's do that. Go to Psalm 22. What happens before that? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me from the words of my groaning? Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer and by night, but I find no rest. So you have David here in his storm. You have David here in this agony in this place where he is crying out for deliverance and yet he's not experiencing it. And then what do you have next? You have him saying that, okay, God has delivered me completely and, you know, it's all good and the hood now and we're just we're just great. Now you go to Psalm 23 and this is what it says. It says, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures and he leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in path of righteousness for his namesake. That's a great start. Okay, it sounds like everything's good. Everything's great for David. Okay, I can apply that to my life. Even though things are bad, eventually things are going to get really good and everything will be okay. But then this is what it says. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. This is a very different picture. All of a sudden he's saying, even though I am going to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are going to be with me. You are going to comfort me. That is all I need. That can be my comfort. And so we see here, both these instances, God with Peter in the storm, God with David in the valley. These things are hard and they're scary and they're just awful. And yet God is with us and through his presence, he brings out peace that we can walk with him. You see what Jesus was doing in the first story where he calms the water? He was teaching the disciples to trust him. He was teaching Peter to trust him that he can calm the storm if he wants to. He can, and when he doesn't, it's for a purpose. And that's why he wants you to put your whole faith in him, to keep your eyes on him so that, hey, when he invites you, hey friend, I know I calmed the storm last time and I told you, trust me, this time I'm not going to calm the storm as you want me to, but I'm going to invite you out of the boat. I'm going to invite you to trust me and walk with me. That's the hardest lesson that I've had to learn in my life, but that is what it means to be a disciple. It's not about following Jesus when everything is good and it's light. And it's not about following Jesus out of the expectation that he's going to deliver me from everything right when I want him to, but rather that he will be with me in the storm, that he will be with me in the valley. And that is enough. That is enough because through that, he's honing my desires, my eyes, my heart, where I find satisfaction and peace, pushing it away from all the things that I used to look to four. I looked to the world for peace. I looked to the world for satisfaction. I looked to sin for all that. Now I look to God because he is all I have because at the end of the day, otherwise I will sink, I will drown. And when I take my eyes off him, he is gracious and he's merciful to pick me up and say, fear not, you should have trusted me. You're going to learn this lesson one of these days, but for now I'll put you back in the boat. That's the grace of God. That is the mercy of God. We don't like the story because it tells us that we need to walk with God in the midst of the storm. We would rather him just comment. That's the hardest lesson that we'll need to learn. I hope you got something from this video. If you did, I'd encourage you to subscribe because I'm putting out new content all the time. If you want to support what I'm doing and making this content, I'd encourage you to join our Patreon family in the link in my description. 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