 this morning, we're really gonna zero in on Jesus in the storm. And it's one of those promises that you have over your life that maybe you aren't excited to declare, but John 7 declares, when the storms of life come. It is actually a promise that storms of life are going to come. And what we do in those moments and where Jesus is and how we see him is everything. And we get to see that play out. And there's just something about a storm in life that's so scary, disorienting. When you're in one, you feel like you're never going to be out. I was, as I was preparing this message, I was just remembering when I was 11, we were camping in Canada and I was out in a canoe. We were fishing, it was just me, I was fishing. And as I was out fishing, I remember this strong wind came over the lake and I went to try to go home and every time I paddled this canoe, I was only by myself. It just pushed me further and further and further and further down this lake. And I just remember that just the fear I felt in my heart, like I just felt like, how am I ever gonna get back? Like I'm gonna be stuck on this lake and nobody's gonna save me. And I just remember my mind running and me being so overwhelmed. And I felt like the Lord was reminding me of that picture this morning because it can feel like that when the storms of life hit, when there's a diagnosis, when there are relationship collapses, when we get fired from our job and there's these big moments in life and it's so important to stop and ask, where is Jesus in this storm? And so that's what we're gonna dive into today. Before we do that, we're gonna nerd out a little bit on the gospel of John and why this story in particular matters. And I hope you've been, how many of y'all have been enjoying this series, the gospel of John? I love the gospel of John so much because John got the advantage. He wrote his gospel after the others had finished theirs. And so John, if you notice, he's not as worried about dates and getting as many events in as possible, but he does these long moments where he's showing you dialogues with people like the Samaritan, like the woman at the well, like Nicodemus, where he's just giving you these long, unabridged conversations or it's telling you details like it says, like when the woman caught in adultery was thrown at Jesus' feet, John says that Jesus wrote down and was writing in the sand or one of my favorite verses in John 12. Everyone talked about Mary breaking her alabaster jar open, but John gives you the detail. It says the fragrance filled the house. John is just this amazing storyteller that he's saying, hey, the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And he wanted to show the humanity of Jesus, the closeness of Jesus, how he walked amongst us. And so during the gospel, he mostly focuses on that. He doesn't hit as many of these miraculous miracles as some of the others, but John six is different. John six, he takes this moment and he kind of anchors the first half of John. See the book of John is broken down really into two main sections. The first is Jesus' earthly ministry, John two through John 11, and then John 12 through 21 is Jesus just during Passion Week. That's what I love about the gospel of John is that it takes so much time to talk about Passion Week and Jesus going to the cross. And in this first half, this John two through 11, there's something called a chiastic structure. And so a chiastic structure is a Hebrew literary device where ideas are laid out and then repeated in reverse order. So think of the phrase, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. That's a chiasm. It's the ideas are laid out and then they're reversed to show the significance. Jesus says it in short little phrases too. He says the Sabbath or man wasn't made for the Sabbath, but Sabbath was made for the man. And there's something about the Hebrew writers that constantly in the Psalms, you'll notice like it'll start with praise the Lord and then it'll end with praise the Lord. And then there's typically an anchor in the middle that is kind of the crux or the most important part. When we tell stories, we wait and the climax is the very end. The most important thing is the last thing that happens. That's the way our movies are, our stories are. But in Hebrew literature, actually the middle was the most important. That was the crux. And what I love about that too is creation is actually chiastic. It started in a garden. It ends in a garden city. It started with man walking with God with no sin. It ends with man walking with God and no sin. And in the middle of this chiastic structure called the creation story, you have what? The cross and resurrection of Jesus. The most pivotal, every event before that points to it, every event after it points back to it. And so John, you can go ahead and throw that up on the screen. What you can see is John is brilliant. He's not just a storyteller, but he gives us seven signs that Jesus did, seven miracles, seven I am statements, and then seven discourses that match those. And you can see on here, this is kind of laid out chiastically. And so the first sign and the seventh sign is really these ends. And it starts with Jesus turning water to wine and it ends with Jesus turning Lazarus from death to life. And in between you have a lot of healings. And then right at the crux of it is John six, where you have the feeding of the 5,000 and then you have the discourse of I am the bread of life and then you have Jesus walking on water. And how do we know that this is kind of the chiastic anchor? Well, there's a couple of things that happen. First is right in John two in John 11, they both happen at Passover. And John six is the other passage in John that talks about Passover. So it actually Passover, Passover, Passover, it all is happening at the same time. The second thing is the very first I am statement that Jesus makes is I am the bread of life. That happens in John six. And then also if you look at the nature of the miracles, what you have is sign and wonder, sign and wonder. And then in between you have these little, not little, but healings. He's healing the nobleman's son. He's giving sight to the child born blind. But then right in the middle, he has this dramatic set of miracles feeding the 5,000. It's beautiful obviously that Jesus heals an individual, but there was a shock and awe factor of all the sudden there's no food and 5,000 people are eating. How many of you know there was a shock and awe factor when the disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee and all of a sudden in the middle of a storm, this figure comes walking on the water. And I don't care what anyone says. I think Jesus was messing with him a little bit. I mean, he just had to have been, you know, one of my favorite things to do, I'm not really anymore, but as a kid, I still like to do it. You know, do you like to hide and wait and scare people? I remember me and my buddy Bob in college, we waited in a girl we knew's car for over 30 minutes with a blanket over us and waited till she was 15 minutes down the road. So we jumped out and screamed. And she really appreciated it. We had to walk home after that moment. And I honestly, I'm not even just being funny. I do believe there's literally an element where Jesus is surprising them and setting them up for this revelation of walking on water. And John is basically telling us the story. And I was originally gonna preach this message and that was gonna kind of be the crux of the message, but I'm gonna kind of reveal why that matters right now. So, you know, move that bus. I'm gonna tell you why this matters. And then we're gonna kind of talk about it specifically. But what I believe John is doing in this passage with a feeding of the 5,000 and then the miracle of walking on water, he's given a story within a story of the cross and the resurrection. See, the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus saying, I'm the bread of life was a picture of there was multitudes and there was great need and Jesus had compassion and Jesus was the bread that was blessed, broken and then given. And then it says Jesus climbed up the mountain by himself. That was him scaling Calvary. The disciples could not go. And then when the 12 disciples were in the storm, they didn't know where Jesus was and they didn't know what was happening. In comes the resurrected Jesus walking on water, conquering death, conquering sin. They didn't know who he was at first, but he walks into their moment and says, it is I peace be with you, be still. And it's this incredible moment that John is showing us about how Jesus is hinting and telling stories of the cross and the resurrection even before the cross and the resurrection. And as we kind of dive into the text, it's a good reminder in these moments in the gospel that we are quick to spiritualize these moments. And we're gonna talk about some of it. We read that story and we're like, oh, how Jesus comes the storms in my heart. And that's good to do. We're gonna take time to do that, but it's good to look at just the slain and risen Jesus and the power and might that he has and the fact that he literally walked on water. Like that is the God we serve. This is not a God who is just giving us some helpful religious advice who's giving us some nice ways to live our life, but this is a God who stepped into creation and revealed himself as God by walking on top of the waves. So you guys ready to dive into the text? Here we go, John 6 starting in verse 15. We're gonna go verse by verse and pause and then we're gonna camp out at the end and ask some questions. So John 6 starting in verse 15 says, Jesus perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king. Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. I love this, we see this over and over again. When Jesus starts to have this wave of influence and people are rising up and what are they wanting? They're wanting Jesus to be a part of the cause that they believe in. And we see that Jesus flees the multitudes that try to use Jesus for their cause. And we see that today. And let me tell you, Jesus is not your trinket. Jesus will not fit on your ideological flag that you fly. Jesus will not be the person that you hold up that advances the cause of what you want. Jesus will flee from that person in that crowd every time. He is Lord of lords and king of kings. He will not be handled, restrained or controlled. He is the Lord of all, we follow him, he does not follow us. And they wanted to make him king because they wanted to be free from oppression. And when Jesus even just perceived that, instead of riding the wave of influence, he departs and he climbs up and he goes to the mountain alone. Verse 16, when evening came, his disciples went down into the sea, got into the boat and started across to the sea of Capernaum. So they're on the sea in this moment and already there's a test of faith happening because in Mark's account and Matthew's account, we see the disciples aren't going on their own volition. But Jesus very explicitly told them to get in the boat and go to the other side while he left them. And you can imagine in that moment where they're getting in the boat and going across the other side there's a moment when the storm starts to come and set in where fear is starting to take root. Where they're starting to question, wait a minute, why would Jesus send us in this storm? Why would Jesus command us to go and get in this boat without him and then send a storm? And in verse 17, it accents that even more. It says he got in the boat and started across the sea to Capernaum. Now it was dark and Jesus had not come to them. And this is their first test of faith. Jesus said to go to the other side, but now it's dark and Jesus isn't coming and all of a sudden things are starting to get darker and darker. And this is the moment where you start replaying, wait a minute, did Jesus really say that? That's where the enemy comes in and he says, did God really say that was the temptation to Eve? And it's the first moment of fear when you step in and Jesus commands you to do something and you feel great when you're going into but all of a sudden it changes. The Lord opens the door and then asks you to apply for a job and you get accepted and it's exciting but then you start the job and it's really, really hard. And you feel anxious and stressed about it and you're not handling the work well. Or he tells you to disciple somebody and you begin discipling them and it ends up being really hard and they're not listening, they're not paying attention and suddenly you're in that moment where fear and doubt enter and that's what happens with the disciples. And that's the question I wanna ask, what do you do when God leads you but isn't coming through in the way that you want him to? Imagine the disciples saying, why would Jesus do that? And all of a sudden the doubts creep in. Oh my gosh, could it be that Jesus sent us into the storm that he wasn't going in because he actually meant us harm? Is this the moment Jesus leaves us? Is he mad at us? Did we do something wrong? Does God hate me? And in the moment of the disorientation of the storm, those lies and those accusations start to creep in. And then you see in verse 18, the sea had now become rough and a strong wind was blowing. There's something about the fear when you're in a windstorm because it's the evil that you don't know. You know, when it's something that's right in front of you that you know you're battling, sometimes it's easier to get your mind around it. You know those old like, would you rather questions? Like one of the classic ones is, would you rather fight a shark or a bear? And I'm like team bear all day long. And this is just, this is not survival advice. So do not apply this because you'll probably die. But my thinking is if I'm going up with a bear, like at least I can square off with this thing. And I feel like I can get a few good shots in. And you know, like I know what's in front of me. Like if I'm going against a shark, I'm just sitting there in water and I'm just like a tasty dessert with a little strawberry on me. I'm like, hey, I don't know where you are. I don't know what's coming. If I try to punch him, it's like, you know, slow motion through water. And I don't know which one's actually safer, but give me the bear all day. Who's team bear? I mean, I'm team bear. And plus in the situation, all you have to do is run faster than the person you're with and you're safe. And so there's a lot of advantages to fighting the bear. But there's something about being in a storm with wind because you don't know where it's coming from. You don't know where it's going. And you have no power against it. It completely strips you of all control. And in these moments, there is the true testing of faith. As I was preparing for this message, I was just thinking of the many storms of life. But the one that kept coming up to me was about six years ago, the Lord sent us to this retreat in North Carolina. And he spoke this phrase and he said the Lord wanted to bring healing to us to go to this retreat. And it was kind of this beautiful moment where the Lord met us and was bringing this deep healing to us personally. But while we were there in North Carolina, I got bit by some radioactive mosquito and came back to Colorado and I contracted viral meningitis. And we had a couple scary episodes where I basically seizureed, I couldn't really breathe and lost all control and function. The doctors didn't know what it was because no one gets meningitis in Colorado because there's not mosquitoes. And I find myself in and out of the hospital and just the nature of meningitis, it was so intense. My brain was swallowing up to concussion level symptoms. And there definitely was a large threat that I might not make it out. And there was a moment where the doctor even told me that even if I made it out, because of the swelling in my brain, I would have permanent brain damage. And in the middle of it, on top of that, I had a level 10 migraine the entire 40 days. So that was like the starting points with this migraine. But the way that it was in my brain is I actually wasn't fully in my right mind either. So I would hallucinate at different moments. I would see things that weren't really there. I kind of lost my grasp on reality. And I remember in the midst of that storm, feeling all of those same feelings of, wait a minute, God, you sent me to this place for healing. Like, this is your idea of healing? And what came out of my heart, instead of faith and confidence, was this accusation of, God, you hate me, you're against me. What did I do? I'm in this storm because I did something wrong. And the enemy comes and prays and brings those accusations in those moments. And so what we do, how we respond in the storm before we see Jesus is everything. So I wanna flip over to Mark's account in Mark 6. And we're gonna see the same story, starting in verse 45. I'm gonna look at what we do in the storm. So starting in verse 45, immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida. Well, he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out of the sea and he was alone in the land. And he saw they were making headway painfully for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. And this is how I know Jesus was messing with them. He meant to pass them by. Like Jesus is walking. And all of a sudden they see this figure and he doesn't go right for the boat, but Jesus aims past them and just keeps walking. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and they cried out for they all saw him and were terrified. I mean, you ever in that moment where you're already afraid and then something just off the wall happens to make you even more afraid? I mean, it's just the dumb and dumber moment of our pets heads are falling off. Like this is what I don't know what to do and you're just fear has just completely gripped you in this moment. But immediately he spoke to them and said, take heart, it is I do not be afraid. And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased and they were utterly astounded. And here's the key verse. For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. Lacking clarity of your last season believed you susceptible to fear and doubt every time. Because the disciples did not have clarity on what Jesus did for them in their last season. They were ill equipped to have faith in the current storm. You see, God is a father and good fathers equip their children for the battles that they're about to face. Good fathers before they send their kids to school, they take time and they build thoughts and ideas and patterns of ways they should approach this new challenge so that when they're in their challenge they know how to overcome. Yet the disciples did what we do so often which we just weather the storms of life and we just end and we say, well, I'm glad that's over with. And we don't know what Jesus did. We don't know why and we don't know how that current season is supposed to affect the next one. And it marks says they didn't understand or they were afraid because they didn't understand the feeding of the 5,000. So what does he mean? Well, we're gonna talk about three ways of not having understanding leads to not having faith in the storm. And so the first one is lacking clarity of his last miracle will harden your heart in the storm that you're in. So what does it mean? They didn't understand the feeding of the 5,000. What did that have anything to do with them being freaked out because they thought they saw a ghost? Well, for starters, the disciples, they were teenagers, older teenagers, some young adults, Peter was the oldest, probably around 28, 29. But the rest of them were basically older teenagers. And the reason that detail matters is because if you remember, Jesus just fed the 5,000 and how many baskets of food were left over. And I know firsthand, whenever you have teenagers or young adults and there's food left over, they're gonna carry that food in their shirt, they're gonna find grocery bags, they're gonna do whatever they can to make sure they take that food home. And so what was chilling in the boat with them when that storm was happening? It was that bread and that fish. They had a doggie bag in the boat of Jesus's last miracle, and yet they couldn't connect the power of that last moment to the current one. And here's what happened on the last miracle. You see, we always read it and we say, Jesus fed the 5,000. And of course, there's some truth and reality to that. But you know what Mark 637 says? Jesus said, but Jesus answered his disciples, you give them something to eat. So Jesus broke the bread and broke the fish, but then who did he give it to? Disciples, who handed out the food to the people? The disciples, who fed the 5,000? The disciples. Jesus broke the bread and then gave himself to the disciples and it was the disciples who were meant to take that bread. Who Jesus was and they were the ones and as they passed it out, it multiplied. So what is Mark saying? He's saying the disciples didn't get it. They thought Jesus did everything and they were just the ushers that were passing out the elements. But Mark was saying they didn't understand that it was actually their faith. They obeyed Jesus and so they actually saw a miracle at their hands. What Mark is saying is if they had really understood the miracle that had just happened, then they would have stood up in that boat and say, the reason I have bread and fish here is because I just saw that I obeyed a command of Jesus and he worked a miracle. Jesus commanded me to go into this storm and so I'm gonna speak to the wind and the waves and I'm gonna tell them to cease. And when you know the last miracle that God did for you, that the authority and power that you have in that moment causes you to command the wind and the waves to stop. So how do we do this in the storm? And the first thing which is so important is that we thank God for his provision. Thankfulness is the key to great faith. I don't roll out of bed in the morning and I don't just have faith to be like, mountain, get into that sea. Like sometimes we think of faith and it's almost like a wishful thinking of like, as long as we wish for it really hard and like, will it to happen, then we have enough faith. But that's not faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word. Faith has way more to do with obedience, hearing God's voice and obeying than it does mustering up this great faith. But how do we access that when we're confused? Well, I'll tell you how it's thankfulness. Thankfulness is like when your windshield has mud all over it. I'm saying this because I just was with Ryan kind of this weekend, we got lost and then all of a sudden we had mud from the top of our car because we were like gunning it through this field in Kansas. We couldn't see. We were like pouring water bottles on the windshield. And thankfulness is the water bottle on the windshield to clear off the dirt. When you start saying thank you, when you start thanking God for his provision and what he's done, all of a sudden you start to remember what God has done and you start to see things that you don't see. Thankfulness expands your vision. You know what complaining does? It narrows it down. You want to feel more overwhelmed in a storm? Well, start pointing out everything that's wrong. You wanna be more fearful and have more doubt in your storms? Start complaining about all the things that are hard and difficult. It's like throwing mud on the windshield and you can't see. And it's so simple that we don't do it. We're like, I already know what I'm thankful for so I don't need to say it. No, you do need to say it because you're focusing on the wrong thing. So when you're in that storm and you have the provision and the miracle in front of you, you start to say, Lord, I thank you for what you've done. I thank you for how you've moved, Lord, in past seasons this is how you've redeemed me. This is how you've saved me, Lord. I used to be stuck in this place and you delivered me. Lord, I used to be bound by this sin but you set me free from that and I know if you did it before, you will do it again. And in the middle of that storm, if you can stop paying attention to the wind and waves for two seconds and activate thankfulness, what happens is all of a sudden it kicks you into the high gear of faith. Thankfulness, Thanksgiving in faith is like the two fuel sources in a car. In a car, you have the battery and then you have the combustion system that's triggered by gas. You can't get into a car and the combustion system isn't automatic. But thankfulness is like the battery and faith is like the combustion engine because I don't always have access to great faith but I always have access to thankfulness and it's the battery that is guaranteed energy. Now that energy can't carry me very far. I need faith but I turn the ignition. No matter how little faith I have, I just start declaring thankfulness for God's provision and who He is. And all of a sudden it leads me into the place of great faith where now I can rise up and speak to the storm and the wind and the waves and tell them to cease. The second thing that the disciples lacked for their understanding is that lacking clarity of your assignment will lead you to doubt in the present storm. You see, Jesus had prophesied over Simon Peter that he was gonna be a fisher of men. He had prophesied to Nathaniel and Philip that they were gonna see Jacob's letter. He kept telling the disciples about the kingdom come that they were going to see. But when you forget and you don't remind yourself of the assignment that God has, you start to feel like this storm is actually gonna take you out. And if the disciples had stopped for a moment and said, this can't be it. This is not where I'm dying, nope. I'm supposed to be a fisher of men. I'm supposed to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles and to the nations. God has signs and wonders in store for me. There's no way that this storm has taken me out. And in those moments of those storms, reminding yourself of those prophetic promises are so, so valuable and important. My wife and I are learning that in this season right now. I talked a few weeks ago about our six-year-old son who has special needs and was born from an absolute miracle where God gave us a son when we had infertility for seven years. And when you're struggling with just the basics of life and there's discouragement and heartache that happens from these setbacks and struggles that he has to endure, we are learning, we're writing these down and we're starting to proclaim these prophetic promises. Lord, you said through a prophet nine months ago that Jordan would minister to the nations. Lord, we pray and prophesy that over him. Lord, this is who he is and you start to prophetically proclaim, which is number two. What do you do in the storm? You declare the prophetic promises of God for your life. You start with Thanksgiving, but then you start to declare those truths. Mothers and fathers do not stop praying the promises that God gave you. I don't care how bleak it looks. I don't care how far from God your son and your daughter is. I don't care the challenge that they're walking through. Do not stop declaring what God has told you, what he's revealed in the secret place. That is what faith is. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word, but don't let that promise stay stagnant. Rise up, choose thankfulness and then declare that prophetic promise until your son and daughter comes home. Amen. The third and final thing that we lack understanding in the storm is lacking clarity on what Jesus did in the last storm will keep you in fear in your current storm. And let me read this moment because Jesus commanded them to go into a storm, but he had already been in a similar situation with these disciples in Mark four, Mark four, verse 37. And a great windstorm arose, but the waves were in the boat, so the boat was already filling. But he said to the stern asleep in the, but he sat in the stern asleep on the cushion and they woke him and he said, teacher, do you not care that we're perishing? And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the sea and said, peace, be still. And the winds ceased and there was a great calm. And he said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? Here's what I love, the progression of storms. First storm, Jesus is with them in the boat. Second storm, Jesus sends them, but he's not with them. Third storm, Jesus climbs the hill of Calvary. Now he's dead and seems to be gone forever. There's a progression of these storms. What is Jesus doing? He's building their faith. He's preparing them. If I delivered you in the last storm, I'll do it again. And I know that it's different. And this time it's a little bit harder because this time Jesus isn't in the boat. Last time we just had to shake Jesus. Now this time he's praying on a mountain and we're all alone and it's dark and it's scary. But all you have to do is remember what Jesus did in that last storm. This is what you did for me. This is how you revealed yourself to me. And this is who you are. And I remember in that season of meningitis because I wasn't in my right mind and I had so much fear of death. I had this voice inside me that was just telling me I was gonna die all the time. And it was disorienting and confusing. And I remember on the 37th day. I remember the day because it was July 4th because it was the day that Kevin Durant left the thunder and went to play for Oklahoma City. And I was already just in a horrible place and I read that news and my despair went to level 10. And still haven't got over that. So you can pray for healing there. But I remember that day I was in bed and I was just was crying and feeling so overwhelmed. I just remember Jesus leading me and saying, hey, I want you to come down to the piano. And I sat down at the piano and the Lord led me to sing Psalm 23, surely goodness and mercy will cover me all the days of my life. And I'll dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And like a vision, the Lord showed me these pictures of time and time again when I felt so overwhelmed, when I felt confused, when I felt like I lost my way of how he delivered me. And as I sang those truths, it was, I'm not kidding, it was like a waterfall of God's presence and love and favor washed over me. And what's amazing is if you've heard the story, on day 40, three days later, the Lord miraculously healed me in a moment. I got a clear MRI scan, no damage. It was an unbelievable miracle. But before Jesus did the miracle, he appeared to me in the storm. But I didn't feel the shift until I started declaring who he was and what he had done for me in the previous storms. And as soon as I opened my mouth and started singing, because in the moment of meningitis, I felt the, God, you've abandoned me. I'm gonna die in this place. Your goodness and mercy, where are they? But I just started declaring the truths that I had forgotten because of the wind and the waves. And as I declared those truths, his love and his presence washed over me. Jesus got in the boat and he said, Caleb, it's I. I'm actually in the center of the storm. And that's what I love about this story. And what I'll say to you this morning, I don't care how dark the night is. Jesus has not left you alone. He is at the center of the whirlwind. He's in the middle of the storm. I don't care what the trial is and how difficult it is. I promise you, you might not recognize him. He might look like a ghost. He might be appearing to you in a way that you do not expect, but he is there. And sometimes you have to step up with a heart of thankfulness and gratitude, declaring his provision and then proclaiming his prophetic promises and telling yourself, reminding yourself, if God delivered me before, he'll do it again.