IS JESUS WITH ME IN THE STORM?Message by Ronny Cham preached at the SIB
Metro Church Sunday, October 12, 2008 Evening Service at 6.00 pm IS
JSEUS WITH ME IN THE STORM? Scripture: Mark 4:35-41 “On
the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over
to the other side." Now when
they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And
other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the
waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the
stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher,
do You not care that we are perishing?" Then
He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be
still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to
them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no
faith?" And they feared
exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this
be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!" (NKJV) INDIA - Incident of
violence and attacks on Christians in India have shaken the Christian world in
recent months. According to
reports, the recent wave of violence began on 30 January, when Hindu activists
forced their way into a large Christian gathering after hundreds of worshippers
had come from towns and villages in India’s Uttar Pradesh state to take
part in a prayer rally. The activists reportedly charged that rallies such as
the prayer rally were aimed at conversions and that Christians lure the people
with gifts of land, money, food and clothes. In another reported incident of violence,
the body of 25-year-old Pastor Narayan was found on
Feb. 11 in a small town in Mysore district, Karnataka state. Shortly
afterwards, in India’s Kerala state, six theology students with Gospel
for Asia (GFA) were forcibly abducted and beaten on Feb. 13 by activists of the
Hindu nationalist party that has been accused of being hostile to religious
minorities. IRAN - A month ago, the
Iranian parliament voted in favour of a draft bill, entitled "Islamic
Penal Code", which would codify the death penalty for any male Iranian who
leaves his Islamic faith. Women would get life imprisonment. The majority in
favour of the new law was overwhelming: 196 votes for, with just seven against.
Imposing the death penalty for changing
religion blatantly violates one of the most fundamental of all human rights.
The right to freedom of religion is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and
in the European Convention of Human Rights. It is even enshrined as Article 23
of Iran's own constitution, which states that no one may be molested simply for
his beliefs. VATICAN
CITY
- POPE Benedict said on Monday (October 6, 2008) that the global financial
crisis showed that faith in God trumped (outdo) a lifetime spent pursuing
material wealth. 'We see it now in the
collapse of the great banks that money disappears, it's nothing,' the
Pontiff said. The global financial turmoil, the worst
since the Great Depression, has wiped away hundreds of
billions of euros (dollars) in shareholder wealth and
felled banking institutions that just months ago seemed untouchable. The pontiff, using a biblical metaphor,
said people who ignored the Word of God to pursue wealth had effectively built
their homes on sand instead of on a solid foundation of faith. It was a
possible reference to the collapse of the US housing market, which triggered
the financial crisis. 'Whoever builds his
life on this reality, on material things, on success ... builds (his house) on sand. Only the word of God is the foundation of all reality,'
he said. (REUTERS 06.10.2008) When we talk about persecution in India or
in Iran, things seem to be too detached from reality. Now, when we talk about the global
financial crisis, somehow, it gets closer home because it affects our daily
life one way or another. But at the back of our mind, we somehow feel that
these troubles will take care of themselves, people will find their way out and
soon everything will be alright. “When
evening had come..” (vs
35), this speaks of a time of the day when works have to stop, it is time to
rest, relax and unwind, when it is time to stop worrying about things till the
morning comes. Persecution in India? Death penalty in Iran? Worldwide financial
crisis? These serious issues of life are just too far from real in our
life. But when the Lord says to us, "Let us cross over to the other side",
it is not crossing the storm of persecution, it is not overcoming the atrocity and
violence face by Christians in different parts of the world. It is certainly not overcoming the
financial crisis in US. It is a normal everyday down-to-earth issue of daily
life, to cross over to the other side, to rest, to relax, enjoy fellowship with
Him. The disciples took Him along in the boat as He was, and they took sail to the sea
to cross over to the other side. Oh
such serenity, Jesus is with us on this journey crossing to the other
side. But, the scripture tells us one thing, that
“And other little boats were also
with Him”. But for sure Jesus was NOT in the other little boats. Here is the picture: many of us, as
Christian, though we have the Lord Jesus Christ with us, His Holy Spirit inside
of us, but we live life just as the other people round about us. Sometimes, we begin to question
ourselves as to what is the difference between believers and non-believers,
whose who know Jesus is with them and those who do not know Jesus at all. And a
great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already
filling.
Great windstorm here is not persecution in India, not violence and atrocity against
Christians it is certainly not the worldwide financial crisis in our life. We are talking about an ordinary journey
to rest at the end of the day, along this peaceful journey with the Lord,
suddenly, Government announces price increase, son or daughter coming home in
the wee hour of the morning drunk, husband disappearing in business trips, wife
nagging on children’s needs, staff resigning, family problems, marriage
difficulties, relationships problems, debts, liabilities, unemployment, no
business, cannot concentrate on studies, failing exams etc, etc. these are the
storms in life, aren’t they? What is our immediate reaction when
confronted with these storms in life, most of which come in the time and the
hour we are most unprepared, season most unexpected? We question Government policies, we
scream for change of leadership. We
rebuke our sons and daughters for behavior and habits we disapproved of. We scream and curse people who hurt
us. We find ways and means to overcome
our financial problems. These are some of our immediate tendency in dealing
with such sudden change of events in our lives. Now, when these problems drag on for a
little while longer than we expected, when our effort began to fail us, when things
are not straightening out, as if we come to the end of the road, in the midst
of persisting, ever unending troubles, storms that drag our soul to the gate of
hell, what would we do? In this story in Mark Chapter 4, the
disciples questioned the Lord, “do You not care that
we are perishing?” It was
more than just questioning the Lord.
They had already concluded that this storm would be fatal, no more
hope. Was there any difference or
at all that Jesus was on board with them? Imagine what happened to those who
were in other little boats with them without Jesus? This evening, I would suggest we ask a
different question than the disciples did at the storm. I would ask, “is
Jesus with me in the storm?”
This is a privileged question only a believer can ask in the midst of
the storms of life. Now before we jump to the answer to that question,
let us see what happened. When the
disciples asked, “…do You not care that we are perishing?” Jesus did not answer them at
all. Instead, he rose and commanded
the wind and storm to stop and there was calmness and peace, not only for the
disciples, and the little boats with them too. Then they heard Jesus, not answering
their question, but questioning them, Why are you so
fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" Therefore, when we face the storms of life,
if you question and ask Jesus, “where are you
Lord in the midst of my storm?”
He will ask you, “Why are
you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" Thus, when we are going through the storms
of life, or when we are confronted with the storms in life, ask ourselves, “is Jesus with me in the storm?” This is not a question for the Lord, it is a question for ourselves. If we answer a positive “yes”,
then we know that when He said, “let us cross over to the other side”,
we will cross over. We need not
worry about the storm, He will remove the storm. We need not worry about the
enemies, He will rebuke the enemies. What do we need to do? Be faithful,
believing that the Lord is with us, just continue to move on, carry on, go on sailing till we cross over. We should be able to hear Apostle Paul
saying to us, if the Lord is with us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31). How often when we have crossed over, we
look back at the storm and all we can say is, “Thank you Jesus”. Ronny Cham |
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