Facing Life’s ChallengesSample

Challenges Are Unexpected

Mark 4:37-38 NIV - A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?"

Out of nowhere this storm comes up on the lake. It was a furious squall that threatened to drown them. Life’s challenges often don’t give us advance warning. There’s no weather forecast for these storms. In fact, Scripture promises us that troubles will come to our lives. So even if mankind can leave Earth and colonize Mars, we will still face challenges since they are a manifestation of our sin that unleashed these series of storms.

How could Jesus be sleeping during the storm? Perhaps he was super tired or he had the unique ability to power-nap and redeem time. We agree that it would be almost impossible to sleep in a sinking boat. But this is an illustration of God at rest, even when we face the most tumultuous challenges of life. God in session speaks of rest and completion of his work. Like in the boat, today Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father and at rest.

"Teacher, don’t you care?" External storms bring out the internal storms of our hearts: our fears and our mistrust of a loving God. If God really loves us, then why does he allow us to go through hardship and pain? If Jesus really loved his disciples why did he not do something about the storm. The truth we need to understand in life’s storms is that God does care deeply for us and he responds to faith and not necessarily just the need.

I imagine that if the disciples had not woken Jesus, he would have gone on sleeping and eventually the storm would have abated and bowed its knee to the word of Jesus: "Let’s go over to the other side." But Jesus was aroused because the disciples, despite all their fear and lack of faith, trusted that Jesus would do something. In today’s situation, is Jesus the first person you go to? Or is it Google, your bank account, or an influential person in your life? Challenges in life are unexpected. How will you respond: in faith, trusting God’s promises, approaching the throne of grace, and not fearing because God is with you?