when jesus shows up in the storm

today i want to bring you a word that

speaks about the times that we are
living in, and i believe that its a word
that will encourage each one of us as we
make a better life for our self. and today
we are going to look at another story
and his diciples in a storm
i have titled my message today when
Jesus shows up in the storm, the text is
according to the gospel according to
st.matthew chapter 14 and verses 22 to
verse number 32.

this is a very intreasting story, about

Jesus once again with his diciples in a
very turbulent environment, and the
reason we are speaking this word its
because many times we also feel that we
are in a storm, there times we feel God
with us and there sometimes we feel like
he is not with us. and the world at this
time its in a storm, may be your business
feels it, may be you feel it in your
marriage, may be you feel it in some
other area of your life, in your health.
you feel like your in a storm and Jesus is
not with you, God is not with you and
your there all alone by your self in that
storm and what is Jesus going to do,
when your in a storm and he doesnt
seem to be present, he doesnt seem to
be there, when he doesnt seem
available. this incident that we read
about in matthew occured after a very
successful meeting that Jesus had had
with his diciples, jesus had just finished
feeding the 5000 people with five loaves
of breed and two fish, and there has
been an over flow and there is
excitment, everybody has gone home
very happy and after the meeting Jesus
saw to his diciples and told them you go
ahead of me to the other side of the sea.
 the sea, there is arefference to lake
galilee or the sea of galilee. the lake is
so big that normally its called a sea
because it had alot of winds on it and
alot of turblence, so Jesus tells the
diciples to go to the other side to land
and that he will catch up with them later
on. and i think they all surpose he will
pick up another boat, and go over with
them to the other side, but then as they
wea roaring on the water, something
happened, they encountered a storm,
the distance between were Jesus
dismissed them to were they are
supposed to go, is about between 5 to 6
miles and normally it takes about three
hours on the boat to move from one end
to the sea of galilee to the other end,
but when Jesus dismissed them
somewhere in the evening around 5
oclock to 6 oclock in the the evening so
all things being equal between 8 and 9
in the evening they should be at the end
of the journey, but then in the middle of
the sea they find a storm and they try to
steady there boat, and they try
everything they can, and the storm goes
on and on, and so the bible say that
Jesus comes to them in the fouth watch
the fouth watch would be around 3am
and 6am so at this time they have been
on the sea for 9 hours, and they have
literaly not completed the journey but
they are somewhere in the middle of the
journey after 9 hours. 9 hours of hustle,
9 hours of struggle, 9 hours og
uncertainty. the fouth watch is a very
important time because it is the darkest
moment of the night, just before dawn,
and that is the time Jesus choose to go
out to the diciples, and at this time am
sure they had given up every hope and
they think this is the end probably they
started saying thea last prayers, Jesus is
not here there is nothing we can do the
last time he was in the boat we woke
 him up this time he is not here, we cant
feel his presence, so what is Jesus going
to do about this situation, may be your
in a situation and you feel like Jesus is
not with me, God has abbundoned me,
God is not with me, i cannot feel his
presence. so what is God going to do
about this situation, while they were i
this mix, 9 hours of struggle on the sea
they saw something coming on the sea
now remember most of these guys are
fisher men and they sea something
coming on the sea and the thing is
coming close to them. and so they start
screeming well its a ghost, its a ghost.
and then the thing that is coming close
to them speaks back to them, it is i dont
be affraid, what a moment, many times
when we are in such a storm, there are
two things that come against us: the
storm that is coming or the storm that
we are in, and the presence of God
within the storm, you have to really
determine were to focus your attention
at this time, your in the storm and right
there in the storm God shows up, and he
doesnt show up the way you expected
him to show up, and you think this is a
ghost or this is going to make my
matters worse, or this is going to
complicate my situation but that was
Jesus, He is coming across the storm. the
thing that was sinking them he is
walking on it, one of the things you have
to understand in life my friends is that
whaat scares you doesnt scare GOD.
what troubles you doesnt trouble GOD,
what sinks you doesnt sink GOD, what
overwhelms you doesnt overwhelm GOD,
the fact that your overwhelmed it doesnt
mean that God is overwhelmed. he
comes walking on water that is sinking
the diciples, and this morning i believe
that the same JESUS is coming to you
walking on the thing that you are affraid
of, walking on the water that is sinking
 you beacuse what troubles you doesnt
trouble you. in the passage if we were
shooting a movie of this passage, what
you would see is the camera focused on
the diciples in the storm. the diciples in
the storm, everything is turblant this
way and that way, and all over a sudden
the camera focuses on another image
and it is not turblant but it is someone
walking on water, two images the storm
and the one walking on the storm, and
at this point you have to choose were to
focus your attention either on the storm
or the one walking on the storm, and i
speak to you my friends today you have
to choose were to focus your attention,
either on the storm or the one walking
on the storm, you have to decide wether
you focus on JESUS or on corona virus, it
is a choice we have to make. it is not an
easy choice because the storm is real,
the storm is present but JESUS is also
real, the one walking on the storm is
also real, there are two realities facing
you, the spiritual reality of JESUS
walking on the storm and a physical
reality of the storm trying to sink you.
and you have to choose where to fix your
eyes on. so for a moment the diciples
are fixing there eyes on JESUS and they
are not looking on the storm any longer,
they are looking at JESUS, they are
looking at his presence with them on the
storm, they are looking at his power that
is on display and they are looking at his
presence, and as they focused on that
each one is deciding you can imagine
there brains are calibrating how do we
respond to that, and one of them PETER
says LORD if it is you tell me to come, if
it is you then help me to walk on the
storm as you are walking on the storm,
and should be our prayer, LORD if it is
you tell me to come, this storm has sunk
people in the past, it has sunk people in
other nations but LORD if it is you and
 you can conquer the storm and if you
can walk on this storm then all i need
you to say is come, PETER imagined that
if the LORD can walk on water i can walk
on water too, that if the LORD can
overcome the storm i can over come the
storm. so its not all about what GOD can
do but its all about what we can do with
HIM. it not just that GOD can do all
things but he also says all things are
possible to him that believes, it is not
just a GOD factor, its also man working
with GOD, HE walks on the storm we
walk on the storm too, and when JESUS
said to peter come, the bible says there
he walked on water to go to JESUS,
many times when people talk about this
passage peter is potrayed as a very
weak character, a very cowardly
character, but it takes braverly for a
fisherman that knows that water doesnt
support humanbeings to step from a
boat which has a base to water which
has no base, it takes courage, it takes a
desire an aspiration and intimacy with
GOD to seek to walk where no man has
walked, so peter said if it is you come
and he did walk on water, the bible says
he walked on the water to go to JESUS. i
think at this time peter looked at himself
and he said i never thought it was
possible, i never thought that a day
would come were they would say a
fisherman insteady of swimming in water
insteady he walked on water, i never
thought that the day would come and i
woiuld do this amazing thing for GOD.
am here to anounce to somebody that
what scares you, what is trying to over
throw you, what is trying to sink you,
GOD is going to give you the power not
just to see it not just to torch it, but to
walk on it. you are going to walk on this
situation, we are going to walk on this
situation, we are going to go through
this storm, and we will walk over this
storm. so peter is having great fun, i am
sure the disciples are wondering is that
een possible for peter to do what the
LORD is doing. is possible for us to do
what GOD is doing. and many times we
get hit by storms my friends, some of
you arenot feeling so well now, some of
you probably had your jobs taken away
from you, probably you received a letter
that says your company is going down
and they cant pay you any longer and so
you have been let go and you wonder
how am i going to survive, it is a storm,
it is horrifying to be thrown into the
middle of the storm, and try to study
your self for 9 hours as they did, and in
our days maybe for 90 days and you still
find you cant control the situation, and
all over a sudden GOD shows up but how
do we know that it is GOD that has
shown up, HE will give us a word, so may
be in the midst of the storm you hard a
word from GOD or maybe you were
reading the bible and the word spoke to
yo, a promise of GOD just spoke to your
heart, just like JESUS said to peter come,
you heard GOD speaking to you, may be
from the word of isaiah or maybe the
words from Paul or maybe the words
from moses or maybe the words from
David. GOD spoke to you across time and
across the ocean of your life, and he
wispered something to your ears and
you are wondering is it a ghost or is it a
phantom, or is it my own imaginations
playing tricks on me or it is GOD. i came
here to announce that the word you
heard JESUS says it is I. its not a ghost,
its not an imagination, but GOD is truly
showing you that you can walk over this
water and thats why he brings you his
word, thats why we hear the word of
God, because GOD wants to asure you
that what you are scared of, he can
dominate it so i dont know what you
have heard, ech one of us is in this
 storm together nobody is immune, we
are all paddling our boats and we are all
going topsy turvy, but each one of us
must determine whether we will let the
storm to drive us or from God to drive us
and at this time i dont know about you
but i choose to hear the LORD say come
my son, come and walk on the water
with me, come and be with me, come
and stay with me, and i believe GOD is
saying that to you. nomatter what your
circumstance is he is saying to you, that
you can get out of that boat and and you
will not sink, when peter started walking
on the water with JESUS for a moment
everything was working well. we are not
sure how long that was, we are not sure
how far JESUS was from the boat, so if
we take it and say that JESUS was about
100 meters from the boat that would be
some distance and so if peter had
walked getting to were JESUS was about
30 meters away, he probably walked on
water for about 20meters, the bible
doesnt say that am just using my power
of imaginating, he probably walk on
water successfully for 20 meters, and
then his eyes and focus shifted insteady
of looking to JESUS and holding on to his
word all over a sudden he looks around
again at the storm because it happens to
us all the time, one moment we are in
faith the next moment we are in fear.
because many of us we live by
circumstantial faith, when we hear
something Good we feel good, then
when the information changes we
change our faith, for us to be forcused
we have to keep our eyes on JESUS and
the word of GOD contrary to every
evidence that comes up so when the
numbers keep coming up which will
continue, because we are not at the end
of this journey jet but GOD is with us, so
keep your eyes on his, so peter is doing
so well and i can gaurantee some of you
were doing so well untill this week. peter
is doing so well and then his eyes and
his gaze shifted from JESUS. and
everything he had done in the last 20
meters walking on water is not
important to him, because the storm
becomes real to him again, and the bible
says he begins to sink, and i like how the
bible puts these words it didnt say
sinking but begining to sink in other
words at the moment when he started
focusing on the storm he started
staggering and probably his feet started
going down alittle bit into the water,
and he cried to JESUS and he said LORD
help me, and the bible says the LORD
reached out and caught his hand, isnt it
amazing that even when our faith is
weak he is still there to help us, in other
words God is not requiring perfect faith
from us but he requires perfect trust in
him that when we are sinking we can say
LORD help me, when we have tried out
our best and it is not working we can
still stretch out to him and we say LORD
help me.
well i like JESUS he didnt say well now
your asking for help, but he tok him by
the hand and he bought him up and took
him to the boat, and the bible says
immediatly they got to the boat the
storm ceased and then JESUS rebuked
him he didnt rebuke him as he was
sinking, but he rebuked him after he had
delivered him, and that shows you the
nature of JESUS, he solves the problem
before he talks about it. he helps us
before he tells us were our weakness is.
he says you of little faith why did you
doubt. the problem is not the little faith
but the problem is why did you doubt,
with the little faith he walked on water,
you dont need big faith to walk on water,
because with the little he wlked on
water, the problem was he doubted. the
word that is used and translated as
 doubt from the original greek, suggests
the idea of going in two different
directions at once trying to go left and
right at once. and when we say someone
is doubting we mean this person has
faith and fear at the same time. JESUS
says when i tell you to come just forcus
and come, there will be a storm but you
just keep coming, you are going to hear
things that will scare your heart but
keep coming, i came here this morning
to encourage all of us, the news may not
be good tomorrow but JESUS is still on
the water, he is still on the storm and he
still says come. and i believe with all my
heart he will take us through this valley
of the shadow of death. and we will fear
no evil because his rod and stuff will
comfort us.
no matter what you hear just realise he
said come to me on this storm, and just
focus on that and walk and he will take
us through, for each one of you who is
struggling economically, maybe your
business is gone, GOD is a restorer and
you will pull through this. not in your
own might but in the power of the most
high GOD he will give you what you have
lost. just keep your eyes on him. God is
with us in this storm and in the 4th
watch we see JESUS coming. when we
have given up the hope od survival we
see him coming, so if your put down by
this disaster just trust GOD, our faith is
very simple trust GOD, that dawn on the
sea of galilee a human being walked on
water and that is peter because he
trusted the word of GOD history will
record your name some time in the
future that you walked on water, this is
the person that was thrown awa but he
opened may doors for people and i speak
to your soul fro fear to move out, that in
this fourth wath JESUS will waalk on the
storm that even when you faith grows
weak he will not abundone you. he will
 still help you and later instruct you.
trust him. when the eyes are failing trust
him, when people fail you trust him
because he will show up in the 4th
watch, when it was the darkest just
before down to let you know that your in
the space of transition, its about to
change, and dont give up. JESUS shows
up in the storm and when he shows up in
the storm we walk by faith and not by
sight. i pray for you that GOD will be the
defense and shield for you, that he will
speak life to you in the midst of the
storm.