The Alternative

Dr. Tony Evans: If you and I are sinking in our situation, change what you're looking at. Don't give all your attention to the winds and the waves of your circumstance. Dr. Tony Evans says in the midst of life's storms, we need to keep our focus on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He gets you started, and he carries you to completion even if there are storms in between.

Guest (Male): This is The Alternative broadcast, featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Sometimes life gets so stormy that we wonder if we're going to make it through. But Dr. Evans says even when things are at their worst, there's something bigger at play than the storm. Let's join him in Mark chapter 4 as he talks about Jesus.

Dr. Tony Evans: He comes to the end of the day. He's been teaching all day to the large crowd, which included his disciples. At the end of the day, dusk is setting in, and he says in verse 35 to his disciples, "Let us go to the other side." He's talking about the other side of the Sea of Galilee. You read a lot in the Gospels about the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee was a major fishing port. It was known for fishing.

In fact, half of Jesus' disciples were fishermen. They were people who knew fishing, and they had a company on the Sea of Galilee where fish would be gathered in large sums for eating and for sale. It was a major fishing place. So, he gets in the boat with his flotilla joining him. It says other boats were with him. Everybody couldn't fit into his boat, so there were other boats alongside as they went to cross the Sea of Galilee.

On their way across, we're told there was a fierce gale of wind, verse 37 says, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. They didn't leave in a windstorm; they got hit by a windstorm very quickly since they were going a fairly short distance in the boat. But out of nowhere, they run into hurricane season. They run into something that is overwhelming them, and it is wicked and fierce.

Not only that, but we're told that the boat was filling up. So, the wind is blowing so high, the waves are crushing so thick, that these fishermen, professional fishermen, find the boat being filled up with water. They found themselves in a situation they were unable to rectify on their own, even though they were pros at what they did. They found themselves in a fierce gale of wind. But Jesus himself was asleep in the stern on a pillow.

If you're asleep on a pillow, it means you meant to go to sleep. It says Jesus was asleep on a cushion, and the circumstances didn't wake him up. This is a bad circumstance. This is a fierce problem, a devastating problem, and Jesus is asleep on a cushion. So, we read in verse 38 that they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" Have you ever been in a situation and Jesus is sleeping on you?

Have you ever been in a situation where you're in a crisis mode and God is snoring? Have you ever been in a situation that is beyond your paygrade, beyond your ability to rectify, and Jesus won't get up? Psalm 10:1 says, "Why do you stand afar off, oh Lord? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" That's the same cry here. They are going through three storms at the same time.

They're going through a physical storm because they are about to perish. They are about to drown, and they are professional fishermen. They know this sea. They've been carrying on their business here for years. They are part of the Zebedee Fishing Corporation. They've been doing this for years, and they have experienced nothing like this. This thing is going to kill them. Sometimes when a hurricane hits you bad enough, you question whether you'll survive.

You don't know whether you'll make it because the boat of life is filling up, and you could be drowning in the circumstances. So, they've got a physical crisis. They also have an emotional crisis because we're going to see in a moment Jesus says, "Why are you so afraid?" They are terrified. After all, they might perish. When you're in a crisis that you can't fix that threatens your very existence, you become afraid. The palpitations increase, the worry expands, and you just don't know whether you can survive it not only physically, but emotionally.

So, they have a physical crisis. They have an emotional crisis. They also have a spiritual crisis. "Carest thou not that we perish?" It's bad enough they are going through this. It's bad enough they are living in terror, but now they have to deal with the fact that he does not seem to care. They are in this crisis and Jesus is asleep at a time like this. So, they wake him up. They say, "Get up, Jesus. We need you, Jesus. We're not going to make it, Jesus. We're desperate for you, Jesus."

He got up when they woke him up, when they got desperate enough to shake him until he got up. It reminds me of Jacob wrestling with the angel. The angel told Jacob, "Let me go." And Jacob said, "I'm not going to let you go until you bless me." If we have to go all night long, we're going to get it on all night long because I'm not letting you go until you bless me. Jacob was in a threatening situation, and he was fighting for his life and said, "Until you move, I'm not going to let you go."

When God is giving us a major exam, the question on the floor is how much do we want him? Because he didn't get up because of the circumstance. He only got up when they woke him up. So, he gets up and rebukes the wind and says to the sea, "Hush, be still." Jesus is speaking to Mother Nature, and Jesus is telling Mother Nature to calm down. He's telling Mother Nature, "Hush your fuss." He's telling Mother Nature, "Settle down."

And it says in verse 39, it became perfectly calm. The Greek word for perfect is the word *mega*. The sea became like glass. He told the wind to stop. Well, if he only told the wind to stop, the waves are still going to be going for a while. But he told the wind to stop, and he told the waves to stop moving. He spoke, and things changed. They were in a problem that came out of nowhere, and he resolved the problem that came out of nowhere.

In between this and that, they were terrorized. They believed they were going to perish. Jesus speaks to nature and says, "You've got to shift your operation now because I said so." Then Jesus says to his disciples, "Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?" That seems like an odd question. They had a hurricane, and this windstorm is sucking down to the 700-foot below sea level Sea of Galilee. The boat is filling up with water. It doesn't look like they are going to make it, and he wants to know why they are scared.

That is like asking somebody who just got out of the swimming pool why they are wet. It is an obvious answer. Remember now, Jesus has been teaching about the kingdom of God and about the seed, which is the word of God. He said to them when they got in the boat in verse 35, "Let us go to the other side." I can hear him now. Other side, other side, other side. God's going to take us to the other side. I know he can fix it. My eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord.

Peter, did you hear him say other side? Jesus didn't say, "Let me go to the other side." He said, "Let us." All of them were going to make it to the other side. He didn't say there were going to be no problems on their way to the other side, but he did say they were going to make it from here to the other side. So, from where you are to where he is taking you, you have to trust him on the journey.

He is going to allow there to be a hurricane to see whether they were paying attention to what they were amen-ing when he gave them the message. He said, "Let us go to the other side." So, if they were really paying attention when the storm hit and the boat got full of water and they saw him pick up his pillow, they would have picked up their pillows and they would have all been laying there because they would remember he said, "Let us go to the other side." How easy it is for all of us to forget God’s word in a crisis.

Guest (Male): Sometimes life gets so stormy that we wonder if we're going to make it through. But Dr. Evans says even when things are at their worst, there's something bigger at play than the storm. The full-length versions of these messages are yours on CD, USB flash drive, or downloadable MP3, along with our thanks when you make a contribution in support of the ministry of The Alternative.

Right now, we'll also include a special bonus: Dr. Evans' popular book *Kingdom Encounters*. In it, he reveals how the very trials we try to avoid can become powerful moments where we experience God more deeply and personally. You'll discover how God often meets us in life's hardest seasons to strengthen our faith, restore our hope, and draw us closer to him. To request your copy of this bundle, visit us today at tonyevans.org or call us at 1-800-800-3222. This is a limited-time offer, so visit us as soon as you can. Again, that's tonyevans.org or by phone at 1-800-800-3222, anytime of the day or night.

When everything feels louder, faster, and more divided by the day, where do you find real peace? We live in a very frayed world. On the Unbound Podcast, Dr. Tony Evans explores timeless truth for today's toughest realities. Faith that doesn't escape the world but speaks directly into it. Prayer changes the chemistry of the brain. The Unbound Podcast with Dr. Tony Evans. Biblical truths in real life. Listen to the Unbound Podcast anytime of the day or night on your favorite podcast streaming platform. Right now, let's get back to Dr. Evans.

Dr. Tony Evans: How easy it is for all of us to forget God's word in a crisis. But the only way you know you're holding on to that word is in a crisis. It's when you have to use it, not just when you happen to hear it. He says, "Why are you so afraid?" Yes, there is a hurricane. There is a problem, but you've got a promise. So, don't let your problem override my promise. My promise did not say there would be no problem. And don't allow circumstances to determine your theology.

Don't decide what you're going to believe based on what you're going through. "Carest thou not that we perish?" And so, he challenges them in the midst of their crisis. Then we come to this last verse, verse 41. They became very much afraid. "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" We get scared of the wrong thing. We get scared of the problem in our humanity. Now they were scared of something bigger than the problem. They were scared of the problem solver.

What have we gotten ourselves into here that even nature obeys him? So, let's answer this question. Who then is this? Because a lot of Christians don't know who he is. Who then is this that nature has to do what he says? Do we know who we're dealing with here? In this one passage, we see the manifestation of the hypostatic union. The hypostatic union is a theological phrase that simply means two natures in one person, unmixed forever.

One minute, Jesus is asleep, sound asleep because he's fully man. He has to be thirsty and has to get a drink because he's fully man. He has to go to sleep and be in deep sleep after a tiring day because he's fully man. He bleeds on a cross and dies because he has the nature of a man. So, throughout the Gospels, he's called the Son of Man because he is fully human. But the hypostatic union says there's another nature resident in the same person.

So, he can be asleep one minute and tell nature what to do the next minute because he's fully divine. He can have to drink water, but then he can walk on water because he's also fully divine. He can be human and need to eat, but he can also turn sardines and crackers into a Moby Dick sandwich because he's fully divine. He can die because he is the Son of Man, but he can rise from the dead because he is the Son of God.

Who then is this? He is the one of a kind. He is the unique one. He is the Son of Man and the Son of God. As the Son of Man, he feels you. As the Son of God, he helps you. As the Son of Man, he knows your problem and your pain. As the Son of God, he can address both. When you deal with Jesus, you're dealing with God become a man who can be full humanity without sin and at the same time full deity.

In him, heaven and earth come together. In him, God and man come together. When you step across the pearly gates in glory, he will be the only scarred person in heaven. He will be the only person with scars on him. You will have a glorified body. He has a glorified body, but when he rose from the dead, he showed Philip his scar in his hands, his scar in his feet, and his scar on his side and told him to touch it.

He told him to touch it because he wanted to reveal to you he is fully man. But he also wanted to demonstrate to Thomas that he is fully God. And what he wants you to understand is, if you really want to deal with Jesus, don't let him sleep on you because he'll be quiet as long as you don't disturb him. He'll let you sink in the water until you wake up to him. Just a little bit later, Peter asked Jesus, "Can I walk on water like you're walking on water?"

Jesus said, "Peter, come on and walk on water." Peter started doing his moonwalk on the water. He started walking on water, but then it said he took his eyes off of Jesus. And when he took his eyes off of Jesus, it says he began to sink. He could walk on water when he kept his eyes on Jesus, but he saw the wind and the waves. And when he looked at the circumstances, he began to sink. If you and I are sinking in our situation, change what you're looking at.

Don't give all your attention to the winds and the waves of your circumstance. Looking unto Jesus, the Bible says, the author and finisher of our faith. He gets you started, and he carries you to completion even if there are storms in between. In closing, a few years ago, I was on a cruise coming from Alaska. It was a ministry cruise coming back from Alaska. We hit the worst storm that Royal Caribbean ever faced. Waves hit this cruise liner with waves 50 feet high.

It was knocking this cruise ship with 5,000 people around like it was a tin can. People were screaming and hollering. People were throwing up in the halls, in the dining room. Pianos were rolling down, and plates were rolling off. The stewards had to crouch down. They told everybody to get into their cabins, and we were being tossed around like a tin can and the ship was terrified. There was a call to the captain. The call to the captain asked why he did this.

He had sophisticated equipment on this boat that would have told us we were headed to a storm, and there was another path we could have taken. It's called the inside passage. You can go from Alaska to Vancouver or to Seattle either in open sea or by means of the inside passage. If you use the inside passage, it limits the effect of the storm because it's inside. You're kind of surrounded before you hit open water.

But they had to get back to let us off to take on another group, so they came in open water and this storm hit us and was knocking us around. And they said, "Why did you do this?" A call came back from the captain. "I know this is uncomfortable. I know this is difficult. But what you need to know is that this ship was built with this storm in mind. When we were at dry dock building this boat, we knew a day like this was going to come."

"And we constructed this thing that while it's uncomfortable for you, you're going to be able to handle it because the boat you are in is able to handle the storm that is coming against you." I don't know what storms you are in, and I don't know what storms you are going to, but I do know this one thing. Your salvation by Jesus Christ was built with that storm in mind. And if you hang on to Jesus in the middle of your storm, you are going to make it to his destination for your life.

Guest (Male): As we learned today, the anchor we hold on to when the waves of life get rough is our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. If you're not exactly sure what that means, visit tonyevans.org today and follow the link at the top of the homepage that simply says "Jesus." There, Tony will explain everything you need to know about what being a Christian is all about and how to start a brand-new life. Again, that's tonyevans.org.

While you're there, don't forget to take advantage of our current resource offer: all six full-length messages in our current series, *Having Faith During Fear*, along with the added bonus of Dr. Evans' popular book *Kingdom Encounters: Experiencing More of God When Life Hurts*. This powerful resource will help you see how God uses life's challenges to draw you into deeper, life-changing encounters with him. These resources are all yours along with our thanks for your donation to help keep this listener-supported program coming your way.

Just visit tonyevans.org before time runs out to make the arrangements, or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222 anytime of the day or night. Again, that's tonyevans.org or by phone 24/7 at 1-800-800-3222. Even when you feel at the top of your game, you can count on hitting a slump sooner or later. Tomorrow, Dr. Evans takes a look at turning life's valleys into life's victories. I hope you'll join us for that.