The Faith Walk

Guest (Male): Today, with Jonathan Evans.

Jonathan Evans: If you can't handle this storm, how are you going to handle the Book of Acts? You must be prepared, more prepared than that, because I'm calling you to follow me. And if I, your master, suffer, then what do you think the Christian life looks like?

You say, well, how did they fail the test? They got a storm, called on Jesus, and Jesus made it better. This test was not about whether Jesus can make it better or not. This test was about whether you can be better or not regardless of if he makes it better. Can you walk through the storm? Do you believe that all authority is under the Son?

Guest (Male): You're listening to The Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. In a moment, Jonathan will continue today's message. But first, to thank you for your support of this ministry, Jonathan has two gifts for you. The first is the audio series that you're currently hearing called All Eyes on Jesus, helping you refocus on the one who changes everything.

The second part of this gift is a book by Dr. Tony Evans called The Power of Jesus' Names. Discover how the names of Jesus reveal his character, his purpose, and his power in your life today. How can knowing him more deeply transform your faith? I'll tell you more about these later in today's program. Or you can call right now at 1-800-800-3222 or visit tonyevans.org to learn more. Now, let's get started with Jonathan's message, Under the Son.

Jonathan Evans: I'm praying and you're quiet. I'm in church and I still feel disconnected. I call my accountability, but I'm not getting any divine reassurance. I'm reading the Bible, but I'm still not experiencing any hope. Like, this is what your word says. You're with us on the boat, but you're not with us on the boat. Where are you?

He's sleep, and that makes the storm even worse. It says the boat was already filling up. The boat was getting tossed around. They think that they're going to die. The situation is heavy. You can imagine that they themselves are taking a moment to try to save themselves, to get the water off of the boat, and nothing is working. And Jesus is quiet. God is not talking. He's sleeping.

Let me make it a little bit more worse. He's sleeping on a cushion. You know what that means? That means he went to sleep on purpose. Good night. You went to sleep on purpose? You don't think he knew that storm was coming when he said, "Let us go over to the other side"? And he went to sleep on purpose? God's not talking to me during the storm of my life?

I'm not hearing him. I'm not getting anything from him. Where are you? Why would you not be speaking when I need you to speak? Why would you not be here when I need you to be here? And you're going to go to sleep on me on purpose? Ladies and gentlemen, when God goes to sleep on you on purpose and you're not hearing from him and you're in the middle of the storm, it's because he is testing you.

Your teacher doesn't talk either when you're taking a test. You cannot raise your hand and say, "Hey, I need some help." Take the test. The reason why the teacher doesn't talk while you're taking a test is because they are testing you on information you have already been given.

Let's go back. "Let us go over to the other side." I've been preaching all day about the kingdom. I've taken the time to explain it to you clearly. You've watched my miracles, and now I want to watch your faith. Because without faith, it's impossible to please the Lord.

And I have to prepare you for storms because I'm going to tell you something else in the future that's going to bring about more storms. "Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations." And as soon as they listened, Peter was thrown in jail, James got killed by the sword. It was a storm doing what God told them to do. And they would have to believe later that what God said, he will finish what he started.

So he's preparing them now for their future later. And if you don't want storms, what you're telling God is don't give me a future because I want to remain unprepared. I've already given you the lesson. I told you, "Let us go over to the other side." Other side, other side, other side. Instead, the disciples panicked. Instead, the believers panicked.

Instead, the church folk looked like the culture. Instead, there was no difference between the believer and the unbeliever. They were around Jesus, but evidently didn't have the faith in the Jesus they were around. Now, this is very difficult. This is very difficult to not panic and trust when you're in a hurricane. To say it's not difficult means nothing as it relates to my humanity.

I'm feeling just like you all. So all that pedestal stuff you all got in your minds, get rid of that. I have to live life just like you all. My mom died just like some of you all. So let me tell you where I got when I turned all the lights off in the house. We had eight people die. My mom died. Then my dad suddenly had to step down. And I'm like, "What?"

So we're up here and we're standing, but behind the scenes, we've got tears. We hit hurricane season and we're like, "God, why you so quiet?" So I'm frustrated and I'm panicking because I'm like, "Uh-oh, what does all of this mean?" We had someone die in our family every four months, and we were wondering who's next. So I literally started panicking, like, what do I do?

I'm reading, but I'm putting it to the side. I'm trying to fix it myself. I'm bailing out water. Trying to figure out who I can talk to or who can do something or who can make me calm, who can keep me from being depressed and anxious, who can keep me from fear and anxiety, who can help me? And so, but I came to a moment where I did just like this.

There's nothing I could do. I couldn't do anything. So then I just sat still in the house like this. And I just started reminding myself of what he said. Lord, Nahum 1:7 says that you are my stronghold when I'm in trouble. Psalm 46:1-3 says you are my refuge, my very present in the time of trouble. It says to be still and know that you are God.

Second Chronicles 20:17 says, "Do not fight, just hold and watch the salvation of the Lord." Isaiah 26:3, "You give perfect peace, those whose minds are stayed up on you." And so I couldn't just let it just be a sermon anymore. Churchiness was no longer good enough. It didn't keep me from panicking.

You see, when you get a sermon, Philippians 4:6 and 7 that says, "Be anxious for nothing, but through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make your request known. And God, who gives you a peace that surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts in Christ Jesus." That's not just for you to get excited. That's for the time you fear and anxiety.

You have to recall it, which is why the word says, "Meditate on my word day and night and you will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, its leaf will not wither and whatever you do, you will prosper." You've got to recall it. Otherwise, you're just going to panic.

When Psalm 34:18 says, "God is near to the brokenhearted and he saves those who are crushed in spirit," that's not just for you to shake your head at. That's for you to tattoo it on your mind and your heart for the time that you experience loss and grief you can sit under that umbrella. Because the grief is still there, the rain is still falling, but at least you have something in it.

And so I sat there and said, "I can't do it. I'm bailing water and more water is coming." If you know what the disciples should have done. If Jesus said, "Let us go over to the other side," and a hurricane came and he went to sleep on a cushion, they should have found a cushion and gone to sleep right with him.

Guest (Male): More of the Faith Walk with Pastor Jonathan Evans in a moment. When life leaves you feeling spiritually dry, pressured by culture, or unsure of your purpose, All Eyes on Jesus will help you refocus on the one who changes everything. Today, with a gift to support the ministry of the Urban Alternative, Jonathan wants to give you a copy of his eight-part audio series, All Eyes on Jesus.

What could happen if you fixed your eyes on Jesus in every area of your life? Also included with your gift is a book by Dr. Tony Evans, The Power of Jesus' Names. Discover how the names of Jesus reveal his character, his purpose, and his power in your life today. Both the book, The Power of Jesus' Names, and the eight-part audio series, All Eyes on Jesus, are a gift for you to thank you, to show our appreciation for your continued support.

It is listeners like you who make this program possible. Our 24-hour resource request line is open at 1-800-800-3222. Let one of our team members help you, 1-800-800-3222, or get all the details at tonyevans.org. How can knowing him more deeply transform your faith? Now, let's get back to Jonathan with the rest of today's message.

Jonathan Evans: If Jesus said, "Let us go over to the other side," and a hurricane came and he went to sleep on a cushion, they should have found a cushion and gone to sleep right with him. Because let me tell you, if they went to sleep with him, you know what would have happened? They would have got to the other side. It would have still been the same storm.

They would have still been soaked, maybe a little scared, but they would have experienced the salvation of the Lord anyway. Because God's going to do what he says anyway. Notice the difference between the disciples and Jesus on the exact same boat. This was a wild storm. The boat was nearly sinking. The wind was thunderous.

The water was slashing in and sloshing over. Whatever adjectives you want to give it, it was that bad. The boat is tossed, no control. The seas in the Bible are representative of evil. So evil was winning. And the whole time it's that bad, Jesus sleeps. I don't know how you sleep through that. They feel like they're going to die, it's so bad. And Jesus sleeps.

The disciples were in fear in the storm. Jesus was unshaken in the storm. What shakes you doesn't shake God. Hebrews 12 lets you know we serve an unshakable kingdom. That he will sleep through the very thing that you're afraid of. You know why? Because he has authority over it.

The disciples ran in. "Wake up! Do you not care that we perish?" For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. "Do you not care that we die or perish? We're in this storm!" Watch what Jesus did. I've never seen this before. It's three words in verse 39, three words right at the beginning.

Once they said, "Wake up! Do you not care that we perish?" It says, "He got up." Wake up! Do you not care? We need salvation. He got up. Wake up! Do you not care that I'm about to die? He got up. Wake up, Jesus! I need to be saved. He got up. Don't you realize that when he was sleeping, it was chaos? When he was sleeping, they had no hope.

When he was sleeping, they thought they were going to die. But as soon as he got up, all of a sudden, there was hope, salvation, and life. He got up and said, "Shh, be still." The sea that represented chaos was now underneath the authority of the Son. Life was given to the disciples. Everything changed when he got up.

Don't you realize on Friday when he died, it was chaos? People didn't have any hope. They didn't know how they were going to live. They didn't know that they could get to tomorrow. They only thought they were going to perish. But he got up! And early on Sunday morning, all of a sudden, there was life. All of a sudden, evil was subdued.

All of a sudden, the seas were perfectly calm. All of a sudden, everything changed because he got up. I need somebody to make some noise that Jesus got up because he is the Christ, the Son of the living God who comes to take away the sins of the world. I didn't recognize in the story at first that he went to sleep and it was chaos, but then once he got up, he said, "Shh, be still."

That he supplemented perfection where there was evil. That all of a sudden the lake was like glass and the winds calmed down and the waves ceased for one reason and one reason alone: because he got up. And watch what he says when he gets up. He got up. Watch this. The storm... "Hush, be quiet." It's a hurricane.

Can you imagine Jesus standing when he speaks? "Quiet." And everything became perfectly calm, the scripture says. Perfectly calm, perfectly calm, because he got up and said, "Shh." And we panic in a storm, and we serve a God who can just go, "Shh, be still." And then he followed it up with something we need to remember.

He said to the disciples, "Shh, be quiet, storm." Perfectly calm. Looks at his disciples. "Why were you afraid? Why did you act like that? Do you not believe in who I am? You look just like the people I left on the shore. Why were you afraid?" If I was Peter, I would have been like, "Because I was about to die."

He says, "Do you have no faith?" This lets me know that after Jesus was called upon and got up and calmed the storms, that he was letting the disciples know, "You failed the test. You must do better. If you can't handle this storm, how are you going to handle the Book of Acts? You must be prepared, more prepared than that. Because I'm calling you to follow me."

And if I, your master, suffer, then what do you think the Christian life looks like? You say, well, how did they fail the test? They got a storm, called on Jesus, and Jesus made it better. This test was not about whether Jesus can make it better or not. This test was about whether you can be better or not regardless of if he makes it better.

Can you walk through the storm? Do you believe that all authority is under the Son? This is one of the clearest pictures in scripture of the humanity and deity of God in bodily form. He went to sleep because he was tired. Remember, he had been preaching all day. I only preach twice, and at lunch, I'd be like... I told my dad I've got to build my stamina.

He was tired. So he went to sleep. And yes, he was testing them, but he went to sleep because he was tired. And then got up from his sleep and told the storm to be quiet. Jesus is 100% man and 100% God. He has two natures in one person without mixture forever. That is who he is. He's 100% man, not 50. He's 100% God.

He has two natures that have been placed in one container called the person of Jesus Christ without mixture forever. This is why he can be hungry and then go feed 5,000 with two fish and five loaves. This is why he can be thirsty and then turn around and walk on water. This is why he can die and then turn around and get up.

Because he is the God-man, the one who can sympathize with your weaknesses and who can do something about it. He's the one who's over the storm even when he sleeps in the storm. He is Jesus the Christ. So when they asked the question, "What manner of man is this that even the wind and the seas obey him?"

We know who it is. It's Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God who is 100% man, 100% God, two natures, one person forever. And he is worthy of your life, he is worthy of your trust, he is worthy of your faith, he is worthy of your praise because that is who he is. So just remember when you hit the storm that everything comes under the Son.

Guest (Male): That was Pastor Jonathan Evans. Before you go today, I want to remind you that we have a couple of gifts for you: an eight-part audio series, All Eyes on Jesus, and a book, The Power of Jesus' Names. How can knowing him more deeply transform your faith? Through Dr. Evans' book, The Power of Jesus' Names, you'll discover how the name of Jesus reveals his character, his purpose, and his power in your life today.

We're also including Jonathan Evans' All Eyes on Jesus audio series, helping you refocus on the one who changes everything. Discover how to deepen your faith, stand firm in difficult times, and live with confidence in God's calling. What could happen if you fixed your eyes on Jesus in every area of your life? Both resources are a gift to you to thank you for your donation to help support the ministry of the Urban Alternative.

It's our way of showing appreciation for the continued support of listeners like you who make this program possible. Call 1-800-800-3222 anytime or get all the details online at tonyevans.org. Again, that's tonyevans.org, or you can call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222 and let one of our team members help you. That's 1-800-800-3222. Thank you for listening to The Faith Walk with Jonathan Evans. The Faith Walk is produced as a part of the Urban Alternative, a ministry of Dr. Tony Evans.