Why Does God Allow Storms?

[00:00:00] Welcome to the Pursuing Faith Podcast, where we explore questions of faith, doubt and

[00:00:10] life.

[00:00:11] I am your host Dominic Done.

[00:00:16] Hey everyone, well before we get started with today's episode, I want to tell you

[00:00:25] real quick about a conference that's coming up in two weeks time.

[00:00:29] It's called the Bible Conference and it's in Granite Bay, California.

[00:00:33] I'll be sharing three different messages along with other speakers like Christine

[00:00:37] Kane, Mark Clark, Ray Johnston.

[00:00:40] It's going to be such a good time of worship and learning together.

[00:00:45] So if you want to sign up either to attend in person or online, we'll have a link available

[00:00:50] on the events page at PursuingFaith.org.

[00:00:54] It would be incredible to see you there.

[00:00:57] Well, in this episode we're going to be looking at John chapter 6 and we'll unpack the

[00:01:03] question why does God allow us to go through storms?

[00:01:09] Why seasons of grief or loneliness, unemployment, depression or doubt?

[00:01:15] Eugene Peterson once said, pain entered into, accepted and owned, come become poetry.

[00:01:24] But what does that look like in our life?

[00:01:27] I hope this message encourages you today.

[00:01:42] When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake and they got into a boat and

[00:01:49] they set up across the lake for cappurnium.

[00:01:53] By now it was dark and Jesus had not yet joined them.

[00:01:57] A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.

[00:02:02] When they had rode about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking

[00:02:07] on the water and they were frightened.

[00:02:09] But he said to them, it is I do not be afraid.

[00:02:12] Let me hear you say do not be afraid.

[00:02:16] They were willing to take him into the boat and immediately the boat reached the shore

[00:02:20] where they were heading.

[00:02:22] The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized

[00:02:26] that only one boat had been there and Jesus had not entered it with his disciples but

[00:02:32] that they had gone away alone.

[00:02:34] Some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after

[00:02:38] the Lord had given thanks.

[00:02:40] Once the crowd realized neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the

[00:02:45] boats and went to cappurnium and search of Jesus.

[00:02:49] Of all the stories in the gospel of John, the story that we just read is I think by far

[00:02:56] the most legendary.

[00:02:57] I mean you think about how many songs and sermons and works of art have been influenced

[00:03:04] by the story of Jesus walking on the water and calming the stormy sea and calming the storm

[00:03:13] that was in the hearts of the disciples.

[00:03:16] This last week I was doing some research if you are into art history.

[00:03:19] You might like this but I was stunned by how many dozens of paintings throughout history,

[00:03:25] many of which are hundreds of years old have been inspired just from this story.

[00:03:30] Here is one example.

[00:03:32] The Russian artist Ivan Ivia Zovsky and he painted this in the 1800s and if you are familiar

[00:03:40] with that period in history, this painting portrays the dialectics of romanticism.

[00:03:48] Notice how you have turbulence and darkness on one side but then you have peace and the

[00:03:55] presence of Jesus on the other.

[00:03:59] And Ivan he painted this not just because he was inspired by what John said about Jesus

[00:04:03] but he painted this to bring hope to Russia at that time while he was still alive.

[00:04:09] He was one of the most popular painters in Russia and to this day he remains a very

[00:04:14] popular painter but he wanted to comfort the Russians who were traumatized by the social

[00:04:21] and political upheaval of the 1800s.

[00:04:25] And so every line, every brushstroke in this painting was meant to convey something.

[00:04:30] So you have the boat which he saw as a metaphor of a nation that was sailing through stormy

[00:04:36] waters on the brink of revolution.

[00:04:39] But then of course Jesus coming walking towards them to rescue the nation and to bring

[00:04:44] them from a place of chaos to peace and unity.

[00:04:49] Now whether it's this painting or countless others or works of art in the poetry and literature

[00:04:55] as well, that there is something about the sea that has always been the symbol of chaos

[00:05:01] or hardship or difficulty.

[00:05:04] Think about all the stories that we're familiar with that have this idea of the sea being

[00:05:10] in some sense a place of hardship, whether it's the Odyssey by Homer or Treasure Island

[00:05:16] or Mastering Commander, Titanic, Moby Dick, Finding Nemo, these great works of literary

[00:05:24] genius.

[00:05:25] But one thing they have in common is this idea of man versus the sea, right?

[00:05:29] Hope versus despair, peace versus chaos.

[00:05:33] And I point that out to you because that way of understanding the sea as a metaphor

[00:05:37] is an archetype of chaos, it was definitely the case for the disciples in our text this

[00:05:43] morning because in Jewish culture they perceive the sea as a dark foreboding and threatening

[00:05:48] place.

[00:05:49] Now when we hear ocean, we think vacation or Ken and Beach or saltwater taffy, right?

[00:05:54] We have all kinds of happy fields towards the sea.

[00:05:57] In Jewish culture, that's not how they saw it.

[00:06:00] In Genesis we have God dividing the land from the sea, chaos from order.

[00:06:07] In the book of Exodus, the one thing that kept the children of Israel from freedom as they

[00:06:12] saw it was a sea, the Red Sea and then God parted it and they passed through.

[00:06:17] Or in Psalm 46, the author he describes the sea as a place of raging and foaming and chaos

[00:06:25] and despair.

[00:06:27] When we understand how they interpreted and how they saw the ocean, it helps us understand

[00:06:34] I think a little bit about what's going on here because there in a situation where they

[00:06:38] were absolutely terrified.

[00:06:40] In fact if you want to look back down in verse 19, it says they were frightened in the

[00:06:45] NIV and I think that's a massive understatement.

[00:06:48] In the Greek language the word is way stronger.

[00:06:52] The word for frightened in the Greek is phobey-o and it's where we get our English word for

[00:06:57] phobia.

[00:06:58] In other words, we could translate it as terrified or even shaking with fear.

[00:07:04] Have you ever been in a situation?

[00:07:06] Have you ever been in a season in your life where you've actually been shaking with fear?

[00:07:11] My family and I, we have a dog her name is Bella, she's a golden dude, oh she's amazing,

[00:07:15] beautiful dog, super sharp, super intelligent but like most pets, she has one or two quirks,

[00:07:21] one of which when she was younger, she just had this fascination with eating socks.

[00:07:25] She's always eating socks but another interesting thing about Bella is she has a phobia and I

[00:07:32] cannot understand it.

[00:07:34] My wife and I have been trying to figure this out because she's absolutely terrified

[00:07:40] of Amazon boxes, like true phobia.

[00:07:44] It doesn't matter how big the Amazon box is.

[00:07:48] We hear the mail come, we open the door, there's the box it could be this big, it could

[00:07:52] even be an envelope this happened yesterday.

[00:07:54] I brought in Amazon envelope.

[00:07:56] The moment she sees the Amazon box, she runs in fear.

[00:08:00] It's like super sad and I'm so confused, we've had her since a puppy, we have no idea why

[00:08:05] she's so afraid of Amazon boxes.

[00:08:07] Maybe it's because Amazon is taking over the world and Alexa listens to all our conversations

[00:08:12] and she's like no to globalism.

[00:08:14] I don't know what's happening here.

[00:08:16] I'm sure that's it.

[00:08:18] But it's a phobia, it's something she can't understand fully and here's the disciples

[00:08:25] there encountering this phobia.

[00:08:27] It was a cultural phobia, it was a metaphor of chaos.

[00:08:31] They're in a situation where they're shaking with fear.

[00:08:35] Here's the question that I want to unpack with you in the short time that we have today.

[00:08:39] Why would Jesus knowing that the sea was an archetype

[00:08:45] of chaos?

[00:08:47] Why would Jesus knowing that this is the one thing that they were absolutely terrified

[00:08:52] of?

[00:08:54] Why would Jesus let them go through this storm?

[00:08:57] In fact, when you go to Mark's gospel it seems to imply that Jesus intentionally sends

[00:09:02] them into the storm.

[00:09:04] He knew what was happening, he knew what they were about to face and yet he sends them

[00:09:08] into the storm anyway.

[00:09:11] And the question that's lurking behind that question, one that we all wrestle with,

[00:09:16] it's the question of all questions I think and it's this.

[00:09:20] Why would God allow us, His disciples, to go through times of chaos and fear and vulnerability?

[00:09:28] Why the storm?

[00:09:30] That's the question that's before us today.

[00:09:32] Why the storm?

[00:09:34] And so as I've been thinking through this passage, I noticed in this passage a few thoughts,

[00:09:39] a few ideas, a few potential reasons why Jesus would allow it.

[00:09:45] If you're taking notes, you may want to jot this first thought down.

[00:09:48] I think Jesus let them go through the storm.

[00:09:52] Number one, to grow their faith, to grow their faith.

[00:09:55] How so?

[00:09:56] Well keep in mind, this story comes after what we saw it last week.

[00:10:01] Jesus and His disciples are on the mountain and they're hungry.

[00:10:05] There's in fact thousands of hungry people and Jesus says, what are we going to do about

[00:10:09] all these hungry people?

[00:10:10] And they're like, I don't know.

[00:10:11] We don't have enough money.

[00:10:12] We don't have enough resources.

[00:10:13] We don't have enough food trucks.

[00:10:14] What's going to happen?

[00:10:15] But here's a young lad with five loaves and two fish and Jesus does what?

[00:10:19] He takes the loaves.

[00:10:20] He takes the fishes.

[00:10:21] He blesses them.

[00:10:22] He breaks them.

[00:10:23] And with them everyone was full.

[00:10:25] And not only were they full, how many baskets were left over?

[00:10:28] Do you remember?

[00:10:29] Yeah, 12 baskets.

[00:10:30] I think one for each disciple.

[00:10:32] Each disciple had a take home box as a reminder.

[00:10:35] Jesus can do all things.

[00:10:37] Now when you look at that story, at its heart, at its core, it's a story of generous abundance,

[00:10:43] right?

[00:10:44] Blessing, favor.

[00:10:46] And if I'm honest, I love stories like that.

[00:10:48] I love teaching stories like that.

[00:10:51] I like it and I think we'd all agree when we go through seasons of blessing, whether

[00:10:57] it's financial blessing or relationship or things are going well at work or physical

[00:11:03] health.

[00:11:04] We like it when God goes above and beyond our expectation.

[00:11:08] But here's the problem.

[00:11:10] Is that faith that is dependent on blessing for its growth often lacks growth.

[00:11:19] Faith that is dependent on favor often lacks depth.

[00:11:26] Rutgers University, they did a study on this a few years ago about trees.

[00:11:30] And what they discovered is that trees and times of rain, the roots

[00:11:34] remain relatively shallow.

[00:11:35] But when it's a time of drought, the roots of that tree go deeper and deeper in search

[00:11:40] of nutrients.

[00:11:41] And I think so too.

[00:11:43] Our soul, like the roots of a tree are most deepened, not necessarily in the times

[00:11:50] of favor and blessing and abundance when everything is working out, how you hope.

[00:11:55] But our soul is deepened in those times of lack and storms and troubles and trials

[00:12:04] and hardship and drama and difficulty.

[00:12:08] Why?

[00:12:09] Because it's then that we're forced into a deeper faith and dependence upon God.

[00:12:14] I think more important to God than him getting rid of the storm is him teaching us to meet

[00:12:21] the storm and walk through the storm, not just get around the storm.

[00:12:26] How many of you who show fans have read the book The Hiding Place by Cory Timboum?

[00:12:30] Okay, quite a few of you have if you haven't read that book, repent.

[00:12:35] And get a hold of it.

[00:12:37] Honestly, it is so good.

[00:12:39] My daughter just read it recently.

[00:12:40] It's a beautiful, beautiful book.

[00:12:43] And it's hard too because it tells the story of this godly woman, Cory Timboum, who went

[00:12:48] through unthinkable trials.

[00:12:52] She opened up her home during World War II for Jewish people to find refuge and safety

[00:12:58] hence the name The Hiding Place.

[00:13:00] But then later on she was arrested, she was taken to a concentration camp.

[00:13:06] Everything was taken from her.

[00:13:08] But what's so redemptive and beautiful about her story is that even though she lost everything

[00:13:14] she still held onto her faith.

[00:13:17] In fact, as you read it, you discover her faith grew through that experience.

[00:13:23] And then she said this.

[00:13:24] And for me, I think these are some of the most beautiful words ever spoken and very

[00:13:29] convicting but full of depth.

[00:13:31] She said, you may never know that Jesus is all that you need until Jesus is all that

[00:13:38] you have.

[00:13:40] What if that's what's going on here in this story?

[00:13:44] It's easy to believe in Jesus when we're on the mountain.

[00:13:47] It's easy to believe in Jesus when there's an abundance of loaves and fishes.

[00:13:50] Sure, I can follow a Messiah like that when there's money and resources and the girl says,

[00:13:55] yes to the dates and everything's working out.

[00:13:58] Sure, yeah, sign me up.

[00:13:59] I'll be your disciple.

[00:14:02] But what about when all of those things are stripped away?

[00:14:07] What about those seasons when it doesn't work out the way you hoped?

[00:14:10] Will you believe then a faith that can't be tested can't be trusted.

[00:14:15] It's kind of like a tea bag.

[00:14:16] You don't know the flavor of the tea bag till it's put in hot water.

[00:14:20] And I think there are times when God puts us into hot water because He wants to draw

[00:14:23] faith out of us that we didn't even know He had.

[00:14:27] And I also think, hear me out here, this point is important but you could be taken the

[00:14:31] wrong way.

[00:14:32] I also think there are times God allows us to be in the hot water because there are

[00:14:36] issues in us that He wants to bring to the surface.

[00:14:40] There's stuff in us.

[00:14:41] It's not healthy, unhealthy patterns and ways of thinking and addictions or even sin.

[00:14:46] And I say hear me out here because some people would take this theology in a destructive

[00:14:51] way and they would argue that every time you suffer it's because there's sin in your

[00:14:54] life.

[00:14:55] And I don't believe that's the case at all.

[00:14:56] But I do believe there are times God allows us to storm because there are things He's

[00:15:00] wanting to draw out of us.

[00:15:03] He's wanting us to get back on track.

[00:15:05] It says when they went through the storm and the passage we just read suddenly they're

[00:15:08] there on the other side.

[00:15:10] Because it's the storm that gets us to the other side.

[00:15:12] Sometimes it's the force of the wind that moves us quicker than we never thought possible.

[00:15:17] It deepens us, it deepens us.

[00:15:19] I met with a guy just recently.

[00:15:21] He's sharing with me his story.

[00:15:23] I hear so many crazy heartbreaking stories.

[00:15:25] This guy got in a construction accident, fell off a roof and literally broke his back.

[00:15:31] He's in the hospital and he's telling me what it was like medically, what he's going

[00:15:36] through emotionally.

[00:15:39] And he's there for months, rehab and they're trying to put him back together.

[00:15:44] And I was asking what was that like for your relationship with God?

[00:15:47] And he looked at me and said, Dominic it was the best thing that ever happened to me.

[00:15:53] I'm like you're kidding.

[00:15:54] He said no.

[00:15:55] He said as I'm on my back, it kind of literally forced me to look up.

[00:15:59] He said at that point in my life, I was doing things I shouldn't have been involved

[00:16:04] in. I was making some decisions that were really unhealthy and destructive.

[00:16:09] There was stuff in my marriage and my relationship with my wife that it was just heartbreaking.

[00:16:15] And he said, I was going down this path of destruction and it was leading to all kinds

[00:16:20] of stuff.

[00:16:21] And he said, I think God allowed this accident to happen because He knew that the only

[00:16:26] time that I would listen to Him would be in that hospital bed.

[00:16:31] And for some of us, the storm is that purifying season where God is bringing to the surface

[00:16:40] those issues, those sins, those habits and God is saying, I want to meet you there

[00:16:49] and I want to cleanse you from that.

[00:16:52] I want to make you more into my image.

[00:16:55] This is why in the book of 1 Peter, this is worth writing down if you're taking notes.

[00:16:59] In 1 Peter 1 verse 5, it says in all this you greatly rejoice.

[00:17:03] Though now for a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

[00:17:08] Notice these have come why so the proven genuineness of your faith, of greater worth and

[00:17:14] gold which perishes even though refined by fire.

[00:17:19] May result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

[00:17:29] Why the storm?

[00:17:30] I think first of all it's to grow our faith but there's another point here.

[00:17:35] Let's take it deeper.

[00:17:36] I think Jesus allowed the storm number two if you're taking notes to strengthen their hope.

[00:17:43] Do you realize that this wasn't the only storm that the disciples went through in John

[00:17:47] chapter 16 verse 33?

[00:17:49] Jesus actually warned them.

[00:17:50] We'll get to John 16 in about 12 years, it'll be amazing.

[00:17:54] But in John 16 verse 33, Jesus gathers his disciples together and he says, hey, in this

[00:17:59] world you will have what trouble but take heart.

[00:18:05] For I have overcome the world.

[00:18:10] The word for trouble that Jesus uses is a fascinating word.

[00:18:15] In the Greek language it's the word flipsis.

[00:18:17] Let me hear you say flipsis.

[00:18:21] Flipsis was a form of Roman torture.

[00:18:24] You know the more I study about the Romans, the more I realize they really like to torture

[00:18:28] people.

[00:18:29] Jack Bauer would have fit in really well in that culture.

[00:18:31] They're all about it.

[00:18:33] And flipsis was one of the ways that they hurt people.

[00:18:35] If you are a prisoner they wanted to punish you, they wanted to extract information from

[00:18:39] you.

[00:18:40] They would lay on the ground.

[00:18:41] They would put a plank on your chest.

[00:18:43] They would take a heavy boulder.

[00:18:45] They would roll that boulder up on your chest and it would crush you.

[00:18:49] The word flipsis can be translated as crushing.

[00:18:52] Many times the rib cage would break and fracture.

[00:18:55] They would have a hard time breathing.

[00:18:58] This is the word that Jesus used when he gathered his disciples together.

[00:19:02] He said, you're going to face trial.

[00:19:05] Have you ever been through a season where it feels like a heavy weight on your chest?

[00:19:11] Have you ever gone through a time where you're gasping for air?

[00:19:16] Jesus told his disciples, he said, know this.

[00:19:20] A time is coming when you will go through a crushing as well.

[00:19:24] A couple of years ago we studied the book of Acts together as a church and we saw that

[00:19:28] what Jesus warned about actually came to pass.

[00:19:31] The disciples were persecuted.

[00:19:33] They lost their homes.

[00:19:34] Many relationships were fractured.

[00:19:36] They were chased.

[00:19:37] They were pursued.

[00:19:38] They were thrown in prison.

[00:19:40] Some of the disciples literally went through other shipwrecks.

[00:19:44] I think what Jesus is doing here in John chapter 6 is actually to prepare them for that.

[00:19:52] Check this out, this is huge.

[00:19:54] Jesus by allowing them to go through the storm.

[00:19:57] He is equipping them for what was to come.

[00:20:00] By allowing them to go through the storm here he's giving them the tools and the resources

[00:20:05] that they would need later on to draw from when they were in a similar place.

[00:20:11] And more importantly, to give them hope that even as Jesus walked on the water here and

[00:20:15] calm the storm here, they would have hope in their storm, in the persecution, in the

[00:20:22] trials that were ahead.

[00:20:23] They could remind themselves and others.

[00:20:25] Hey, do you remember that time?

[00:20:26] Yeah, five years ago, ten years ago.

[00:20:28] Do you remember when we were at the Sea of Galilee and Jesus was with us and we went through

[00:20:32] this stormy sea and we were absolutely terrified because we hate the ocean.

[00:20:36] It's a horrible place.

[00:20:37] And the storm and the waves and the wind, we thought we're going to die.

[00:20:39] We didn't know if we'd make it through the night.

[00:20:41] Do you remember that time?

[00:20:42] Yeah, we remember that night.

[00:20:43] But do you remember too how Jesus came to us walking on the water?

[00:20:48] Yeah, I remember that.

[00:20:51] And do you remember how he got in the boat?

[00:20:53] And with a word, he calmed the storm.

[00:20:55] Do you remember that?

[00:20:56] And they could look back on this time and cling to it.

[00:21:00] It would strengthen their hope.

[00:21:02] And I think there are times, even now for some of you.

[00:21:07] We've got to allow us to go through the storm because it's actually preparing you and strengthening

[00:21:12] you for what's ahead.

[00:21:14] And it's a reminder to you for the years to come that the storm right now that is over

[00:21:19] your head is actually underneath this feet.

[00:21:22] Jesus walked on the waves that threatened to swallow up the boat.

[00:21:28] And that lesson is not just for you personally, it's also for the people in your life.

[00:21:34] Paul put it this way.

[00:21:35] In 2 Corinthians chapter 1, he said, praise be to the God in Father.

[00:21:39] We're just saying that.

[00:21:40] I love that song.

[00:21:41] Praise be to the God in Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and

[00:21:47] the God of all comfort who comforts us in our trouble so that we could comfort those

[00:21:53] in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

[00:21:59] This is huge.

[00:22:00] It's the difference between sympathy and empathy.

[00:22:03] Sympathy says, I feel what you're going through.

[00:22:06] I'm so sorry you're there.

[00:22:09] Empathy says, I know what you're going through because I have been there too.

[00:22:16] Your story of pain can become someone else's source of hope.

[00:22:22] And I feel led to share that this morning because I know that some of you, you've gone

[00:22:26] through the storm.

[00:22:27] I know many of you and I've heard many of your stories and I know there's been cancer survivors

[00:22:33] and people have gone through divorce and people have wrestled with anxiety and depression

[00:22:37] and you've gone through the storm.

[00:22:40] The lessons that you've learned in those seasons and the depth that has resulted in

[00:22:47] your own soul as a byproduct of that.

[00:22:50] It's not just for you.

[00:22:51] It's for the people around you because all around you are people who are in a similar

[00:22:56] place.

[00:22:57] And what you've gone through can actually become tremendously liberating and life giving

[00:23:03] for those that God has put in your life, that when we make the decision to open up and

[00:23:08] be authentic and vulnerable and say, yeah, I've been there and I've experienced that and

[00:23:13] I've gone through that pain and I know what the storm feels like.

[00:23:16] You'll discover redemption not just for you because I think there's tremendous healing

[00:23:21] when we begin to share our story, but you'll also find there's healing for those around

[00:23:26] you.

[00:23:28] People even in this room need to hear your story because it's going to give them the

[00:23:34] hope and comfort that they need that Jesus will have the last word.

[00:23:40] There's this beautiful book by Henry Nowin.

[00:23:43] It's called Being a Wounded Healer.

[00:23:46] In it, he says this, that nobody escapes being wounded.

[00:23:50] We're all wounded people whether physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually.

[00:23:55] The main question is not how can we hide our wounds so we don't have to be embarrassed

[00:24:00] but check this out.

[00:24:01] How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?

[00:24:08] When our wound cease to be a source of shame and become a source of healing, we have become

[00:24:16] wounded healers.

[00:24:17] Jesus, He is creating depth in His disciples that they would draw from for years and He's

[00:24:26] also deepening their ministry so that they could help people who would go through storms.

[00:24:32] Number three, and finally, and this is a point that I've been chewing on this last week.

[00:24:36] I never actually seen this story through this lens.

[00:24:39] I hope you guys enjoy this and I hope this part encourages you.

[00:24:42] I think number three, it's not just to grow their faith and strengthen their hope.

[00:24:46] It's to deepen their love.

[00:24:48] If you have your Bible's open, look down in verse 19 so we saw the word frightened phobia

[00:24:54] but then Jesus said to them, it is I do not be afraid.

[00:25:05] When Jesus said it is I in the Greek language, it is ego-am-ee and it is literally translated

[00:25:14] as I am.

[00:25:16] Now does that ring a bell?

[00:25:18] I am.

[00:25:19] I am that I am.

[00:25:21] That comes from where?

[00:25:22] Exodus.

[00:25:23] Exodus chapter three, Moses, he's in the desert.

[00:25:25] He had been there basically alone hanging out with a bunch of sheep for 40 years and then

[00:25:29] he sees a bush that's on fire and he hears a voice.

[00:25:32] For some of you, that's not surprising because when you burn bush, you hear voices

[00:25:35] too but that's a whole nother conversation.

[00:25:38] Prayer room afterwards.

[00:25:43] Moses hears a voice, it was the voice of God and God said, Moses I'm calling you to go

[00:25:49] and tell Pharaoh to let my people go.

[00:25:51] And Moses like many of us, his response to that call was insecurity.

[00:25:55] I am not good enough, I'm not worthy enough.

[00:25:57] I can't talk.

[00:25:58] I'm a terrible communicator.

[00:25:59] He gives God all the lists of reasons why he couldn't do what God was calling him to

[00:26:02] do.

[00:26:03] Moses, look I made your mouth.

[00:26:04] Like I can pull this off.

[00:26:06] I am that I am.

[00:26:07] Who should I say sent me?

[00:26:08] I am that I am.

[00:26:09] Who are you God?

[00:26:10] I am that I am.

[00:26:12] And it's one of the most mysterious names for God.

[00:26:15] I am means I am holy.

[00:26:17] I am other.

[00:26:18] No beginning.

[00:26:19] No end.

[00:26:20] You can't define me.

[00:26:21] You can't explain me.

[00:26:23] I'm inexplainable.

[00:26:24] I'm uncontrollable.

[00:26:25] I'm unpredictable.

[00:26:27] I'm undeniable.

[00:26:28] It's what the German philosopher Rudolf Otto.

[00:26:31] He called Numanus Ah.

[00:26:34] That's who I am Moses.

[00:26:36] And then he told Moses to do what?

[00:26:38] Take off your sandals because the place where you stand is holy ground.

[00:26:45] Why?

[00:26:46] Because the only appropriate response to a God like that is worship.

[00:26:53] Now track with me.

[00:26:54] This is what blew me away this last week.

[00:26:56] What happened when Jesus was brought into the boat?

[00:26:58] What happened when he calmed the storm?

[00:27:00] In Matthew's Gospel chapter 14 it tells the same story.

[00:27:03] And Matthew says, and when they climbed into the boat the wind died down.

[00:27:07] And those who were in the boat worshipped saying truly you are the son of God.

[00:27:18] This is what blew me away.

[00:27:21] At the beginning of John chapter 6 when Jesus multiplied the bread and the fish and all

[00:27:27] the people were fed.

[00:27:29] The response was what?

[00:27:31] Thank you.

[00:27:32] We're full.

[00:27:33] That was great.

[00:27:34] Yay, Jesus.

[00:27:35] We enjoyed that.

[00:27:37] But what you don't see in that story is the people worshipping.

[00:27:41] They were fed.

[00:27:42] They were happy.

[00:27:43] They were blessed.

[00:27:45] But they weren't worshipping.

[00:27:47] It wasn't until they went through a storm.

[00:27:50] It wasn't until they suffered.

[00:27:53] It wasn't until they grappled with phobey-oh.

[00:27:56] They were fear.

[00:27:58] It wasn't until their back was against the wall.

[00:28:01] It wasn't until they wondered are we going down that they learned what it meant to worship?

[00:28:08] Have you found this to be so?

[00:28:10] That the people who have the greatest depth, the people who are the most passionate

[00:28:15] worshippers, the people who love God are those who have gone through stuff.

[00:28:23] It's not necessarily those on the mountain who have it all.

[00:28:27] Blessing and favor and love and fishes and all kinds of money and all kinds of resources

[00:28:32] and they're constantly in this place of blessing.

[00:28:35] What I've discovered, and I'm sure you have as well, is that those who have the greatest

[00:28:39] depth in their love for God are those who have been through the pain and the trials of

[00:28:44] storms.

[00:28:45] The cancer survivor.

[00:28:46] Just talk to cancer survivor after 8 a.m.

[00:28:50] The single mom, the victim of injustice, racism, persecution, poverty.

[00:28:56] It seems to me that those are the people that have a story to tell and that when they worship

[00:29:01] you know it's real because they're not trying to get stuff from God.

[00:29:05] Give me more loves, give me more fishes.

[00:29:07] What I find with people like that, the Cory-Tem Booms of the world, many of you who are in

[00:29:11] that space too, that when they worship they're not trying to get stuff from God.

[00:29:14] They just want more of God.

[00:29:17] Being with Him is what their heart desires and could it be that that is the lesson that

[00:29:24] Jesus is teaching His disciples and us, bringing us to a place where it's less of a transactional

[00:29:30] give me, give me, give me.

[00:29:31] Jesus just check all my boxes, consumeristic, flat, boring, stale Christianity to a place

[00:29:38] of real depth and wonder and worship.

[00:29:41] Could it be that that is the reason for the storm?

[00:29:44] Those of you who are parents, you know what I'm talking about.

[00:29:47] When you first raise your kids, those first few years or whatever, it's very much a one-way

[00:29:52] thing.

[00:29:53] It's all about giving to your kid and providing for your kid.

[00:29:56] Here's a new jacket and here's a new toy and here's a new brother.

[00:30:01] Here's a new sister and you're always giving stuff to them, giving, giving, giving, giving.

[00:30:07] But hopefully as the relationship matures, you reach a point in that relationship where

[00:30:14] it's less transactional and one-sided and what you find with your child is, it's less

[00:30:19] about give me, give me, give me.

[00:30:20] They just want to be with you.

[00:30:22] They just want to hang out with you and as a parent, you're like this is awesome, right?

[00:30:26] Now that may not happen till they're 40.

[00:30:29] But hopefully there does come a place where it's just about living in love.

[00:30:35] It's just about being with that person.

[00:30:40] And I think that Jesus brings us through seasons of life where we start out on the mountain

[00:30:46] and he rescues you and he saves you and you're baptized and you follow after him or you see

[00:30:52] a miracle and there's loves and fishes and all the happy feels and everything is wonderful.

[00:30:58] But then he leads you into a time of trial and lack and unanswered prayers and doubts

[00:31:06] and wounds and disappointments.

[00:31:09] But it's in that place that your faith comes alive and it's that place that your love begins

[00:31:15] to mature because the view is great on the mountain but fruit grows in the valley.

[00:31:21] And what if God is leading us to that place where He's saying, I want you to learn what

[00:31:26] intimacy looks like, what relationship looks like, where you're content just to sit in my

[00:31:31] presence and be with me, not just try and get stuff from me.

[00:31:39] I think about when my daughter Amelia was two years old at that time we were living in

[00:31:44] Hawaii and went through this pretty traumatic health scare with her.

[00:31:49] And we're in the hospital and she's having all these tests and the diagnosis did not

[00:31:55] look good and Lisa and I were just really worried we didn't know what was going to happen.

[00:32:02] And our poor daughter she just went through, they're poking her constantly with these shots

[00:32:07] and they're hooking up to all these machines and I'll never forget walking into the hospital room

[00:32:13] and she'd been awake for like 48 hours straight and her poor eyes are just like glazed over

[00:32:18] and her hair sticking out. She's like two years old. She doesn't know what's going on.

[00:32:23] It was scary as frightening and she's exhausted and she just came out of two hours of this long,

[00:32:29] long test and I'll never forget walking into the room. And she looks up at me

[00:32:36] and all she did was she put out her hands like this and I knew what that meant

[00:32:42] and I walk up to her and I pick her up and I give her a hug and her arms with all these wires everywhere

[00:32:52] she wraps them around my neck and she didn't ask for anything. She didn't complain.

[00:33:02] All she said was and I'll never forget this as long as I live was daddy, I love you.

[00:33:12] I think there are times in our life where Jesus allows the stuff, the storm, the heartache,

[00:33:20] the fear, the uncertainty because he's wanting your heart once again to be filled with that

[00:33:29] childlike wonder. He's teaching you what it means to worship. He's showing you that faith isn't about

[00:33:39] certainty or simple bullet point answers. He's teaching you that that faith is about

[00:33:49] closeness, love, faith, hope, taking off your sandals when you don't know how you're going to

[00:34:00] step into that next season and you choose to worship anyway. Coming to a place like Cory Tim Boom

[00:34:07] who said, you're all that I have and you're all that I need. What if that is the reason why God

[00:34:16] is allowing you to be in the storm that you're in today?

[00:34:25] We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Pursuing Faith Podcast. If this ministry has encouraged

[00:34:31] you in some way, would you consider leaving your review on iTunes or your favorite podcasting platform

[00:34:38] that would help a ton in getting the word out? Also if you want to partner with us or see what we're

[00:34:44] up to, check out our website PursuingFaith.org.