Job 38:1-11; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

You never know how good something is unless it’s been tested. From products to services, to relationships, the place where these are forged is in testing. Products have to undergo rigorous testing before they’ll ever be sold so that companies can back up their claims of how good a product it is. Services are only ever considered good if they hold up under pressure. So too our relationships, we only consider others our best friends if they have proven themselves loyal and worthy during a moment of testing.

Why then do we consider faith to be any different? We act like faith should never be tested and when it is that somehow faith has proven unreliable. Life’s struggles are sure to come to the Christian and non-Christian alike. There’s also no telling when struggles and turmoil will come upon us. While we never know why certain struggles come upon us, we also know that every struggle we face is also a testing of our faith.

Consider the disciples in our Gospel reading this week. Jesus just finished teaching the crowds and ushers the disciples into a boat to cross over the sea. While out in the middle of the sea, a “great windstorm” arises and comes upon them quickly. The disciples became afraid of the storm as the wind and waves battered the boat so that it was beginning to fill with water. Yet, during this storm, Jesus remains asleep. So, the disciples go to wake him and say, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Mark 4:38. 

Great faith never comes without great testing. This doesn’t mean we’ll ace every test. Far from it! So often, like the disciples in the boat, we shrivel in fear staring at the storms that are upon us. In the midst of storms, we tend to forget completely about our faith! We often panic thinking that every great storm we face will be our end. 

But great storms are important for one more reason. It’s not just a testing, but a revealing. Without the great storms of life, we would never see the greater deliverance brought by Jesus, our Savior! Consider the drastic change that comes for the disciples when Jesus speaks to the wind and waves… and they obey him! “And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm,” Mark 4:39. It’s in the midst of our storms that Jesus reminds us, he’s in the boat too. He’s there with us through it all so that we may have a great calm. For when we encounter life’s challenges, we look to Jesus who will show us his greater deliverance in the cross. By Jesus’ death upon the cross, we come to see how great a Lord we have. We have Jesus who shall deliver us through every storm, through death, and grant to us the greatest calm and peace in the resurrection to eternal life!

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

Almighty God, in Your mercy guide the course of this world so that Your Church may joyfully serve You in godly peace and quietness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!