This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

I want to welcome you to day three of our look through Matthew chapter 8. Today
we're going to look together at how to handle some of our anxieties as we face
the storms, the difficulties of life. We're going to see it from an example of
Jesus and his disciples as they faced a storm out on the Sea of Galilee.

Let me read for you what happened in verses 23 down through verse 27. Then he,
Jesus, got into the boat and his disciples followed him. Without warning, a
furious storm came upon the lake and so the waves swept over the boat.

But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him saying, "Lord, save us,
we're going to drown. " He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?

" Then he got up and he rebuked the winds and the waves and it was completely
calm. The men were amazed and asked, "What kind of man is this? " Even the wind
and the waves obey him.

This story, this brief story is a tremendous lesson about worry and anxiety in
our lives. How you and I can face worry, how you and I can defeat anxiety. Just
hearing somebody say, "Don't worry, don't be anxious," is not enough.

We need something that works better than our worries. We see in this story
exactly what works better. Why we worry, what we face, what works better.

This is Jesus and his disciples in this boat on the Sea of Galilee. And it's a
clear picture of two things that you and I have to do, often on a daily basis to
deal with worry. First we have to face reality, the things that cause us to
worry.

And then we have to have faith. Face reality and have faith. You can't defeat
worry by pretending that the worries aren't there by lying about reality.

No, you have to face reality. But you can't just face reality. You also have to
have faith, which is a greater reality because it's going to last longer.

We're going to talk about the first today and the second tomorrow of these two
things. First thing you've got to do is face reality. There's this little boat
on this large lake, the Sea of Galilee, with this big storm and Jesus is asleep.

What a picture of why we get caught up in worry. There's four things in facing
reality that we see, even in just verse 23 and 24, what happens in the lives of
the disciples. Number one thing you see in reality is the storm.

And you might write down for that "unexpected problems," that's what we're
talking about. They were facing an unexpected problem. Storms on the Sea of
Galilee, they were unexpected and they are fierce still many, many times.

The Sea of Galilee is in a natural wind funnel and so the calm lake can suddenly
turn into a turbulent, a destructive force. And our lives are like that. The
storms, they come suddenly.

And we don't know what direction they're going to hit us from. What's the next
disaster? Who's the next to be hit?

In January of 1986, it's the only time I visited Israel and I was out on this
Sea of Galilee and one of the pastors that was with us preached a sermon on this
passage, on the storms that can hit us in our lives. I had no idea while I was
sitting there that day that before I left Israel I was going to get a call from
the United States telling me that my mom was going to face cancer surgery. I had
to face it before I even got back from Israel.

I had no idea that just a little over a month later there would be a flood in
our area that would destroy our home and many of our neighbors' homes and the
church that I was pastoring would have to be rebuilt. I had no idea of what I
was facing. Later that year my grandmother would die and go to be with the Lord
in heaven.

I knew none of that while I was hearing this sermon. I was thinking there's not
many storms in my life right now. They can come so unexpectedly.

And I know some of you who are worriers, you're feeling more worried right now.
But you cannot lessen your worry by hoping for no unexpected problems in your
life. You have to let go of worry by first facing a reality.

We all have unexpected problems in life. So don't pretend about that. We need
God in the midst of that.

We need him in the midst of our storms. So you have the storm, you have
unexpected problems. Second thing you have here is the waves which were coming
over the side of the boat.

And I would call those overwhelming circumstances. We worry not just about what
could be, what could possibly be, but about what already is. These disciples go
through this picture of what we face.

They see the storm on the horizon and then they start to see the waves in their
boat. Many of these men were fishermen. They had spent much of their lives on
this lake.

They are not timid tourists. We're not talking about paranoia here. They were
about ready to sink.

They were having a realistic look at life. And the truth is for many of us as
you look at your life, there are waves in your boat. And you feel like, "I'm
about ready to sink.

" You just look at what's going on in our world. Just look at the newspaper.
Just watch the nightly news.

There are plenty of things that you'll find that we can worry about in this
world. Look at your own life. It can be overwhelming if that's all that you look
at.

There are waves in our boat, so we're worried. There are storms on the sea, so
we're worried. And then the third thing you see in this is the boat itself.

And that's a picture of inadequate resources. If they'd been on a cruise ship
and this storm came up, and cruise ships do go on the Sea of Galilee now, not
then obviously, if they'd been on one of those cruise ships, they would have had
no worries at all. But they're in a little fishing boat.

That's why they were worried. When it looks like the resources aren't there to
meet the need that's in front of you, of course you worry. Our finances are
falling short.

My strength is failing me. And so the worry machine, it really starts to churn.
And then comes the fourth thing.

And this is the one that really gets us as we try to follow Jesus. Jesus was
sleeping through all of this. This is the feeling I'm all alone.

They look back, the storm, think of how tired Jesus must have been that through
this storm he is sleeping. He is sleeping all through the storm. He just
ministered to thousands of people.

He's about to meet many, many more. So he sleeps while traveling from one side
of Galilee to the other. And can you imagine their eyes on him?

The worse the storm got, the more they would say, we've got to wake him up.
We've got to wake him up. You wake him up.

I'm not waking him up. The last time I woke him up, he told me to go walk on
water. I'm not going to do it.

We've all felt what they must have been feeling here. Maybe you're feeling it
right now. The worst life gets, the more you wonder, is God asleep?

Where is God in all this? What do I have to do to wake him up to this? You know
that God must know what you're going through.

But the problems are still there. And so you start to worry. Not just about the
problems, but about God's presence in the problems.

It looks like Jesus is asleep in the stern of the boat. And so your constant cry
can become, why don't you do something, God? Don't you care?

Worry grows out of the suspicion that no one cares about you. No one knows what
you're going through. Now the longer you've been in church, the harder it is to
admit this.

But there are times for all of us when we wonder, why doesn't God do something?
The waves are getting higher and higher. Nothing is changing.

And it's like we want to shake him awake. Now tomorrow we're going to look at
what happens when Jesus does awaken. But for today, I want to spend just a
moment in prayer on this side of worry, where you're wondering what's happening.

You don't feel like you have all the answers. I want to spend a moment giving
the reality of your feelings to the Lord. I believe that one of the keys to
dealing with worry, without a doubt, is prayer.

But it's prayer about yourself and about the worry, telling God how you're
feeling, what you're going through, and also what you're hoping, what you're
asking him to do. So today, as we pray about our anxiety, our worries, I want to
invite you with me to talk to God about how you are feeling, what you're going
through. In just a moment of prayer, say to God, God, you see me, you know how
I'm feeling right now, and I want to come to you with these feelings.

Lord, I'm feeling overwhelmed by the waves right now. Lord, you see what's in my
heart when I'm going through. I don't feel like I have the resources to deal
with this.

The strength, the finances, whatever the resources, Lord, I don't see where the
resources are going to come from to meet this need. And God, if I'm really
honest, I'd have to say to you, I'm not sure when or how you're going to show up
on this one. We've talked about this before, and the money hasn't come through,
the strength hasn't come through, the change hasn't happened, the healing hasn't
occurred.

God, I'm not sure. Lord, I want to come to you with these feelings and say that
I trust you even with these. You're a trustworthy God, and you want me to share
with you what's on my heart.

And I share this with you not to express doubt. Maybe there is a bit of doubt,
but that's not why I'm coming. I share this with you to express love.

Lord, I know that you love me, and I know that you understand me, and I pray
that you'd help me to sense and to feel your presence even in this, even what
I'm facing right now. To know that even if I don't know all the answers you do,
and I come to you as the one who is the answerer, and I trust you. I trust you
with me, I trust you with this struggle, and I ask you to be working in my life
even through this.

I ask it in Jesus' name, amen.