1he SecreL Lo Sleeplng Lhrough SLorms WlLhouL lalLh lear WlLhln lalLh lorLlLude

And Lhere arose a greaL sLorm of wlnd and Lhe waves beaL lnLo Lhe shlp so LhaL lL was now full And
he sald unLo Lhem Why are ye so fearful? how ls lL LhaL ye have no falLh?" Mark 437 40

1he wellknown accounL of !esus calmlng a sLorm on 1he Sea of Calllee provldes greaL lnslghL for
exerclslng falLh ln dlfflculL slLuaLlons We would llke Lo examlne one of Lhese lessons lalLh prevalls over
loglc/reason
ln Lhe passage (Mark 43341) a powerful sLorm comes upon !esus and Pls dlsclples as Lhey sall across
1he Sea of Calllee LvenLually Lhe fearsome wlnd and waves generaLed by Lhe sLorm overwhelm Lhe
dlsclples who had desperaLely been Lrylng Lo ball waLer from Lhe boaL and Lhe boaL ls now on Lhe verge
of slnklng 1he desperaLe dlsclples awake !esus who asLonlshlngly had been sleeplng Lhrough Lhe
whole evenL !esus awakes sLops Lhe sLorm and Lhen by asklng Lwo lnLrlgulng quesLlons uses Lhe
slLuaLlon Lo Leach Lhem and us abouL falLh

h3lWhy are ye so fearful?"/l/h3
1he answer Lo !esus' flrsL quesLlon lWhy are ye so fearful?"/l seems palnfully obvlous 1he
dlsclples had been baLLllng a dreadful sLorm 1hey could feel Lhe power of Lhe wlnds as Lhey sLralned
agalnsL lLs force 1hey could feel Lhe boaL lurchlng lurldly as wave afLer wave pounded lLs hull 1hey had
been drenched by Lhe waLer pourlng lnLo Lhe boaL and afLer a prolonged buL ulLlmaLely fuLlle flghL Lo
keep Lhe waLer ouL Lhe boaL was now full and slnklng 8y a loglcal evaluaLlon of Lhe sensory lnpuLs
avallable Lhey were on Lhe brlnk of deaLh 1hls was Lhe reason Lhey were fearful! lndeed who
wouldn'L be fearful ln such condlLlon?!?!
8uL LhaL was [usL Lhe polnL !esus wanLed Lhem and us Lo see 1he reason for Lhelr fear was LhaL Lhelr
assessmenL of Lhelr slLuaLlon was based on loglc noL falLh and LhaL was Lhe problem! When we face
dlfflculL clrcumsLances such as Lhe loss of a [ob (or [obs) or Lhe deaLh of a chlld or a Lermlnal dlsease
raLlonal/loglcal assessmenL can only produce fear because all we have ls physlcal lnformaLlon and
human loglc
1herefore !esus ls Lelllng us LhaL Lhe way ouL of fear ls Lo sLop relylng on our llmlLed senses and llmlLed
Lhlnklng 1here ls more Lo Lhe sLorm Lhan we can see or undersLand 1he essence of Lhls prlnclple ls
capLured ln Lhe followlng verse

Mans golngs are of Lhe LC8u how can a man Lhen undersLand hls own way?" roverbs 2024

Many Lhlngs happen ln our llves LhaL we wlll never be able Lo explaln or undersLand because Cod ls
orchesLraLlng Lhe evenLs of our llves behlnd Lhe scenes" (eg !ob 12) Moreover we cannoL deLecL
Cod physlcally (Lhrough our senses) and we cannoL comprehend Pls plans

8uL Lhe hour comeLh and now ls when Lhe Lrue worshlppers shall worshlp Lhe laLher ln splrlL and ln LruLh for Lhe laLher
seekeLh such Lo worshlp hlm Cod ls a SplrlL and Lhey LhaL worshlp hlm musL worshlp hlm ln splrlL and ln LruLh" !ohn 42324

lor my LhoughLs are noL your LhoughLs nelLher are your ways my ways salLh Lhe LC8u lor as Lhe heavens are hlgher Lhan
Lhe earLh so are my ways hlgher Lhan your ways and my LhoughLs Lhan your LhoughLs" lsalah 3389

1herefore slnce we cannoL rely on our percepLlon or our reasonlng we musL Lurn Lo someLhlng else LhaL
ls more rellable lf we are golng Lo be able Lo remaln calm ln Lhe mldsL of Lurmoll le Lo flnd resL durlng
Lhe sLorms of llfe

h3lPow ls lL LhaL ye have no falLh?"/l/h3
ln !esus' second quesLlon Pe polnLs us Lo Lhe key Lo remalnlng Lranqull ln a LempesL and LhaL key ls
lalLh 1he dlsclples had exerclsed Lhelr senses Lhey knew Lhe slLuaLlon Lhey were ln and Lhey had
exerclsed Lhelr reasonlng and deduced LhaL Lhey were ln lmmlnenL danger b8u1/b Lhey had yeL
Lo exerclse Lhelr falLh
1o be clear !esus wasn'L Lelllng Lhem Lo dlsregard Lhe sensory lnformaLlon nor was Pe Lelllng Lhem noL
Lo use Lhelr bralns lndeed lL ls Pe who gave Lhem boLh Lhe ablllLy Lo gaLher lnformaLlon and Lo use lL
raLlonally lalLh does noL obvlaLe reason buL as !esus demonsLraLed lalLh Lranscends reason
8eason ls bounded by human ablllLy we can only reason Lo Lhe llmlL of our bralnpower 8uL lalLh
reaches far beyond human frallLy because lalLh ls of Cod

Lhlnk soberly accordlng as bCod haLh dealL Lo every man Lhe measure of falLh/b" 8omans 123b
8uL Lhe frulL of Lhe SplrlL ls falLh" CalaLlans 322
lor by grace are ye saved Lhrough bfalLh/b and LhaL noL of yourselves blL/b uls Lhe glfL of Cod/u" Lpheslans 28
Looklng unLo b!esus Lhe auLhor and flnlsher of our falLh/b" Pebrews 122

8uL how does lalLh work ln a sLorm? 1o undersLand Lhls lL ls useful Lo noLe LhaL aL Lhls polnL of !esus'
mlnlsLry lL ls llkely LhaL Lhe dlsclples dld noL know yeL whaL Lhelr mlnlsLry would be or even LhaL !esus
would ulLlmaLely dle on Lhe cross (Mark 82734) 1herefore lL would noL have been clear Lo Lhem LhaL
Cod had any plans for Lhem LhaL Lhey should look Lo beyond LhaL polnL Pence when !esus polnLed Lo
Lhelr need Lo exerclse lalLh Pe wasn'L Lelllng Lhem Lo hold on Lo some fuLure prophecy Lhey should
have remembered 8aLher !esus was Lelllng Lhem Lo look Lo Cod
1hey had used Lhelr knowledge of Lhelr presenL clrcumsLances Lo deduce correcLly LhaL Lhey were ln
danger buL wlLhouL falLh LhaL [usL lead Lo fear !esus was challenglng Lhem and us Lo Lake whaL Lhey
knew abouL Cod and by exerclslng Lhelr falLh ln Plm come Lo accepL Pls perfecL plan ln every
clrcumsLance and flnd resL ln Lhe raglng sLorm
Whlle experlenclng Lhe power of Lhe wlnd Lhey should recall Lhelr experlences of Lhe power of Cod
Whlle belng Lossed abouL by Lhe waves Lhey should remember Lhe guldlng hand of Cod over Lhelr llves
As Lhe dark gloom of Lhe sLorm enveloped Lhem Lhey should recollecL LhaL Lhe love of Cod enfolds
Lhem

Cod ls our refuge and sLrengLh a very presenL help ln Lrouble
1herefore wlll noL we fear Lhough Lhe earLh be removed and Lhough Lhe mounLalns be carrled lnLo Lhe mldsL of Lhe sea
1hough Lhe waLers Lhereof roar and be Lroubled Lhough Lhe mounLalns shake wlLh Lhe swelllng Lhereof Selah
8e sLlll and know LhaL l am Cod" salm 4613 10a

1hey had no guaranLee LhaL Lhey would survlve Lhe sLorm 8u1 Lhey could be absoluLely sure LhaL Cod
conLrolled Lhe sLorm and conLrolled Lhelr llves 1hey could be absoluLely sure LhaL as flerce as Lhe sLorm
raged Cod's love for Lhem raged even more flercely 1haL sLorm could never blow Lhem ouL of Cod's
mlghLy hand WheLher Lhey llved or dled Cod's wlll remalns perfecL and ln LhaL Lhey could flnd peace
lnsLead of fear