How to sleep in the storm
This is the first of the series “How we can enjoy the rest of God”.
Mathew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
As we read this Scripture passage, we see Jesus inviting everyone with both his hands out with a big offer. He is calling out to all those who are yearning and those who carry burdens and promises to give them rest. Living in a restless world, rest is never given for free. There is no one in history who has been able to give people actual peace and rest. There might be drugs or other things that can give temporary relief for sleeplessness or unrest. There is always something that you must do to attain the rest in your life but we see Jesus giving it out for free.
Mark 4:35-41
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
In our personal life, how can we sleep like this amidst turbulent storms of sickness, financial difficulties etc ?
In this scripture portion, we see that the furious squall hit the boats even though Jesus was travelling in one of them. It was not God who brought the storm. In the Old Testament, there is one instance where God did send a storm to the ship in which Jonah was travelling to bring him to obedience. But it is Satan who is behind the storms of life, not God. Satan wanted to destroy Jesus and his disciples. Jesus rebuked him. It is Satan who brings sickness and other things to destroy people.
A very common misconception that we all have is that we face issues and difficulties in life because Jesus is not there due to our disobedience, or due to his anger toward us. We have to keep in mind that Jesus forgave us for everything and hung all the anger on the cross. God will never do anything out of anger to us. The difficulties we face are not the works of God but that of Satan.
In the Scripture portion, we read how Jesus was calmly sleeping through the storm. Even when the boat was at the verge of sinking, Jesus remained calm through it all. Just before the journey, Jesus had meetings and was healing the sick so he was taking his rest because he was just as we are now, he was in the human form.
John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
It was Jesus’ human body that slept, his spirit was awake. The protector of Israel never slumbers nor sleeps ( Psalm 121.4)
Reasons why Jesus was asleep:
If you know that you have authority, you can sleep.
Luke 10:19-20
19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
If you know and remember these 4 things, you will be able to sleep through the storm as well!
Mathew 11:28-30
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
As we read this Scripture passage, we see Jesus inviting everyone with both his hands out with a big offer. He is calling out to all those who are yearning and those who carry burdens and promises to give them rest. Living in a restless world, rest is never given for free. There is no one in history who has been able to give people actual peace and rest. There might be drugs or other things that can give temporary relief for sleeplessness or unrest. There is always something that you must do to attain the rest in your life but we see Jesus giving it out for free.
Mark 4:35-41
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
In our personal life, how can we sleep like this amidst turbulent storms of sickness, financial difficulties etc ?
In this scripture portion, we see that the furious squall hit the boats even though Jesus was travelling in one of them. It was not God who brought the storm. In the Old Testament, there is one instance where God did send a storm to the ship in which Jonah was travelling to bring him to obedience. But it is Satan who is behind the storms of life, not God. Satan wanted to destroy Jesus and his disciples. Jesus rebuked him. It is Satan who brings sickness and other things to destroy people.
A very common misconception that we all have is that we face issues and difficulties in life because Jesus is not there due to our disobedience, or due to his anger toward us. We have to keep in mind that Jesus forgave us for everything and hung all the anger on the cross. God will never do anything out of anger to us. The difficulties we face are not the works of God but that of Satan.
In the Scripture portion, we read how Jesus was calmly sleeping through the storm. Even when the boat was at the verge of sinking, Jesus remained calm through it all. Just before the journey, Jesus had meetings and was healing the sick so he was taking his rest because he was just as we are now, he was in the human form.
John 4:24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
It was Jesus’ human body that slept, his spirit was awake. The protector of Israel never slumbers nor sleeps ( Psalm 121.4)
Reasons why Jesus was asleep:
- It wasn’t God who was asleep but instead it was the physical body of Jesus that was asleep.
- He had no fear. Fear takes away our sleep.
- He had and he is the solution to every human problem. Christ is the Crisis Manager.
- Jesus, the Son is the creator and he knew that the creation would obey him. He rebuked the storm and it obeyed.
If you know that you have authority, you can sleep.
Luke 10:19-20
19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
If you know and remember these 4 things, you will be able to sleep through the storm as well!
About the Author
Dr. Damien Antony
Born and brought up in a Christian family, Dr. Damien Antony possessed an unquenching quest for truth right from his boyhood days and eventually his relentless search led him to the Bible. He is a Revival Preacher, Bible Teacher, Leadership Trainer, Author and a Life Coach. He moves under the anointing for Prophetic, Healing, Deliverance, Inner Healing and Financial Breakthrough. God has also blessed him with an Apostolic Mandate to take the Universal Body of Christ to the next level of revelation and anointing.
Born and brought up in a Christian family, Dr. Damien Antony possessed an unquenching quest for truth right from his boyhood days and eventually his relentless search led him to the Bible. He is a Revival Preacher, Bible Teacher, Leadership Trainer, Author and a Life Coach. He moves under the anointing for Prophetic, Healing, Deliverance, Inner Healing and Financial Breakthrough. God has also blessed him with an Apostolic Mandate to take the Universal Body of Christ to the next level of revelation and anointing.
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