Mark 4:35‭-‬41 NLT
As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!”


No one wants to go through storms.
  No one wants to have their boat ROCKED! 
No one wants to go through any of the things that involve your boat being rocked.
 There are times that I would ask GOD: Please God! Please don’t let my boat get rocked! Everything is good, everything is fine, everything seems to be going smoothly. Smooth sailing!


But let’s be real!
 Our boat is going to get rocked just like it did for the disciples.
 Reading the passage. 
They thought they were as good as dead. They were scared. They panicked. They questioned.

I want to tell you that just because we call ourselves Christians, just because we come to church once or twice a week, or just because we give that offering or tithe doesn’t mean we are exempt from experiencing things that will rock our boat.
Because to be honest sometimes I would think…” Ok I am doing everything I’m supposed to, so I should be good nothing is going to happen. I’m good and then BOOM! My boat is rocked!

John 16:33 – I have told you all this so that you may have peace in ME. Here on earth, you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart because I have overcome the world.

 He tells us in his word – We WILL have TRIALs but to have PEACE in HIM because HE overcame the world.

We have to stand up!!

As I write this part, it definitely hit me first because I realized that these storms that ROCK our boat are the ones that bless our lives the most.
I know right now you’re thinking… WHAT?
How is this storm helping me because all I know right now is that my boat is rocking so uncontrollably and all I want to do is get off this boat.
We begin to as God like the disciples did:
God, can’t you see that my boat is getting rocked?
God, can’t you see that everything coming at me in the boat is going to bring me down?
God, don’t you care?
God, where are you?

But I want to tell you just as God told me as I sat putting this together as HE gave it to me.
He said, “Without me in your boat, where would you be?”
I about cried because I knew, I know that had God not been in the boat with me, through any of the storms I have been through or am going through, I don’t know where I would be right now to be honest. One thing is for sure I wouldn’t be here sharing a devotional.

We learn to have more faith and trust in THE GOD that can calm the storm we are in just as he did for the disciples.

 1 Peter 1:6-7 – 6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold – though your faith is far mor3e precious than mere gold. SO, when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

Getting through the trials and storms and experiencing our boat getting rocked isn’t easy but we keep faith and trust God is with us the whole time.

It wasn’t the disciples’ first time out in the water in their boat. It wasn’t their first time experiencing a storm like this because during those times they knew what to do. We have all been through things. We may be going through things now. We have watched God move. We’ve watched God calm the storms too but:

Why were the disciples scared if they knew Jesus was in the boat with them?
Why do we get scared when we know Jesus is in the boat with us too?
Why did they panic when Jesus is the one that told them to cross?
Why do we get scared and panic when GOD is the one that tells us to go this way or that way, or even turn around?
Maybe they expected like I said at the beginning they were with Jesus doing everything they were supposed to do so nothing would happen. It ‘s all smooth sailing.
I began thinking… “Well, I do that. My boat starts rocking and I panic, I doubt, I get scared, and all this knowing that I already prayed, and God said, “Yes go this way. And I do know that HE would never send me any where to harm me. “

But when we are in the storm and we feel our boat is getting rocked, we feel everything coming in our boat as the disciples did when they saw their boat filling up with water and it was about to make them sink and drown. We do the same, we feel everything coming in is going to bring our boat down and we are going to drown, and we feel all this knowing Jesus is in the boat with us and we still panic.
We start running around doing things in our own strength, in our own thoughts, in our own ideas thinking we know better or that we can do better than God because all we want to do is just get off this rocking boat.

We can’t control any storm, but God can! And he will but we have to let him.
Will we stop moving in our own will and move in his?
Can we truly trust the God that has never left us?
Can we focus on the God that has gotten us through some of the most difficult storms and even picked us up when we felt our boat was rocked to such an extreme that we could see nothing good coming out of it We’ve all seen God do big and mighty things for us and others and He wants to tell you there is more coming. There is more to see and experience even if your boat gets rocked.

Give it all to God! I say all because, I have the habit of saying, “well God take this but not that, take that but not this, ok yes God take that. Take it! I challenge you tonight to give it all to God and watch him calm the storm and watch your boat stop rocking.

We shouldn’t need for our pastors or anyone to remind us over and over that is doesn’t matter what the storm outside our boat looks like, because we already know that God is with us in the boat. I know God is with me! I know God gots me! I know God gots you!

Know who it is that is riding with you and calming that storm.

I END encouraging you to never forget who you are and even in the moments when you feel your boat is getting rocked uncontrollably and definitely never forget who rides with you in your boat.