When a pet dies, part of the pet lover dies with it. Full disclosure, I am not a pet lover. I do not mind – most times – having the multitude of dogs and cats around my house, but I could live my life without them and not feel any loss or sense of need for a pet. That is not true of everyone. My good friend, Mr. T—– recently lost a beloved pet and friend and helper to his wife. The dog’s name was Ducky. Mr. T’s wife has several physical issues and therefore required a service animal. For several years, she was able to enjoy the use of and companionship from Ducky. The attachment grew, along with the love for the animal. Unfortunately, recently Ducky died. That was/is tough for the family. Mourning of some form took place and some heartache too, I am sure.

Now, as the ever present critic/smart-aleck/pet agnostic, I could pull them aside and point out to them that this was “just” an animal not a human being and these folk, being relatively sane 🙂 and sensible could acknowledge that point of order. I could also point out that Ducky did not have a soul like a human and therefore, “[Ecc 3:21 KJV] Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?” (Don’t you love those yahoos who do what I just said I could do? “Tut tut, Mrs. T, it was just a doooooogggggg. We knoooooow it went down into the dirt…now get over it.” Please know that I would never do what I am suggesting could be done.) I am sure that this couple, knowing the Lord as I think they do could acknowledge that truth as well. But all of that would not make the loss of the companion/helper any easier. It would help if we can get a new service dog (Pray for that, BTW) and I am sure, over time, the feelings of loss will fade.

Here is my point in this illustration: Showing up the next day with a new dog would not fully solve the loss of the last dog, no matter who nice the animal was or how well it did its job because the problem is not just outward but more deeply, inward.

In the oft cited and many times preached passage of Mark 4:35-41, we find Christ asleep in the boat with his disciples. A storm arises, the disciples fear, wake him and he calms the sea. The disciples retort with the following, “Mar 4:41 KJV …What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” Calming the wind and the sea was not Christ’s big problem.

***Spoiler alert: everything else in the world, EXCEPT man, obeys God IMMEDIATELY.

Christ’s larger problem was not the storm on the outside, it was the storm on the inside of the disciples. It was a problem because he was dealing with the human will. It was a problem because of their lack of faith and their giving in to fear (v40). It was a problem because they did not fully understand up to this point as to what type of man he really was.

I’d have you notice that nothing moved Christ from slumber other than the cry of his children. V37 tells us that the boat was so overcome by the storm that “it was now full” of water. It would seem that could wake Christ, but it did not. The racket from the storm sweeping down off of the hills surrounding the Sea of Galilee and lashing that little boat also did not awaken him. A simple cry from his disciples stirred him. That should teach us that a solution to the inner tempest is found first in prayer. It not found first in the counselor or pastor or friend or loved one. It is found in calling out to God who both hears and answers prayer. But this brings up yet another issue. When we have a problem, our prayers can be focused on the storm we are in physically rather than the storm we are in spiritually. “Lord, keep the boat afloat” or “Lord stop the wind” or “Lord give strength to the men who are working to keep us above sea level” can be our prayers. Those are natural. They are the first things that come to mind. We pray for sick family members, a new service animal, a terrible financial situation, a country in crisis because they are the things that we can see and they trouble us. I say all this not to say that we should not pray for the things going on outside our epidermises. I say this because this is our knee-jerk natural reaction.
I am sure none of the disciples (nor we, for that matter) thought in the boat… “Hmmm, what is God trying to teach me in this trial?” Their thought was saving life and limb and they called out to God for that and he answered them anon. Christ’s concern was not the storm, that was easy. His concern was with their souls and their faith.

Imagine us calling to God for a loved one who is sick and in peril of death. God heals him or her and he responds to us, “how is it that ye have no faith?” My point in this is that the larger challenges we face are very minor to God compared with what he wants to teach us in our inward man.

[2Co 4:16 KJV] 16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day.

We should draw a few things from this passage, of which there are many things.

First, Lord, increase our faith. It is a learned thing to be able, ankle deep in water, in the middle of the storm, to see what God is trying to do to and for you in the inward man. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

[Rom 5:3-5 KJV] 3 …tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Faith relies upon the character of God, trusting that he will do right. To have faith when all the outward seems to be a tornado in a trailer park is a LEARNED position. Lester Rolloff famously quipped, “When you are in the valley, farm it.” By Acts 4, the disciples had learned this lesson and Peter admonished us at the end of his own life to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. It tells me that I have far to go to internalize and meditate on what reversals and trials and fires mean to me. Have faith in God and work to see what he is doing for you while the storm rages. Praying, “what wilt thou have me to do” when confronted by a storm is not a bad prayer. “Thy will be done” before the cross should be the words on our lips.

Second, when Christ is in the vessel and he means to go to the other side, NOTHING is sinking that boat. Bring on Euroclydon, send an iceberg the size of Rhode Island or even GLOBAL WARMING, nothing is sending Christ to the bottom, Nothing! If he wants you alive, you will live! No outward storm can stop his plan. His will is a trillion ton boulder rolling down a 10% grade hill. It may roll slowly, but nothing will stop it. Oh no, so and so is not in charge of whatever! Oh no, Pastor so and so just died; that will be a huge problem for that church. God’s will conquers all.

Third, Christ helps us even when we don’t understand what he is doing. He helps when we don’t comprehend what we are doing. He responded to his disciples immediately upon request, even though he knew they were going to the other side and that they would not get the spiritual teaching he was trying to give them. I love that he continued to aid his children even as they continually failed. As out of it as they were and as swept up in the events around them as they showed, Christ still helped them. Does he not do the same for us? If you would do yourself a favor, go to Jonah 4 and read the chapter. Count how many times God returns to Jonah to deal with him, even when Jonah childishly scolds God for smiting a gourd which he did not plant. God continued to work with Jonah even tho Jonah continued to fail God. That is how he deals with us until “Eph 4:14 … we [henceforth] be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about….” See Peter on the lake side with Christ and Christ asking him three times if he loved him and three times admonishing him. He went and got Peter when he went “afishing” contrary to what Christ had told him. He did it because he loved him and because he is good.
I am sure the few that read this can testify how many times God has come back to them at all seasons. Thank God that a failure does not cancel his lovingkindness to usward. He is the same yesterday and today and forever.

I guess we could say, God’s behavior toward us is “just Ducky.”

If you do not know Christ, your storms are greater than you can imagine. He wants you to be saved. Please read the following:
https://tbcmilton.org/are-you-saved/

JPA
2 Cor 4:5-7