Faith in the Middle of the Storm Killen 9/20/2026 Matthew 8:23-27
23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
❓ What powerful lessons of faith have you learned by going through storms❓
💥 We get ourselves into great spiritual trouble when believe that the Christian life is about doing away with all the things that cause us anxiety and fear.
⭐ When have we ever had a day without the things that cause us anxieties and worries?
➤ Jesus had temptations and trials. (Matthew 4)
➤ All the disciples and believers lived in a world that was full of anxieties and trials.
➤ John 16:33) I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
- Have peace! Not necessarily a world without tribulations.
⭐ From this lesson we see:
1. All in the same boat
2. The same wind, rain and storm
3. The same waves
4. The same threats to all
💥 But two totally different responses:
1. For the disciples to have peace, they had to do away with the winds, rain and storms.
2. Jesus didn’t. He was asleep like a baby.
💥 All in the same boat > The same wind, rain and storm > The same waves > The same threats to all.
- But two totally different responses.
⭐ What we learn:
A. Even when following Jesus, we will go through challenging times v23) 23 Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.
B. We can still be afraid, even if Jesus is with us.v26)26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?
C. Even the strongest of believers can become discombobulated by circumstances and trials. v25) 25 Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
- Faith doesn’t mean that there will be no storms!
D. We can believe things that are not true! vMark 4:38)|Don’t you care? 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?”
E. We can be controlled by circumstances rather than faith. v24) 24 And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.
⭐ What does this teach?
I. Faith teaches us how to manage our trials.v26) 26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith? 👉 ****) “Faith teaches us how to face our trials without allowing our trials to control us.”
- He didn’t rebuke them because they couldn’t silence the storm; He admonished them for letting the storms control their faith.
- Faith does not mean there will be no storms! Jesus did not promise the disciples a storm-free journey. In fact, He was with them when the storm came. Following Christ does not remove every difficulty from our life.
- Faith means trusting Christ while the storm is still raging.
💥 We have to be careful even with this story. We will miss it! Too often we focus on what Jesus did to show His disciples His authority over the storms, but we believe that’s what we are supposed to do. Destroy the storms!
- The lesson here was not to use our faith to destroy the storms but to use our faith to:
- Give us peace 2. Manage our fears and anxieties in the storms.
II. We need to learn to use our faith. v26) 26 But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” 👉 ****)“The purpose of faith is not simply to believe when life is easy, but to trust when life is difficult.”
➤ Again, Jesus didn’t say they did not have any faith; in essence, He said they were using very little of it!
➤ The sign that we are listening to the wrong voices - being led by the wrong spirit - believing the wrong things is: FEAR.
- Romans 10:17) So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
💥 Little faith can be boiled down to: Us listening very little to what we hear God’s Word telling us!
- There is no way around it. If you want a bigger and more powerful faith, you must know what God says in His Word.
- Read the Word. The Holy Spirit will empower it to make us stronger.
- Be doers of the Word and not hearers only. vJames 1:22)
Are we trusting the storm to determine our future, or are we trusting the One who is in the boat with us?
III. Learn from the storm! v27) 27 So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
➤ Psalms 23:4) Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me
- Sometimes Jesus calms the storm, and sometimes He calms us.
- Jesus' silence is sometimes an invitation to join Him.
- He doesn’t see or react to things as we do. His silence is sometimes because He doesn’t see or think the way we do! (Josey Wales by the river)
- This is an important lesson. Jesus did calm the storm, but the deeper lesson was what the disciples learned about their faith and Jesus.
- There will be times when God changes our circumstances, and there will be times when He gives us grace to endure circumstances we cannot immediately change.
1. Storms teach us that we can trust God rather than our circumstances.
When everything is going well, it is easy to feel secure because circumstances are favorable.
> Storms reveal whether our trust is based on our circumstances or on God. Faith learns to say, “I do not know what will happen, but I know who holds me.”
> Being with Jesus does not mean being free from storms.> God’s silence doesn’t mean He isn’t with us. He just doesn’t see things as we do!
> God’s silence is an invitation to join Him!
👉 ****) “The storms of life may be difficult, but they can teach us lessons that calm waters never could.”
