The Winds And The Sea Obey Jesus - [Matthew 8:23-27]

Christ-Centered Preaching on Matthew 8:23-27

Privilege and honor to be here with you this morning. We really appreciate it. We had a chance to meet Mark and his family and Jonathan and his family last night. And it was great to find some other people who are not counting the days or the time by years and days, but by how many children ago this happened.

You know, like a normal person, like, oh, five years ago and seven years ago. And then you meet a large family. It's like, yeah, that's when we had three kids. That's when we had six kids. That's when we had 15 kids.

So, so we felt like at home. We have a large family by God's grace. We were able to say with Pastor Steve and you have really nice people in your church. We thought that Pastor Mike is the only one and we were proven wrong.

It's great to be here. Great to be loved by you. And we really appreciate the opportunity to be here with you. So the passage that I have for you today is Matthew chapter eight, verses 23 through 27 back in our church.

And of course, we are going through the gospel of Matthew and Pastor Mike asked me to have a sermon that is Christ centered. And I think this passage will do just that by God's grace. It's going to be Christ centered sermon that's going to benefit you hopefully.

And the title of this message is why are you afraid? And that's the reason why I chose actually this message is because it's a message for me this morning to be in Pastor Mike's church, be preaching in front of him.

After, after he taught me how to pray, I was greatly afraid and I was thinking about, I need to have a Christ centered message and something that's going to help me not to be afraid as he's going to be sitting in the front row.

So there you go. So this sermon is going to benefit at least one of us. It's me. Sorry about that, but hopefully it's going to be helpful to you as well. So I'll read a passage, I'll pray and we'll get to work.

Matthew chapter eight, verses 23 through 27. This is the word of the Lord. When he, meaning Jesus got into the boat, his disciples followed him and behold there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves, but Jesus himself was asleep.

And they came to him and woke him saying, save us Lord, we are perishing. He said to them, why are you afraid? You men of little faith. Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea and it became perfectly calm.

The men were amazed and said, what kind of a man is this? That even the winds and the sea obey him. God, we are so thankful to be here this morning, gathered in one place as your church. We thank you so much for your word.

And God, I pray that you would use me as a, as a sinner who is forgiven by Christ, uh, to, to preach your words, to help these people, to encourage them, strengthen them. And, and God, we pray that, uh, you would just help us to see how great Christ is your son, eternal, eternal son, our savior.

God, we thank you that we are in your hands. We thank you that we are in Christ's hands. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your spirit. And we just pray that you would bless us as we go through this passage right now.

Amen. Amen. So, uh, let me get straight to the bottom line of the bottom line, because I was given 40 minutes and I have four points and I'll try to deal with that. Uh, just, just like that. The truth is that each of you that are sitting here this morning is either go in or was going or will be going through some kind of a storm in your life, right?

That's, that's just the fact that's just the bottom line. We are humans. And even though we are Christians, we are going to be facing some hard times. It might be at your job. It might be in your family.

It might be because of your health, but, uh, your health, uh, but there are going to be some storms in your life. And, uh, you know, with every storm you as a Christian, you have a decision to make and you can either in each storm, trust yourself and, and, uh, and be anxious or by God's grace, you can trust Christ, your good shepherd and find peace in his arms, even in the midst of the, of the darkest storms.

And my hope and prayer is this morning that the portion that we just read together a little while ago of God's Holy word will help you trust Christ no matter what, no matter what a storm is, uh, in your life or will be in your life, that you will remember this passage that you will remember Christ, the King calming the storm on a Galilean sea.

And that is going to encourage you and strengthen you as it did strengthen me when we were going through our storms and strengthen our church as our church was going through different storms. So as we come to our passage, it will be helpful for you to know that Matthew's goal is to present Jesus in this gospel as God's divine Messiah and King who will deliver God's people from their sins and bring them to God's everlasting kingdom.

And, and, and the way how Christ does it obviously is by his perfect life. It's by his substitutionary death on a, on a Roman cross. And it's through his resurrection on a, on a Sunday morning. And when you would be with us in a, in a cushion, we would be going chapter by chapter, verse by verse through, through, through Matthew's gospel.

And, and in chapter eight and nine, Matthew selects nine miracles of Jesus to prove that he is really the divine Messianic King of Kings who has the power over sickness, who has the power over demons and, and sin and, and death, right?

Like that's the picture of Matthew's painting is here is your King. He has come. He's a divine, he's, he's God's son. He's the eternal God. And he's the King of Kings. And he rules and he rules over sin.

He rules over sickness. He rules over demons and he rules over death. And he has power to overturn sin, curse, and establish a new heavenly kingdom. And in our text today, we see one of these nine miracles that, that Matthew presents.

And the neat thing about this miracle is that it, it, it very closely connects at least with me and, and with my life. And, and I'm really hoping and praying that it will connect also with you and with your life because it doesn't only provide God's testimony of the fact that Jesus, eternal second member of God's trinity is the creator of the world who has power over his creation, but it also will encourage you to trust Christ, to trust Jesus in the darkest moments of your life.

No, no matter what they are by reminding you that he is a mighty King who rules. The context of our passage is that, you know, the day that we found ourselves in, in, in the chapter is, it's, it's a Saturday evening and Jesus just had a super busy day in, in a town or a village called Capernaum.

And if you would read Matthew chapter, chapter eight and seven, you would see that Jesus just healed the leper, which was very kind, very loving thing to do. Jesus, Jesus touched him and healed him and, and love him in a moment where everybody else was running away from him.

Jesus also healed that day, a centurion, a centurion's servant. You, you might remember that he even healed that day, Peter's mother-in-law and, and also a countless crowd of sick people. And that is a huge testimony about Christ and, and his love for his creation and his love for the people that he came to save and, and how much he cares for them and how much he cares for, for us who are his.

And when he healed them all, he, he told and he commanded his disciples to get into the boat and sail on the other side of the sea, of the, of the lake that, that was in front of them. And in verse 23, we read that when he got into the boat, the disciples followed him, right?

And, and when Matthew says that he, he's only thinking about the 12 disciples, the 12 apostles, but he's also thinking about other people that are following Jesus. Jesus always had a crowd of people with him, right?

There was always somebody learning from him. There was always somebody following him. And, and when we read that when Jesus got into the boat, his disciples followed him, it means the 12, but it means a lot more people because Mark 4, 36 tells us that there are other boats with him.

So there is Jesus on his boat with, with the 12 disciples and maybe some other guys. There are other boats with other men and maybe other women and they are headed across the sea. So it's Saturday evening, boats departed from the shore and they are now crossing the massive body of water, which is before them.

The Storm Rages on the Sea of Galilee

And the first thing that I would like you to notice in our passage today is that the storm is raging. That's the first thing, that's the first point of our, of our outline. And we see in the verse 24 that Matthew says, and behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves.

And a sea in this, in this context, the sea that Matthew is describing here is obviously the Sea of Galilee, also known as Lake of Gennesaret. I never been to Israel, but maybe you saw the pictures, you know, it's a beautiful body of water, really nice.

And in daylight, a lot of people fishing on the lake, which is, which is really like a sea, because even though it's a size of a lake, because of the weather conditions, it's more like a sea. So if you are in the middle of it and there is a storm, you have a huge problem.

Matthew says, and behold, there arose a great storm. And the word behold shows us that the storm came suddenly, that it was totally unexpected. And that's, that's exactly what's happening on this body of water day by day, year by year, even until this day.

That's, that's how the weather works in this part of the world, that, that you just never know when the storm is going to hit you, right? Like today, you have the benefit of, hey, you want to go on a boat ride, and you take your phone and you check the weather.

Okay, next six hours, no rain. Okay, let's go. But in this lake, even if you would have a weather app, it's not going to work that way, because nobody can predict what the wind and what the heat is going to do.

So behold, all of a sudden, it shocked even the experienced fishermen who were with Jesus, that there is this storm. No warning, no signal. One minute everything is smooth. One minute everything is cool.

One minute everything is nice. You have your little chit chat with your buddies on a boat. And all of a sudden, behold, there is a great storm. And the great in Greek is megas. You know, it's really a mega storm.

It's a raging storm. It's a terrible storm. And Matthew is using these words to show us how desperate the situation of the disciples is going to be, because of how great, how mega, how terrifying, how shocking this storm is going to be.

So these waves were so big that a boat was being covered with the waves. One moment you see the boat, the next moment you don't, right? Like sometimes you see it on YouTube or in a TV, like there is a boat on the ocean, and the waves are as big as this building.

So you see the boat, you don't see the boat. You see the boat, you don't see the boat, just because the waves are massive. And Mark 4 .37 adds, and he says, the waves were breaking over to the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.

So you just put yourself into the shoes of the disciples, right? Like you are in the middle of the sea, you are in the middle of the night, you are in the middle of the storm that is scaring the daylights, I think you say, out of you.

And you are terrified, and the storm is raging. And it's not a good thing to be in the middle of the sea today when there is a storm. And with the boats, however, 2 ,000 years ago, it was even worse back then, because you didn't have all the high tech and cell phones and somebody to call for reinforcements.

And it's a good reminder for us with life. That's how it is usually in our lives, right? Like when sickness hits you, when something hits you in a work or at your family, it's not like somebody from your family calling you like, hey, in three weeks, it's going to get really bad because I'm really upset at you, okay?

Just let you know when you come for Thanksgiving, it's going to be really bad. And then two weeks later, hey, just hope that you didn't forget what I said last week, it's coming. And then one week closer, like you just show up at a Thanksgiving dinner.

You just show up at work. You show up at a church. You show up somewhere at a vacation, and all of a sudden in the middle of the night, your kids are throwing up, or there's a bad announcement coming from your family, and it hits you and cuts you off guard.

And that's the same thing. That's what happened in here. You know, it was a calm night. They were hoping for an easy and restful ride, but all of a sudden, totally unexpected, this huge, fiercy megastorm.

The stars, as one author said it, were replaced by lightnings and thunders. The calm breeze is exchanged with screaming wind and deafening rain. Their boat is filling up with water fast, and they're starting to sink.

And you're just thinking about what this storm is causing in their hearts. It's fear, and it's anxiety, and it's terror. And that's the same thing in our lives, right? We don't have to be in the middle of the sea to be all anxious, to be all terrorized or full of fear.

Jesus Sleeps in the Storm

And here's the thing. Everybody was in a panic, fighting for their lives in this raging storm, except of Jesus. And that's the second thing that I want you to notice in our passages, that while the storm is raging, Jesus is sleeping.

And I love that. We read in verse 24, that Jesus himself was asleep. And it should shock us, because the storm was big, and the boat was almost sinking. And what we see here, when Matthew tells us that Jesus was sleeping, is we see a glimpse of Jesus' humanity, right?

Like, He's a truly God, but He's a truly man. And right here, right before we'll see the glimpse of His divinity, Matthew shows us a glimpse of His humanity. As a true man, Jesus is sleeping. As a true God, Jesus will subdue and calm the storm.

And the question is, how come Jesus is sleeping? And partially the answer is, well, because He had a hard day, right? Like, He just spent a whole day with people. He just spent a whole day teaching people about God's kingdom.

He just spent a whole day preaching to people about the gospel, about repentance from sins, and that He is the way, and that He is the truth, and that He is the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him.

And not only He was teaching a whole day, but He was healing people a whole day. And that took energy from Him. So He was tired. And He slept when the dark clouds covered the starry sky. He slept when the deafening wind and lightning stroke.

And He slept when the rain started pouring down. And He slept when the waves were destroying their boat. And when everybody else was panicking and fearing for their life, Jesus, in His humanity, was sleeping.

And for sure, part of the reason why He's sleeping is because He was exhausted after a hard day. But I think there is also a second reason why He's sleeping peacefully. And I think the second part of the reason why He's sleeping peacefully is because He knew scriptures.

In His humanity, He had to learn scriptures, just like you and I have to learn scriptures, right? Like when He was 12, they found Him in the temple, and His father and His mother were teaching Him the scriptures.

And He was going to synagogue, and He was learning, just as we are learning, because He is a truly man. So He knew scriptures. And He also knew that God the Father has everything firmly in His hands, which is something that He knew because He's God, but He also knew it because He's a man who learned it from the scriptures.

And because He knew that God has everything in His hands, and because He, as a perfect man, perfectly trusts God, He is peacefully sleeping in the midst of the storm, because He knows that there is only one who is in control, and that's God the Father.

Jesus knew His psalm, 115 verse 3, but our God is in the heaven. He does whatever He pleases. He knew that, and He knew its truth, and He bet His life on it. He depended His life on it, so He is able to sleep in the great storm.

Jesus knew that He will not die a minute too early or too late, right? Matthew 10, 29 says that, Jesus says, are not two sparrows sought for a scent, and yet no, not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.

Like, Jesus knows that, you know, the day when you are born and the day when you die are not in your hands, they are in God's hands, and that it's God who said the time when you will be born, and God is the one who says the time when you will die, so I can rest peacefully in the middle of the storm, because I'm not going to die if it's not God's plan for me to die, and if it's God's plan for me to die, I'm going to die even if I would be in a submarine, right?

Or even if I would be on the shore thinking like, oh, I'm so glad I'm not on the boat with them, and there's a lightning coming, because, you know, there's a time that God said for you to die, and you just cannot escape it, so Christ, this trust in God, and He trusts the scriptures, and He knew that He did not come to die on a boat as a powerless sailor, but He came to die on a cross as a powerful Savior, so He said, at ease, He's resting on a boat, because it's not His time to die.

He knew Psalm 22 that prophesied about Him that He will be delivered to Gentiles who will pierce His hands and feet. He knew Deuteronomy 21 that is a prophecy about Him that He will be crucified, so therefore He knows He cannot die on that boat in the middle of the storm, because God has a different plan for Him.

How could He not be sleeping, right? Like, people might be thinking, like, how can He be sleeping? And it's like, how could I not be sleeping? Like, I know I'm in God's hands, I know what my purpose is, I know how I'm going to die, and I'm fully trusting God who has all things in His hands.

And He is sleeping, and He is resting because this storm is not an accident, but it's a part of God's plan. And I want you to know this morning, if you are a Christian, I want to encourage you that there are no accidents in God's universe, right?

It was R .C. Sproul who said that there are no maverick molecules in this universe. Like, God is sovereign over every single molecule in an atom, which also means that there are no maverick or loose accidents in God's universe.

Psalm 93 says what? Like, how does Psalm 93 begin? The Lord reigns, you know, and it's so encouraging to know that it is our Lord, it is Christ, the Son, it is God, the Father, it is the Holy Spirit, it's God, the Triune God who rules and who reigns.

The Lord reigns. And what it means in Psalm 93 is that He always reigns. He reigns everywhere. He reigns over all. And the good thing is that it's not a storm, it's not the storms that are reigning in your life.

It's not Satan or bad people, you know, they do not reign in your life. It's not fortune or luck that will be reigning in your life. There is only one who reigns in the universe over every single storm, over every single trial, over every single sickness, and that's God Himself.

And that's good news for us. And that was good news for the disciples and that was good news for Christ. There's only one who reigns, and that is Triune God of the Bible. So there are no loose maverick storms in your lives that would not be under God's control, that God would not preordain in order to build you to be more like Jesus for His own glory and for your good.

And that is why Paul can declare with such a confidence and in Romans 8, 28, we know, not we think, not perhaps or maybe, but we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, right?

And the way how all things work together for good to those who love God is that they are shaping us to be more like Christ. They are shaping us to love Christ more, to depend on Him more. So Jesus is sleeping because He knows that this storm is not happening in order to kill them, but so He can be worshipped by them, by His disciples.

And I want you to know that if you are going or will be going through a hardship in your life, you need to know that hardships and trials and storms are not meaningless. In the hands of Almighty God, in the hands of loving God, in the hands of all-powerful God, storms and trials and hard times and sicknesses, even death, none of this is meaningless.

Because the meaning, we just read about it in Romans 8, 28, God is using all these things to bring us closer to Him, to love Him more, to be more like Christ, His Son. And Jesus knew that they must go through this storm so His disciples can see a glimpse of His glory, of His divinity.

I don't know if you ever thought about it, but I had this thought and I probably read it somewhere or heard it somewhere. You know, have you ever thought about how it would be if Jesus would just stayed with His disciples on a shore?

Like Jesus could tell His disciples, Hey guys, I'm God and I know what's going to happen tonight. If you get on a boat right now, you're going to sail into the middle of the sea and there's going to be a huge storm.

It's going to be such a great storm that like you've never seen before. You will all be scared for your lives. This boat is going to almost sink. You will be panicking and freaking out even though you are fishermen and you know this sea better than anybody else.

And I just want to prevent that from you because I love you so much. And I want you to know that, you know, if we would go on the sea and we would be caught up in the middle of this storm, I would stand up in the boat and I would say one word and the whole storm would just end.

And you guys would fall on your knees and worship me. But we are not going to do that because I love you. I don't want you to go through that thing. So why don't you just worship me here on the shore and we take it easy from here.

Like you think Peter would be like, Yes. Right. Like everybody would be like, Ah, I, you know, I don't know about it, Jesus. Right. Like because, because there is this need for them to go through the storm so Jesus divinity can be revealed to them in a very special way that they would experience that.

And, and that's, that's, that's, that's why Jesus is taking them through the storm. One of the reasons, you know, they had to go through the storm in order for Jesus to be glorified because nobody would glorify him on the shore if he would just tell them this story.

And for them to see who Jesus really is, they need to go through this storm. And for you and for, for all of us as Christians, you know, it's, it's, it's beneficial that they went through this storm because now we can read about it.

We can read about what they experienced. We can read about their fear. We can, we can relate to them. We can see like, yes, they, they react to the storms in their lives the same way how we relate. And, and this is what Jesus did in the middle of the storm.

And there is something we can learn about Jesus and apply it to our lives when we are going to go in our trials, through our trials, realizing that they are underneath his sovereign care. So, so they went through their trials so Jesus can be glorified.

So we can learn from it. And, and you know, that, that, that, that often, that is also another reason why God allows you to go through your storms because he will use your storms and, and the way how he leads you through them and the way how he strengthens you through them as a testimony to other people.

Isn't it so, right? And, and when you were in your storms, you, you, you probably reached out to people who were through similar storms before you, right? Like, like you guys had a hard marriage. We are going through a hard time.

Like how did Jesus help you? How did Jesus let you through it? Like, Oh, okay. Like you, you repented and you forgave one another and, and, and he restored your marriage. And, and, and now, now your, your hard times are helping somebody else to go through their hard times, right?

Or, Hey, you dealt with a dying wife. You, you, you dealt with a dying husband, right? Because they, they had this sickness or that sickness. Like how did Jesus help you? How, how did God help you? How did he led you through it?

And, and all of a sudden there's hard time that you went through a year ago or 10 years ago is being transformed into something that's being helpful to somebody else. And it's helping somebody else to grow in their relationship to Christ.

So, you know, the same is true about storms in your life. You can be in peace in the, in the middle of who knows what you are going through. You can, you can sleep in the, in the midst of, of the horrible things that are happening around us.

Not because you are naive, not because you are uninformed, but because you know that it's the Lord who reigns and you know that Christ is in charge. You don't have to worry. You don't have to panic. You don't have to be afraid.

You just have to make a decision by God's grace and by his strength to trust Christ, to trust God instead of trusting yourself. And that's the decision that we are always constantly are making. Am I going to glorify myself or am I going to, going to glorify God?

Will I be trusting myself and my abilities and my knowledge, or will I be trusting the promises I have in the Bible? We, as Christians, have the privilege to rejoice in the storms. 1 Peter 1, verse 6 and 7.

In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold, which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor and the revelation of Jesus Christ.

So God is using meaningfully the hard times in your life to bring you closer to Christ, to be more like Christ and to purify your faith, so Christ can receive all the possible glory when he returns. That's what's happening.

Storms are not out of or above of God's control, but under God's control. And that is a fact. And God wants you to remember that. And if you are going through them, you don't have to be ashamed or feel like a second-grade Christian, right?

Like sometimes in some churches they teach like, well, you know, if you are sick, or if you are going through this, or if you're going through that, that means that you have unconfessed sin, or it means that you did this wrong and you did that wrong, and you need to confess and confess and confess.

And yes, yes, sometimes that might be true, but not always, not always. You know, sometimes we are sick, and it's not because we sinned, it's just because we are in a sinful world, and God is going to use it for his glory.

Romans 5, 3 through 4 says, and not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations. Know that tribulation brings about perseverance, and perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope. So Jesus, who trusted God the Father, was sleeping, but disciples who were trusting in themselves were screaming.

The Disciples Cry Out in Fear

And that's the third point, that's the third thing that we see in our passage today. Disciples are screaming. Verse 25, they came to him and woke him saying, save us Lord, we are perishing. And these guys are experienced sea dogs, right?

Like this was their, this was their occupation, like they knew the sea, they knew the boats, they knew the storms. And this was not a first storm that they encountered here, but this one was exceptional.

And it was so exceptional that even these fishermen are begging a carpenter for help. You know, it's like, you are in the middle of the sea, on your own boat, you are the captain of the boat, you are a fisherman, and you are going to ask a carpenter for help?

The storm was big. The storm had to be really, really great if this is happening. You know, and they are coming to him, and they are saying, save us Lord, we are perishing. And Mark 4 .38 says that they said, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?

Right, like they are not coming with a humble attitude, they are coming like raging at Jesus, like, like Jesus, what are you doing? You're supposed to be helping us and saving us, and you do not care about us.

Like, great, like you told us to get on the boat, you wanted us to sail across the sea, and now you do not care. And they are confused. And sometimes we are confused in our lives, in the middle of the storms, right?

Like we believe Christ, we trust Christ, we know who Christ is, and they somehow, at least partially, knew who Christ is. But their small faith was mixed with a great mistrust. Because they turned their eyes away from Christ, and they started looking too much at themselves.

And I think it was Mark yesterday night, or maybe Jonathan, and then they reminded me of the other time when the disciples were with Jesus on the same lake, right? And Peter asked Jesus to step out of the boat, to walk to Jesus in the middle of the storm, and as far as Peter was able to see Jesus, and keep his eyes on Jesus, and trust Jesus, he was all safe.

He was all good, right? But in the moment when he took away his eyes from Christ, and started looking around and at himself, he started sinking. And that's what they are doing. They are panicking, they are freaking out, they are scared.

They think that Jesus doesn't care. It's very impolite, it's very rough, it's very rude. And they are basically saying, don't you care? Save us! Do something! As Travis Johnson said, that these disciples did not learn yet, that it is far better and safer to be with Jesus in the biggest storm, than without Jesus on a shore.

And that's true, right? It's so much safer with Jesus in the middle of the storm, on a boat, than without Him on a shore. And they are started, they started doubting Jesus. They started thinking that He doesn't care.

But here's the question, how could the Savior who came to redeem them from the storm of their sins, with His own blood, not care about their earthly storms? Like Jesus cared so much that He left His heaven and His angels and all the glory He had there.

He cared about them so much that He added humanity to His divinity. That the one who created time, the one who created space, the one who is eternal and wasn't limited by time and space, put on flesh.

And the one who gives life was born on this earth and the one who rules everything was now dependent on His mother and on His Father and on His Heavenly Father. How could He not care about them? How could the Good Shepherd who came to seek and save the lost, not care about His sheep once He found them?

And I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that storms in your life do not mean that Jesus doesn't care. And then, you know what, in my life and probably in your life, like sometimes that's the temptation, right?

Like we are in the hard times, God doesn't care. Well, He does care. And we need to realize that storms are not a sign that doesn't care, that God doesn't care, but they are rather a tool in His hand to rightly remind us how weak we are and how much we need Him.

And it is when we are the weakest, it is in the darkest storms when God's power is most visible. Isn't it so? You remember Apostle Paul? You remember the problem he had? He had some kind of a thorn in his flesh, right?

Like we do not know if it was a sickness, we do not know if it was some guy in a check trying to kill him with hazelnuts, we do not know what it was, but we know it was a thorn in his flesh and we know he was asking God three times to remove it from his life.

And in 2 Corinthians 12, 9, we see God's response. And here is God's response to Paul's trials. My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. And Paul says, Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

And Paul is rejoicing in his weaknesses. He's rejoicing in the hard situations he's in because he knows that whatever good comes out of it will be for the glory of God, not for his own glory. That everybody will be able to look at Paul and say, you know what?

What Paul is doing and where Paul is, that's only possible because Christ is in his life and because Christ is working in his life. And we know that the power is not in the vessel, in the earthly vessel that's just a clay and has many cracks, but the power is in the treasure that's in this vessel and that's God himself.

So Paul is rejoicing in his weaknesses and that's what the disciples should have done on the boat, be rejoicing. Yes, this is going to be a great opportunity for Jesus to shine, not for us to shine, not for us to save ourselves, but for Christ and we just cannot wait how he's going to solve this.

But they got off the focus, they got the wrong focus, so they are crying and weeping and being scared and being terrified. And the storm on the Sea of Galilee was terrifying, but it was good because it brought even these disciples to the end of themselves.