Wow! I truly am amazed at the transformation that I see sitting before me. I remember meeting you all, almost a year to this day exactly and you all are not the same people I met then. Crazy to believe that its almost been 365 days since you started this journey at training camp, and here you are, you’ve made it! I want you to know that through it all Papa is so very proud of each of you, the way that you have fought, pushed through, and conquered things in your life you never thought that you would have. Yes, this chapter is ending, but a new one is just about to be written. Tonight I want to walk us through Mark 4:35-41, when Jesus calms the storm.
First of all, you have been on a journey for the past 11 months, I want to share and speak into the fact that even though this time feels “separate” from the rest of your life, it’s not. It’s just a part of it as high school was, your first kiss, or the time your pet goldfish died when you were 5. Because what is ahead isn’t a separate thing from your life, it is the same, for the World Race isn’t a separate part of your life that is meant to be kept in its own corner. No, it’s a flow, it’s another year of your life, this is really just month 387 of your life, it’s not month 11, month 3, month 6 and Jesus is inviting you to continue the journey with Him. To take what you have received here and your time on the field and bring it back with you to share with those around you!
When we look at verse 34 Jesus says “together let us go across to the other side.” Man there is such great truth in just this opening line! Because Jesus says “together” which means, you and I together will go, you won’t be alone, but with the One who has called you! And He is calling you to continue the journey, one, even in the midst of the unknown is still perfect and powerful! In the uncertainty of what is ahead, He doesn’t change. For as He was He invited you on the first journey and as He is, He is continuing that invitation. So I’m asking you to come home not a “racer,” for you never started this journey as such! You started this journey as a human so come home a human, sharing the testimony of what the Lord has done in your lives! For you are the living breathing Gospel, you bring the good news with you not only in the palm of your hand, but with the story of your life!
As you transition home, I cannot emphasize the importance of getting away with the Father and still having that intimacy with Him. For if you aren’t seeking Him, then who are you following? We see in the next verse that they all left the crowd, meaning they went away and created an intimate setting and they took Jesus with them in the boat, just as he was. Something so beautiful to remember and see is that Jesus doesn’t change for His circumstances. He stays the same, knowing where His foundation is in, which is His Heavenly Father. You’ve now been with this group of people for a year, you’ve become comfortable, will you change now that you are going back home? I pray not, I pray that you will remain steadfast within the Lord, even when the world around you is telling you to change, or says “I liked you better before you left.”
You are headed home to a battle, whether you realize it now or not, but the battle field is waiting for you. I don’t mean to say this to make you feel scared or worried or to create anxiety. I say it to create an awareness. For the storm of life will come whether it is right away, or later on the question then becomes what will you do when it hits? When the storm hit the disciples were fearful, yet four of them had made their living on the sea before they answered the call of Jesus, when He said “come follow me.” They had decided to drop their nets and to get out of the boat. Now Jesus was taking them back to that familiar place, just as you are when you return home. You are returning to a familiar place, yet it will look and feel different even if nothing has changed, for you are different. So as the storm came, I can only imagine what the disciples were thinking. If I could do a play-by-play I’m sure it was at first “okay, I’ve been here before” then as the storm really picks up its more of a “CRAP! I’m not comfortable here anymore, we need help!” Then they turn and where is Jesus? Asleep, perfectly asleep on a cushion. I could step into their shoes and say “What the H-E-double hockey sticks is he doing, doesn’t he know we are sinking?!?”
Then only then do we question God, we say “do you not care?!?” For we see Him asleep, it must mean He doesn’t care. Yet, the most important thing to remember here is that we cannot equate the presence of a storm with the absence of God. He is right there with us, even when we cry out “where are you?” Because the Prince of Peace goes with us! And what more could you ask for as far as a picture of what peace looks like than Jesus asleep in the middle of the storm knowing that He is secure with His Father. Thankfully when we call out He answers, and Jesus did, by standing up and saying “Peace be still!” And in a single moment the water is calm, the storm gone. Jesus then turns and says “why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” Yikes! Talk about conviction. For how many times have I gone through something and doubted that God was right there with me? How many times must He show a miracle for me to finally have faith!?! For our fear of the storm is from our lack of faith. And Papa is asking “do you not trust me yet?” You have seen much, experienced much on the field and your faith and trust have grown. Don’t lose that, don’t lose heart, God is still the same in America as He is in Africa, Asia, Europe or Central/Southern America!
No, matter where you go, or what is ahead. There will be storms in your life. Just as you have experienced them here on the field, you will experience them off of it. Now, though you have been a journey of abandonment, brokenness, and learning what it looks like to let go of your false self and step into your Sonship! You have a choice when the storm does come, will you choose to sit in fear? Or will you decide to step up in the authority given you and say “Peace be still?” To walk on the water, where must your gaze be? It must be fixed on Him the author and perfecter of your Faith! For again the journey you are on isn’t over its a continuation, to the other side. For now on the other side are sheep without a shepherd. Will you then tend His flock in your homes, with your friends, in your churches, in the workplace? Will you share the testimony of the good news of what God has done in you to help set the captives free?
I hope so, I hope that you all will go home and not lose what you have gained here. I pray that you will still go forth boldly and confidently trusting the One who goes before you, eyes fixed on His face, without the label of a World Racer. For you are not a Racer, no you are much more than that. You are what the Lord has called you a Son, a Daughter, His Beloved, Redeemed, Chosen, called out of darkness into His Marvelous light for His eternal purposes! For you have seen and tasted that the Lord is good!
“But you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation, a people for his own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9-10
