When My Faith Fails, Pt. 2

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Everybody’s afraid of something. We just don’t like to admit it. We may joke about the small stuff like spiders, public speaking, and turbulence. But there are fears that keep us up at night. Pastor Nick Gatzke reveals that what we do with our fear says a lot about our faith.

Some of us think that when bad things happen to us, we say, this shouldn’t be happening to me. This is the type of thing that happens to other people. I’m one of the good guys. Why does life have to be so hard? And still others might say, I thought God was looking out for me. And if he’s going to allow hard things to happen in my life, then I’m not sure if I want to follow him. The disciples are starting to wonder this. The waves are breaking over the boat. They’re bailing furiously so that it was nearly swamped. They fiercely paddled to keep the boat afloat. And right in the middle of the storm, Jesus is asleep below deck. He’s near, but he sure doesn’t feel like he’s near.

I think this is the only place in the gospels where it actually records Jesus sleeping. And it points as an aside to his humanity. He slept because he was tired. He ate because he was hungry. He cried because he was sad. Yes, Jesus was fully God, but he was also fully man. And so when they got into the boat that late afternoon or evening, he said to his disciples, all of this teaching is making me rather tired. I’m going to go take a nap. And thus the dynamic that Jesus is near. to his disciples, but in the midst of the storm, sure doesn’t feel like it. I wonder if in the midst of the storms of your life, if you’ve ever felt like Jesus is downstairs taking a nap. It’s at that point of crisis that our emotions will often deceive us because we can’t feel his presence, so he must not be there, right? Or if he is, he doesn’t care. We find ourselves lashing out in a similar fashion to the disciples who, after intensely trying to gain control of a situation that was completely out of their control, all they could do was rudely cry out, don’t you care if we die? That’s the way that desperate people talk.

These were the ones who were following him the most closely. And despite everything that they had seen to this moment, and everything that they had experienced about his miraculous power, in the midst of the storm, their faith had failed. There are storms in life that will tempt you to abandon your faith. And nevertheless, no matter how far away Jesus felt to them, the reality of the situation for the disciples and the reality of the situation for you is that he is in fact right there. And he is in fact in complete control. When things get desperate, Jesus is powerful to save. He will always be more faithful to you than you are to him.

And he displays his control immediately, rising up and with the mere words to come out of his mouth, peace, be still. The storm is gone. Just like a tornado on a Saturday afternoon in Canfield. Through the power of his word, authority and chaos dispersed. This is the same authoritative word that brought about the world into existence.

It’s the same authoritative word that the demons respond to. In fact, that language used right here in this story of him rebuking the wind and silencing the waves, those words up to this point have previously been reserved for demons when Jesus rebukes them and silences them as he casts them out. This is the same authoritative word that pierces the hearts of men and women and boys and girls to repent of their sins and follow him. Even when our faith fails, Jesus rescues people and he rescues their faith. When things are desperate, Jesus is powerful to save. He really is the one who created all things. “All things were created by him and through him, and in him all things hold together,” as Paul writes in Colossians 1. And if you actually believe that, that Jesus is the king who holds all things together, then that should be of great, great encouragement to you today. Because some of you might be in the midst of a storm. And some of us in the midst of storms have previously said things like, if he doesn’t show up, I’m not going to follow him anymore. Or I’ve had it. Why are you asleep? Why don’t you care in the midst of my most difficult hour?

Many of us have had moments when our faith failed, but Jesus rescued us anyway. So be encouraged. Jesus doesn’t rebuke his disciples here. He rebukes the wind and the waves. But to his disciples, he simply says to them, ‘Do you still have no faith?’ Don’t be afraid. When you are closely following the Savior, your faith need not fail. And when it does, Jesus still shows himself to be strong. And notice the disciples’ response in verse 41. It really is the twist of the story.

It says, “They’re terrified and ask each other, ‘Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him?’” They’ve just gone from a bad type of fear to a good type of fear, but it’s still a fear. Isn’t that interesting? So interesting that they went from being afraid of death to being afraid of the one who saved them from death. I can understand being afraid of the storm. It’s a little harder to get your mind around being afraid of the person himself, but that’s exactly what happens when you begin to see Jesus for who he really is. Power, authority, lordship, kingship, even over the weather, even over my circumstances, even over the impossibilities of life, even over the greatest of storms. When things are desperate, Jesus is the one who is strong to save. The story is short, but the truth is profound and the application is very practical.

And so let me just give you five short points of application from this miracle. The first one is this. Number one, the right type of fear of Jesus is a sign of a growing faith in Jesus. Think about it. If you trust that Jesus has authority over all things, that all things are held together by him and that he can do whatever he wants, anything he wants, however he wants, whenever he wants to accomplish his purposes, then you will necessarily fear him. That is power that you cannot even begin to understand. And at the same time, if you believe his purpose, if you cling to him as your Lord and your King, and if you trust that he will do what he says that he will do, and that he will work things out for those who love him, then this fear actually leads to faith in him. Jesus is bigger than the things that you’re afraid of. And he exercises his power to save. Second application is that fear and faith in Jesus produces courage for life.

The definition of courage is literally mental and moral strength to withstand danger or fear. Courage is the opposite of fear. Strength to withstand fear. That’s what courage is. I think about one night, one little boy needed to exercise courage. It was a night not dissimilar from yesterday afternoon. One summer evening, a severe thunderstorm rolled through and a mother was tucking her small son into bed.

And she was right about to turn out the light when he asked her in a trembling voice, Mommy, will you stay with me all night? And smiling, the mother gave him a warm and reassuring hug and said tenderly, I can’t, dear. I need to sleep in daddy’s room tonight. And after a long silence that followed and a trembling lower lip, the silence was broken by a shaky voice looking up at his mother and saying, that big sissy, courage is mental and moral strength to withstand danger and fear. And courage is needed right now more than ever.

Courage is needed when facing a difficult diagnosis, when you’re afraid. Courage is needed when facing life after losing a loved one. Courage is needed when facing ridicule or persecution for following Christ as your king. Courage is needed in the face of injustice or oppression. Courage is needed in all of the storms of life that cause us to be afraid. And you can have courage that’s not just rooted in your idea of strength.

Because when things are desperate, Jesus is powerful to save. And he is bigger than your storms. And so take courage. And that is a great application. The third is simply that in Christ, we not only overcome fear in our circumstances, but we also overcome our fear of people. Fear of man is perhaps one of the most important fears that we face in this life. And it’s at this point of fear that we get to the core of our perception of identity and proximity. This is what I mean, identity and proximity. If our identity is in Christ, And that we are a child of the king and a co-heir with him and an image bearer of God himself. And that is not just our identity, but we perceive it to be our identity. That we live in light of who we truly are, who God has told us that we are. That we’re not primarily defined by our family of origin. That you’re not primarily defined by your income class. You’re not primarily defined, your identity is not defined by what you do for work or the mistakes that you’ve made in the past, but that you see yourself and know yourself to be, to have an identity that God defines as a child of the king and a co-heir with him and an image bearer of God himself. And if our proximity to Christ is that we are found in him and he is found in us, as the scripture says in the New Testament. then truly my perspective about what everyone else around me thinks of me changes.

And therefore my fear of people change. I care the most and completely for what my king thinks about me. And if others think ill of me, despite being hurtful, I will still follow my king with confidence. This gives me courage, to speak about the things of God without shame. This gives freedom in evangelism. This means that I can hold my moral convictions regardless of whatever other people think. It means that I’m not afraid because Jesus is powerful to save because he’s bigger than the storms and he defines who I am. And that is incredibly freeing. The fourth application is that Christ conquers the fear of living without a purpose.

Maria Svenvinkel was a corporate consultant from Sweden. She asked 65 people around the world, what is your greatest fear in life? And over 20% of them said that their greatest fear was living a life without purpose or meaning. It is one of the silent storms of life that is perhaps unique to our time, but perhaps not. Listen to their own words. Anthony from New York City said, my biggest fear is never taking a risk in an effort to find my true calling. Rebecca from Stuttgart, Germany said, my greatest fear is to go through life living small but not realizing it until it’s too late. Danielle from Sacramento, California said, my greatest fear would be missing out on my purpose here on earth. I know I have a purpose that I’m not yet serving. Luciana from Sintra, Portugal said to go through life without leaving a positive mark. And Ralph from North Brunswick said, my greatest fear is regretting all that I didn’t do as I lay in my hospital bed as an elderly man. The idea of purposelessness is a silent storm plaguing the lives of many people. But here’s the thing. For those who put their faith in the king, They are given the greatest of purposes in this life. They need not be afraid of this silent storm of purposelessness. They won’t be afraid when it comes upon them because they are purposed.

You are purposed to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. You have a purpose to make the greatness of the king known to all those around you. You have a purpose to express love. As you invest in the people around you, you have a purpose to live out your days in service, active service to the eternal king who holds all things together and works the whole of human history to its culmination. You have a purpose in life. And the one who’s bigger than the storms gives it to you.

Lastly, and most importantly, faith, Over fear extends to our future beyond the grave. The fear of death is, of course, one of the greatest fears of the human race. The disciples were afraid to die. They weren’t afraid of the water. They were afraid of not coming up out of the water. And in the midst of the storm, their faith failed, even though Jesus was near.

I think of the circumstances of life and the threat of death, and we’re reminded of what King David writes in Psalm 23:4-5. “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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows.” His trust in God saw him through the threat of death. It’s the ever-present knowledge of death that made Jonathan Edwards write his seventh resolution for life. Which stated, I am resolved never to do anything that I would be afraid to do should it be the last hour of my life. And we know, despite these things, that should the Lord Jesus delay in his return, that each one of us will face death.

But this is where Jesus’ power is actually shown to be at its greatest. Because the salvation that Jesus gives is not just through the circumstances of life. The salvation that Jesus gives has its greatest effect in eternal life. Remember, when things are desperate, Jesus is powerful to save. And I gotta tell you what, my sin makes me pretty desperate. I desperately need forgiveness if I’m gonna stand someday in front of a holy God.

What am I going to tell him on that day when the books are opened and all of my misdeeds are read out loud in my hearing? All of my terrible thoughts, all of my nasty words, all of my actions of rebellion or ignorance or indifference toward the God of the universe, I’m going to be desperate on that day. And so are you. But when things are desperate, Jesus is powerful to save. And he forgives sins for those who put their faith in him as king, and he will forgive yours. And so life beyond the grave is not something you need to fear. Your hope extends even to that moment because he is powerful to save. And this is why Paul writes, “The biggest fear that we have, oh death, we don’t know what it’s going to feel like. We don’t know when it’s going to happen. And some people don’t know what is going to happen after. But oh death, where is your victory? Oh death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, live your life this way. Be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord, your labor is not in vain.”

And so it is with you, Christian. Fear not as you go through life. Jesus is bigger than your storms and he is powerful to save.

Let’s pray. Father, bolster our faith in your son. Help us to revel, in his power and authority. Help us to hold fast to him as he holds fast to us. And when the storm comes, Father, help us to look to him for strength and for our salvation. In his mighty name we pray, amen.

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** This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy, but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wor