Don’t Despair when Your Boat Rocks. God is Good even in Bad Times by Fr Nelson Lobo OFM Cap

 WONDERING GURU

12th Sunday in Ordinary Time 

Job 38: 1, 8-11; 2 Cor 5: 14-17; Mark 4: 35-41

Fr Nelson Lobo OFM Cap

Introduction: Have you ever experienced storms in your life? Those times where things just didn’t make sense. Times where your problems seemed so big and your faith seemed so small. Times where you felt so swamped and so afraid that you were going to be taken over by the storm. We have all had that “sinking feeling,” haven’t we? We’ve all had our share of storms.  Jesus’ disciples were no different.  How did the disciples deal with the storm?

Poem: Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed a dream. As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.

Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.

For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,

One belonging to me and one to my Lord.

After the last scene of my life flashed before me, I looked back at the footprints in the sand.

I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,

especially at the very lowest and saddest times, there was only one set of footprints.

This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.

"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you, You'd walk with me all the way.

But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,

there was only one set of footprints. I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you

Never, ever, during your trials and testings.

When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."

TYPES OF STORMS IN OUR LIVES. 

1. Situational storms. This is when circumstances seem to plot against us and everything seems to go wrong. Murphy’s law seems to be right. "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." Sometimes everything seems to go wrong at once. There are situational storms.
2. Relationship storms. This is when there is tension between people. When a relationship has been strained to the breaking point - parent and child, husband and wife, friends - life becomes stormy.
3. Secret storms. These are often hidden on the surface. We have a nice smile, but inside we’re crying. We have “Secret Storms” which we don’t want others to know. Specially with regard to our finances or family issues. Paralyzed by fear. Overcome by guilt. Raging with anger. Consumed with worry or jealousy. Those are the emotional storms of life.

COMMON FEATURES OF ALL THESE STORMS: 

1. Storms in life are inevitable. They will happen. We will experience them. They are a part of life. In James 1:2 it says "When you face trials..." It does not say “If you face trials.” Nobody goes through life sailing easy from the cradle to the grave. We all will have tough times.
2. Storms in life are unpredictable. They come suddenly. They come unexpectedly. Try as we may, we cannot predict the things that will happen to us.
3. Storms are impartial. They happen to good people; they happen to bad people. They happen to believers; they happen to unbelievers. They happen to all of us. Mat 5:45 says, "He sends the rain on the just and the unjust." Being a Christian does not exempt us from being in storms.

FACTS OF HUMAN LIFE

1. THE STORMS WILL COME! -- Even if everything is going great right now, remember to have faith in Jesus, because the storms will come. It only takes a split second for everything to change for everything to be flipped upside down. Maybe unemployment, financial crisis, sickness, relationship failures or even death. When the disciples left the docks that day, everything was fine. However, it only took a few minutes for things to go horribly wrong. When the storms come, they bring emotions of fear, anger, frustration, and uncertainty.
2. THE STORMS WILL GO – Mark Twain and a friend walked outside one day in the rain. The friend said, “You think it will stop?” Mark Twain said, “It always does.” Storms come and go just like the waves of the sea. We can always take hope in the fact, that no matter how bad things get, the storms will pass. Jesus’ disciples thought that this storm may last long. But what do we see from the story, the SON not the SUN come out and calms the winds and the waves and the storm that they were so worried about is over. When we realize that we can’t do it on our own, that’s when we ask for help. That’s when we start looking for Jesus. We know that Jesus will always be there to calm the winds and the waves of our spiritual lives. He will always be there to strengthen and comfort us.  
3. JESUS ALWAYS STAYS-God is good all the time even during bad times in our lives. Read the poem called the Footprints.

WHAT TO DO WHEN STORM COMES?

1. The first thing we need to do is to never give up.
2. The next thing we need to do is to keep focused. It’s so easy when times are hard to lose our focus from the things that are really important or the tasks that we need to accomplish.
3. The third and final thing we need to do is that we must remember to have faith in Jesus!

Conclusion: What’s rocking your boat? What’s flooding your ship? What kind of storm are you going through? Is it a strained relationship? Is it a financial difficulty? Is it a painful memory? Is it a health problem? Is it a secret storm? Something on the inside? An emotion that’s overwhelming you? Guilt or grief or anger or bitterness or worry or fear? Maybe you feel like the circumstances of life are tossing you back and forth and you feel like you’re just a little toy boat out there in a big ocean and you’re getting bashed back and forth every day. And you’re thinking, “I’m going under! I’m not going to make it!” God has not promised us a storm-free life. This is not heaven where everything is perfect and where God’s will is perfectly done. We have choices, and we make mistakes, and we get hurt. That’s why we’re to pray, "Thy will be done on earth like it is in heaven" because it’s done perfectly in heaven. God has not guaranteed us a storm-free life. There are two ways we can respond to storms. They are seen in this story in the way the disciples responded and in the way that Jesus responded. One responded in fear, one responded in faith. One trembled, the other trusted. The two sets of footprints in the sand remind us that we must put our faith in Jesus. For the simple fact that Jesus is always there! His peace and patience and kindness are always there! And most of all for the simple fact that Jesus Always Stays!

1 Peter 5:7 - "Cast all your care on Him because He cares for you."