From Stormy Seas to Serene Shores: A Journey of Trust

What if you could find peace amidst life's most turbulent storms? In this episode of "Jeff's World," I share a deeply personal story from 1995 about Hurricane Bertha and how unwavering faith in God led to safety and serenity. Grasp the power of listening to diverse opinions and believing in the impossible through the lens of personal experiences and divine guidance. This heartfelt narrative aims to inspire hope, courage, and positivity during your own life's challenges by emphasizing the importance of seeking answers and exploring beliefs.

Join me as we explore the riveting biblical story from Mark 4:35-41, where Jesus calms the storm, drawing profound parallels to our daily struggles. Much like sailors trusting their captain, you'll discover how placing your trust in Jesus can bring spiritual survival and inner peace amidst unexpected life challenges. We'll dissect the disciples' fear, frustration, and their cry, "God, don't you care?"— uncovering the reassuring and unwavering presence of Jesus in our darkest moments.

In a sincere and motivational conclusion, I share my journey of steadfast faith and encourage those battling internal storms to reach out for divine guidance. Learn the importance of trusting in God's power and presence, even in the face of life's toughest moments. As a special treat, I also express heartfelt thanks to all our listeners and offer a sneak peek into upcoming episodes filled with special guests and captivating stories. Stay connected, share the podcast, and look forward to the continued journey in "Jeff's World.

Transcript

Finding God's Peace Through the Storm

Speaker 1 0:01

Hey , what's up everybody ? Thank you for being here . Welcome to Jeff's World , where I'm able to give you a little insight about my life , a little insight about how I see certain things . And everybody nowadays has an opinion on certain things , and I get it and I respect everybody's opinion . That's why I kind of made this platform . This podcast was to hear other people's opinion . That's why I kind of made this uh platform , um , this podcast was to hear other people's opinion . I like seeing other people's opinion on certain matters of things , um , but I'm sometimes I feel like minds can be a little extreme .

Speaker 1 0:35

I'm gonna be honest , if you've talked to me , sometimes I think a little extreme , but the problem is with me is like I think I always feel like nothing's impossible . I truly feel that we are able to do certain things in this world that may seem big and and there's no way you're going to be able to do that I feel like we are . I'm glad that I'm part of a church and I know I've learned about , about god , and learning about him has has made me Accept those things that seemed impossible Now seem possible , because Something of those that don't . Everybody has their own thing . You get me . Everybody has their own things that they believe in , and I respect it . I respect what you believe . I'm not saying Against it and don't get me wrong . I've looked other places . I've tried to find other ways To try to get some knowledge Of certain things . But when I learn about God and about Jesus , things make sense and the other ones don't . Well , how and what not , that's a whole other conversation . But I hope I push for you guys to be able to maybe try to find it and read about it and see where you want to find it . If you have questions , you know , try to find those answers Because , man , I'm telling you , I've been in some situations where I'm like man , how am I going to get out of this ? But I make it out , and sometimes not by my own strength , sometimes not by my own wisdom , my own knowledge . No , I do believe that you know god helps those that find them .

Speaker 1 2:12

And today's podcast I want to share with you guys something . It's alone my wife's not here today , I know , I know but I wanted to share something that I was able to share at my church and it's a message and I love this message . I promise it's going to be quick for you guys , but I want you to hear this message and see what you can get out of it , see how you can apply it to your life . How can this help you ? Maybe you're going through a situation where you're in a storm and you just find no exit . You find no way out , but I hope this message really gives you some help . I hope this message gives you courage and strength , those that you don't believe you never had , those that you don't believe you never had . I believe truly that you will leave today , from listening to this , with some type of good feeling , let's say Some type of positivity .

Speaker 1 3:17

So let me talk to you guys about something how do we find God's peace ? God allows us to find his peace through any storm . Now we live in a life nowadays where peace is kind of hard . There is no peace , there's wars , there's famine , there's hunger . There's just so much negativity in the world and it's like where is this peace ? We want peace , you know , but the Bible tells us that God has promised us peace through any storm . So how do we find that peace ? There's a verse in 1 Timothy , 2 , 3 to 4 , that says For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God , our Savior , who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of truth . So God has a desire for everyone , all of us , to come to the knowledge of truth , to experience something more .

Speaker 1 4:20

And there's a story that's in 1995 . It's about a massive storm that was known as Hurricane Bertha and it hit the coast of Newfoundland . The person that tells the story , he says that he happened to be working on a fishing vessel on the northeast coast of St Anthony . He says it was the worst storm that he has ever encountered . He says that the storm sent many people in a panic and everyone rushed to safety , to the nearest harbor . He says that there were 80 miles from land when the hurricane hit and he says that his boat it seemed like it was a bubble that was being blown across the ocean . He says the wind on the port side was just hitting them so hard . So then he says that the captain called the crew and he told them hey , we're not going to use autopilot anymore , we've got to steer this ship by hand now . The wind was knocking us off course and the autopilot was absolutely useless . We would have never found the harbor if they trusted the autopilot . He said so the captain ordered everyone to keep the boat at 185 degrees because he knew that this path would bring us to safety For those that navigate on boats that have a boat . You navigate by degrees . So this captain knew that if you kept this boat at 185 degrees they were going to get to a harbor safely . So he says that he had listened to the captain carefully and he followed the instructions . But he also says that there were times during his turn at the wheel that he doubted , but he dared not trust his own judgment . Eventually , through all this , they made it , and so did all the other boats on the ocean . Yet he says some vessels had suffered severe damage , but no lives were lost , thank God .

Trusting in Jesus Through Life's Storms

Speaker 1 6:01

There's a book in the Bible Mark in chapter 4 , verse 35 to 41 , there's a similar story like this . It says that day , when evening came , he said to his disciples this is Jesus . Let us go over to the other side , leaving the crowd behind . They took him along just as he was In the boat . There was also other boats with him . A furious squall came up and the waves broke In the boat . There was also other boats with him . A furious squall came up and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped . Jesus was in a stern sleeping on a cushion . The disciples woke him and said to him teacher , don't you care if we drown . He got up , rebuked the wind and said to the waves quiet , be still . Then the wind died down and it was completely calm . He said to his disciples why are you so afraid ? Do you still have no faith ? They were terrified and asked each other listen to this . They said who is this ? Even the wind and the waves obey him .

Speaker 1 7:05

Isn't it fascinating to hear stories of people who have suffered tragic events . Someone makes it out of a landslide alive . Someone survives a car crash . Someone is alive after days at sea . We are never promised a physically come out alive , but we know survival in our hearts if we trust in Jesus . So what I want us to learn today is that there is a spiritual survival through any storm that life throws our way , when believers know these three things right who their captain is . Two , when they trust his lead in . And three , when they realize how much he cares , right . So when you know who their captain is , when you trust his lead in and you realize how much he cares , they will have the faith that they need to ride out their storm . So point one who is this captain ? So let's look at the situation here .

Speaker 1 8:07

The disciples were told to go over to the other side . Jesus was with them in the ship . They did not know that their survival was due to the fact that Jesus was in the vessel with them . How can we experience peace in the storm of our lives ? Think about this . The answer is simple . How can we experience peace in the storm of our lives ? Right , think about this . The answer is simple we must have Jesus on board .

Speaker 1 8:32

Many people are uncomfortable with Jesus on their ship . Sometimes we want to be our own pilot . We don't want to answer to a captain or take orders . We want to be at the captain's wheel and chart our own course for our own life . But , friends that are listening , I can assure you that you will never make it to safety on your own . You won't . As far as we can get in our career , we will get to a point where we think we have it all , but still things will not make sense . Look about the people that have had it all and they've lost their lives to to some type of addiction or something . There's always something missing in our lives . We're always looking for something else , so we will never do this on our own .

Speaker 1 9:21

In the story , right , the captain on the boat ? Right ? He gave them the order to keep the vessel 185 degrees . What if the guy wanted to chart his own course ? In that situation , they probably wouldn't be here today . You see , someone on the boat has to be in charge . The captain gives the orders and the others must recognize that he knows what he is doing and obey him . We too need to listen to what Jesus has said . Through his word . He is the anchor to which we can hold . He wants to be the captain of our lives In the New Testament times . I want you to kind of picture it , this whole situation with the boats In the New Testament times .

Speaker 1 10:04

They say that some cities had a sandbar just outside the harbor . If a boat arrived there when there was a tide out , it couldn't get into the harbor . The crew would take the anchor and throw it over the sandbar into the harbor , and then it didn't matter if the winds came and beat against the boat , because they understood that when the tides came in , the ship would follow the anchor right into the harbor . So if jesus is our anchor and we grab on to jesus and jesus you're our anchor .

Speaker 1 10:35

We can go through so many situations in our life and we'll be hit to the left , to the right . We'll be pulled and dropped . We'll go through depressions , anxieties . We'll go through depressions , anxieties . We'll go through family issues , we'll go through relationship issues , but what Jesus is our anchor . We'll never lose sight of what is set for us in the future . We'll always come back to him because we're anchored to him . He is our anchor . Make him our anchor . Jesus is our anchor and Jesus lives in heaven . We can make him the captain of our lives . We can anchor in him . In doing so , we have the assurance that very soon the tide will rise and we will follow him safely into heaven's peaceful harbor . It doesn't matter how many storms we have to endure . Jesus said we are going to the other side . We must trust him and we must get there . Point number two Just trust the captain . Jesus said we are going to the other side . We must trust him and we must get there . Point number two just trust the captain .

Speaker 1 11:32

The storm that caught the disciples off guard came up quickly that day . The Sea of Galilee was well known for her sudden windstorms . Cold air would come down from the hills surrounding this huge body of water and collide with warmer air . As a result , a sudden storm would hit without any warning . Isn't that just like the storms that we encountered through our lives ? A financial storm , a business storm , a relationship storm , an illness or sudden death ? They all happen so quickly . There's no time prepare . I don't know about you guys , but I don't put in my calendar hey , august , so-and-so , this is going to happen . I'm going to come down with this type of sickness in my life or December of this year , I'm going to lose somebody that's close to me . These stuff don't . There is no timeline . Just like a storm , they just happen out of nowhere , with no time at all to prepare . In a matter of minutes , you are faced with an uncontrollable turmoil . We must remember that Just because we have Jesus on board , it doesn't mean that no storm will come , that Jesus had Jesus right there in person , asleep on a pillow , and yet they were still forced Faced with the storm .

Speaker 1 12:48

Some Christians believe nowadays that storms are strictly for unbelievers and that God is punishing them for their disobedience , as he did with Jonah in the old testament . This , however , is not always the case . You may be in the very center of God's will and still be in the middle of a raging storm . See , that's the problem . Nowadays , a lot of people , when they go to church or something you know , they think that the people in our church , they have it perfect , all these christians have it perfect . But that's not . That's not true at all .

Speaker 1 13:21

Just because I follow god and believe in God Doesn't mean that my life is going to be Simple and no problems . If anything , sometimes I feel like it could be more . We're still going to face storms in this life , even when we follow God . The disciples had Jesus in the boat and they still were facing a storm . So just because you decide to come to church and follow god , it doesn't mean all your problems are going to be fixed at once . But what happens is that sometimes god allows us to go through storms to make us stronger . Other times his motive may be to increase our faith . God may simply want to teach us the lesson that he taught the disciples that day to learn to trust him . The highest lesson that God wants to teach us is to trust him regardless . If everything made sense to our understanding , we would need no faith . Jesus did not say there is no storm , says I am here , do not toss , but trust . Look at it this way . I want to give you guys another illustration .

Speaker 1 14:34

The passengers on the train Were uneasy as they sped along Through the dark , stormy night . The lightning was flashing , black clouds were rolling and the train was traveling fast . The fear and tension among the passengers was evident . One little fellow , however , was sitting all by himself . He seemed utterly unaware of the storm or the speed of the train . He was amusing himself with a few toys . One of the passengers spoke to him Sonny , I see you are alone in the train . Aren't you afraid to travel alone on such a stormy night ? The boy looked up with a smile and he answered no , miss , I ain't afraid . My dad's the engineer . So , friends , we don't need to be afraid . Father , our god , he is our captain . We do not need to fear the storm that we encounter . We know that god , that god has our best interest in mind and he will stop the storm when he sees that we are sinking that boy in the train . That said my dad's the engineer . He knew that train could withstand any type of storm . He knew the speed that his dad made that train , he wasn't afraid , while all the other people were nervous and scared of the storm and the darkness of the storm and them being in that train , that anything could happen . That boy knew who the creator of that train was and he was not afraid . It is how we should be with God . We know who God is and , no matter the storm that we go through , we should understand that nothing , nothing will come in our way . Nothing would allow us to sink , nothing would allow us to perish .

Trusting God Through Life's Storms

Speaker 1 16:21

And point number three Jesus does care . I can just imagine the fear that gripped the minds of the disciples here . They were in the middle of a storm so fierce that their boat was filling up with water . They were frustrated as they tried to bail themselves out . There was no match for the storm and they knew it . I know the feeling of fear and frustration that grips you when you think you are sinking , either physically or spiritually . And it doesn't help either when you see someone else taking it easy and not trying to help you . Jesus wasn't afraid of the storm . He knew he possessed power over it , so he slept . The disciples , however , worked , worked so much , they were so afraid until finally they accused Jesus of not caring that they were about to perish . They asked God , don't you care ?

Speaker 1 17:21

How many people listening to this podcast right now have asked themselves that God don't you care ? This is such an honest and horrible and painful cry . I have asked that one before Many times , and I'm sure you have as well . It's been screamed countless of times by a mother who weeps over a stillborn child . It's been screamed countless of times from a husband who was torn from his wife by a tragic accident . It's been screamed countless of times by the tears of an eight-year-old as his tears fall on his dad's casket . The question wails God don't you care ? Why me , why my friend , why my business ? Don't you care ? It's a timeless question , one that has been asked literally by every person that has walked this earth . There has never been a president , a worker , a businessman who hasn't asked it . There has never been a soul who hasn't wrestled with this aching question Does my God care , or is my pain God's great mistake ?

Speaker 1 18:40

As the winds howled and the sea raged , the impatient and frightened disciples screamed their fear at the sleeping Jesus . Teacher , don't you care that we are about to die ? He could have kept on sleeping . He could have told them to shut up , or he could have impatiently jumped up and angrily dismissed the storm . He could have pointed out their immaturity bite he didn't . Instead , with all the patience that only one who cares can have , he answered the question . He hushed the storm so the shivering disciples wouldn't miss the response . Jesus answered once and for all the aching dilemma of man when is God when I hurt ? Well , he is listening and healing hurt ? Well , he is listening and healing . That's where he is and he does care .

Speaker 1 19:34

So , for all of you listening today , god does care . God cares tremendously about your life . So you might ask yourself what kind of God is this ? Surely it's not a God we should doubt . Having calmed the seas and stilled the winds , jesus turned to his disciples and asked why are you afraid ? Where is your faith ? Does God care ? He most certainly does care , far more than any of us can imagine . But the real question that we must we must ask ourselves today is not does god care ? The question we have to ask ourselves is this do we trust that god has power over life and death ? Do we have the faith to trust him ? With our life ? There is spiritual survival through any storm that life throws our way . When believers understand who their captain is , trust his leadership and realize how much he cares , they will have the faith they need to ride out any storm .

Speaker 1 20:47

So , fellow friend and family member , or anyone listening , I know this podcast may be a little different , but I want to motivate you today Because right now , life may be amazing for you and you might not be going through anything and everything seems good . But unfortunately , we live in a dark world where things happen . We lose people , we get sick . Maybe they told you you have cancer and right now you're depressed and you see no way out . Maybe your father or mother just died , or your significant other , your husband or your wife , or maybe you lost a child and you don't know what to do and you're in this storm of emotions and you're going back and forth and no one can really give you the advice that you need .

Speaker 1 21:42

Maybe you've been given a couple of months left to live and you're asking yourself why God , why me ? But I want to invite you today to To tell yourself God , I trust you . I don't know whether it's going to lead me , I don't know what it's going to do , but this is my faith , this is what my journey is . Trust you . I don't know whether it's going to lead me , I don't know what it's going to do , but this is my faith . This is what my journey is . This is what it's going to conclude . This is how it's supposed to go . Show me why . Show me why I have to go through this . Make God your captain . Trust in his leadership and you're going to realize and see how much he cares . You're going to get through your chemotherapy . You're going to get through anything that you go through With a strength that you never knew you had .

Speaker 1 22:42

Maybe you're grieving a loss and it's been years and you're still dealing with it . But think about yourself how far you still made it . It's strange sometimes that we don't see or that we don't realize . So I hope this was A word of encouragement For you guys , and I hope you guys can . If you want to believe in in the way I've said it here today or not , I I truly don't still really want the best for all you guys . I really want you guys to .

Speaker 1 23:17

I hate seeing people in pain , I hate seeing people in trouble , and even myself . I going to go through things in my life that I'm not going to understand . I'm still going through things in my life that I don't even understand . There's times that I'd rather just find a way out . A lot of people do that nowadays . Oh well , you seem weak . I've had friends that they seem like the strongest people . I know you'll never even notice , but when something comes over your life to try to destroy you , you can be the strongest person in the world . You can put up the biggest mask in the world that you're the toughest person . But when that disease of Trying to get rid of your life comes to your life , it is very strong . Coming from seeing people in the military , where we've seen the highest rate of suicide , sometimes , if you serve , then you're going through a situation .

Speaker 1 24:22

I want you to know that there is hope , to not give up . Don't quit . Don't let that come over you and try to destroy you . There is somebody that can help you out and his name is Jesus , but you gotta trust him . Your life does matter . Your life is worth something . That's what God wants to tell you today .

Faith and Trust in God

Speaker 1 24:49

Do we trust that God has power over life and death ? Do we have the faith to trust Him with our life ? That's what I want to ask you . I trust God with all my heart , no matter the situation that comes my way , I can truly just put my trust in Him . Well , how are you going to trust in something that you don't see ? Of course it's hard to do that . Of course it's hard to trust in something that you don't see , someone that we've never seen . But that is where he tests our faith , and I truly believe that he will come back one day and he will talk to us about that faith that we had . So have faith . Friends that are listening , have faith .

Speaker 1 25:37

There's two things in this world . There's good and evil and I always try to talk about this and it's really the way I see things and sometimes the evil way , the easy way , the hard way , it just seems easier Because it's Live life . However you want , take things as they come . But when you're alone and your friends are not around , your family's not around , and it's time for you to go home and it's time for you to go to bed , and you sit there in silence and you think about all the problems going on in your life and there's no one there except you and yourself , those sometimes are our hardest battles . Sometimes we don't want to share with other people what we're going through and when we go out with our friends , we put our smile and we just make it seem like everything is fine and we hold all those issues and all those problems in until they build and build and build , until eventually you realize I can't do this no more . But there is somebody listening and there is somebody that wants to help you In your situations . So I appreciate you guys for listening .

Speaker 1 26:54

I know this podcast was a little different , but I wanted to encourage you guys . I promise my wife will be here in the next one , or maybe someone else . Maybe we'll have someone invited . I guess we'll have to wait and see . But when I made this podcast it was for that , because I I try to think of so many ways where to go with this podcast and and what to do .

Speaker 1 27:17

But if this message can get to this , to this uh , through this podcast can get to somebody's life somewhere , wherever it is , and they're in this storm and they have no way out , and if this message can help that person Get out of that storm , I don't care . If it's just one person , I don't care , but it's a message that helped me , it's a message that Took me out's a message that took me out of a dark place that I was in , where I was lost , and all I did was have fake smiles with friends and covered up with trying to be funny , but it wasn't the purpose that God had for my life . So if this message could be of any help for anybody in the world , it made my day . Even if it's one person , it made my day and I don't want you thinking , oh , look at this guy . Who's this guy talking like he's perfect or not ? We know that . I'm not saying I'm perfect . I'm far from perfect , definitely not even close to being perfect , but we try each day to at least try to be a little bit more Like God , because there was only one perfect person in this world and his name was Jesus .

Speaker 1 28:41

Well , I don't know . Just do your history , do your history man , look it up , go try looking for him and come back to me and tell me how it goes . But I promise you , if you go out looking for him , he will show up , you will see him , you will feel him , but he's not going to come looking for us . He's a generous God . He lets us live life however he wants . He's not going to come looking for us . He's a generous God . He lets us live life however he wants . He's not going to force us to go and worship him and be with him . He's not going to force nobody . He's a generous God . He's going to give you the opportunity to live your life however you want . But give it a try . Go looking for him and tell me how it goes , because I promise you , I guarantee you that you will find it . I guarantee you Look and you shall find so .

Speaker 1 29:43

Thank you guys that stuck around , that listened to this . If this message was of a blessing for you , please share it with a friend or family member that you know and don't forget to . You know , follow the notifications for these podcasts on my Instagram JeffsWorldsPodcast . You know you can find me there . I'll post stuff here and there , but , man , I want to connect with you guys . I want to help you guys . You guys can help me . And if you don't agree with my message at all , whatever this message was , if you just say this makes absolutely no sense and you want to talk about it , let's do it . I'll be more than happy to sit down with you Over coffee , because , yes , I drink coffee now , and let's sit down with you and over coffee , because , yes , I drink coffee now and let's sit down and talk . But hey , thank you guys . Have a blessed week .

Sharing Stories and Special Guests

Speaker 1 30:33

Thank you for listening in . Stay tuned for more episodes to come . I've got some , some special things cooking up in here . In here I got some special guests that , some stories that we want to hear . So I invite you all to to stay tuned in and get connected . But thank you all , man , I love you guys . Thank you for being so supportive and thank you for listening in . Don't forget to share this with your friends . Love you guys . Don't forget Jeff's world , the extremist ideas . Love you guys .