When Jesus Sends You into The Storm

The storms of life are inevitable, but guess what? So is Jesus and His being with us in them. Though there are many times where we can't see Him, discern His presence, or understand why we are going through what we are going through, Jesus is always with us. Because He's promised to never leave us or forsake us. However there are times that our lack of discerning His person or presence comes from a hardening of heart. 

In today's episode, I share what the Lord taught me about my own hardness of heart through the disciples' experience in the storm in Mark 6. I'm preaching to myself today, friends, reminding myself (and you) that Jesus has always provided for me, He's never been late, and He has been with me in the midst of every storm I've faced. And He's with you too. I pray you find encouragement no matter what difficulties, hurts, griefs, sorrows, or even joys you're facing today. 

Scriptures referenced:

• Mark 6 (v.45-52 is the main focus)
• Matthew 7:24-27
• Luke 6:46-49
• Hebrews 13:5
• Mark 5:25-45
• John 4
• John 11:5-6

You can find me on Instagram / Threads

Transcript

Carrie: 0:09

Hey friends, welcome to episode 10 of Honey from the Rock, and I am so glad you're here. I am also very glad that I'm here because I had the world's grossest icky sickness last week. I had an upper respiratory thing and probably had a really mild case of strep and I lost my voice and was generally just completely exhausted last week. So, which means I I mean I didn't record and I um, you know, just was generally pretty pretty useless last week. So I'm glad to be feeling better, glad to be back in the swing of things, and looking forward to what the Lord has for us this episode. And, you know, I bet you can probably guess that I'm gonna tell you that I'm really excited about it because I am.

Carrie: 0:56

Um, but I am not only really excited about this episode, but I have been planning and putting some things together for 2026. And, friends, I am so looking forward to this coming year for this podcast. I am going to be introducing you to some dear friends throughout the year. I'm going to be doing some interviews, um, not every week, but um just sprinkled throughout the year, sharing um the stories of some incredible people who I have the the pleasure and honor of knowing. Um they've had incredible impact on my life. And I think that their stories and their walks with Jesus are so beautiful and so moving. Uh, so I hope that when I when those episodes come, which I will let you know, um that they will bless you immensely. Um, and just other fun things that I'm looking to plan for 2026 and grow honey from the rock and just see what Jesus has has in store.

Carrie: 2:00

So I hope that you will keep joining me on this journey as I just share the things that the Lord's teaching me out of his word, things that he has shown me of himself as I've walked with him throughout my life. And, you know, my prayer is again just every time I sit behind this uh microphone, that the Lord would get glory, that Jesus would be honored and lifted up, uh, that the Father would be honored and lifted up, the Holy Spirit honored and lifted up, and that we would each grow um with each episode. And I can tell you from my own experience that what I'm sharing isn't just stuff that I'm specifically preparing for the podcast, but it's always born out of things that the Lord's either doing in my life or things that He's caused me to remember that he has done in my life. And so every time I sit down and hit record, I just I feel the responsibility and the honor that it is to share Jesus in this way. And I'm so thankful for the opportunity and and grateful um to each and every listener and subscriber that I have.

Carrie: 3:07

So today's episode, I am diving into the Lord is amazing. And I just I love when when you're reading the word, and again, I think I've mentioned this before, he just he catches your your attention on something in a way that you haven't read it before, or he weaves together something that you learned in the past, but he just he builds on it, right? Like when Jesus talks in in Matthew 7 and in Luke 6 about building on the foundation, you know, the person who is wise, you know, hears the words of Jesus and does them as like the wise man who builds his house upon the rock. And and in both of those chapters, Jesus talks about just continuing to build on the foundation that he is. And so I love it when the Lord pieces his word together and when he uh opens, opens his word to us and and shines a spotlight sometimes into our soul to say, hey, this is an issue and we need to deal with it. And sometimes it's a really beautiful little flicker of a candle that says, Hey, I want to come in, I want to be with you, let's commune together. Uh, but this today was more of the spotlight into the soul kind of thing. And um I know, again, I've mentioned before that there are a lot of people that I know where 2025 has just been, has just been so difficult, full of suffering, full of difficulty, full of loss, full of grief. Uh, and and I've talked a lot about the comfort of the Lord and his goodness and his care when we are a broken reed and a smoldering wick, you know, that he's not going to break us and he's not going to put us out. Uh, he deals with us tenderly and gently so many times. And yet he also desires to see us uh bolstered in our faith, that our faith would become strong, that it would not be little, uh, but it would be strong in him. And so that was an area where I really felt the Lord not only ministering to me and encouraging me in my own journey of grief, but also challenging me a little bit. So, what I want to share with you today is actually out of Mark 6, and Mark 6 uh is an amazing chapter. There is so much that happens in this chapter, and really, I mean, there's so much that happens in the book of Mark. I think you can tell that it was dictated by Peter, just the quickness of it, the boom, boom, boom. I mean, the the word immediately is used a gajillion, that's an exaggeration, but a gajillion times in Mark, and there's just action, action, action, action, just showing what's going on. And uh there's there's just there's so much goodness, so much goodness, obviously, in all of all of scripture. But I particularly, I really do love the gospel of Mark.

Carrie: 6:06

And I was reading uh today, actually, my mom, my brother, and I are doing an advent devotional together on uh YouVersion, and was reading for our reading today was Mark 6. And as I read it, the Holy Spirit really stirred my soul as I read the whole chapter. And and don't worry, I want to um assuage any fears that I'm gonna sit down and read read the whole chapter to you. I am not. I am gonna summarize it for you, though, and because there is a particular portion that the Lord highlighted when the disciples are in the storm. And this isn't the storm that they're in in Mark 4 when Jesus is asleep on the cushion in the captain's place, but this is the one where Jesus walks on the water to them. But the buildup to this and the lessons that I think Jesus wants me to learn, I don't know if he wants you to learn them, but I pray he encourages you in them, is about our faith. It's about remembering and it's about being aware when through the difficulties of life and sometimes the monotony of life, and when life is just okay and you're just moving along, or it's difficult and there's hard things that sometimes we have a tendency, or even in the joys, let me actually just add that addendum really quickly. Even in the joys, when things are going good and the Lord is using us, and and his power and his goodness are moving in our life in a in a really apparent way, we can harden our heart towards him and not harden our heart in a way of judgment where you know the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart. But we can we can become callous towards certain things and it can actually hinder our understanding. And that was something that the Lord really, really showed me in Mark 6 today. And so I want to read just this chunk out of Mark 6, excuse me, and then kind of give you the context for Mark 6, and then just share some things that that I learned while I was studying, things that just really ministered to me and also really convicted me.

Carrie: 8:24

So Mark 6, 45 through four uh through 52, and again I'm reading out of the NASB. So it says, "and immediately Jesus had his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, to Beth seda, while he himself dismissed the crowd. And after saying goodbye to them, he left for the mountain to pray. When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on land. Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. And he intended to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought that it was a ghost, and they cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke with them and said to them, Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid. And then he got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped, and they were utterly astonished, for they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their hearts were hardened."

Carrie: 9:33

And the question I want to ask you as I dig into this is what storms are you facing in your life, and where do you think Jesus is in them? Because it's really, really important to note that just like in the storm in Mark 4, Jesus sends his disciples into this storm, and that is really significant because they were walking the will of the Lord, they were obedient to the Lord, and Jesus sends them to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, right? And he knows that a storm is gonna come. Once again, he knows that another storm is going to come, but Jesus sends them directly into it. And so that sometimes is not something that we really like to consider in comfortable Western Christianity, but Jesus loves to use the storms of our life, and he was really making a point to the disciples, and he was really making a point to me as I studied this. You know, the disciples were fishers of men now, right? They, but they knew the Sea of Galilee, they had fished on this sea probably their entire lives, and they were familiar of it. I mean, the Sea of Galilee is infamous for the storm systems that move through it. They had survived many such storms, but this was this was a little different, and there were things that I was curious about as I read this passage, but before I really dig too far into it, I I want to set the stage a little bit.

Carrie: 11:20

So, Mark 6, like I said, has a ton of things going on in it. The chapter opens with Jesus being in his hometown in Nazareth and scripture telling us that he can't do many miracles there because of their unbelief. And in fact, Jesus in his hometown with his home crowd, it's it's one of the only places that the gospels tell us that Jesus marvels at something. I think there are a couple of other places where I think with the centurion that he marvels at the faith of the centurion and says, I've I've not seen faith like this in all of Israel. And Nazareth is on the complete end of the spectrum, other end of the spectrum than the centurion, because Jesus marvels at their unbelief. And it's where the saying of a prophet is not without honor except in his home country or his hometown comes from.

Carrie: 12:16

And so after that episode, and Jesus leaves, he he then sends the 12 apostles out, sends the 12 disciples out, giving them authority to preach the gospel, to heal the sick, to cast out demons. But he tells them, you are going to go out, and but you are not going to take a staff, you're not going to take an extra coat, you're not going to take money, you are going to depend on the hospitality of people in the cities where I send you to preach. But really, what he was teaching them was when you go out in my name, when I send you as my ambassador, as my minister, I will make sure you are provided for. It might not always be in the way you think that you need or it might not look the way you thought it was going to but through this you will also learn to trust Me, you know. And so the disples go out and they preach repentance and they're healing the sick and they're casting out demons.

Carrie: 12:55

Then abruptly, Mark shifts to John the Baptist. And this is where we learn the fate of John the Baptist being beheaded by Herod for being a righteous man, for being a prophet of the Lord who goes before Jesus to declare His way. But also for standing against Herod in boldness by telling him it was wrong for him to marry his brother's wife. I believe I have that right. We know, Scripture tells us, Herodias hated John the Baptist. And so when she found the opening through the dancing of her daughter at Herod's birthday to get what she wanted, she took advantage of that. And so we see the end of, of John the Baptist's ministry.

Carrie: 12:55

And then Mark pops back to the disciples, and they return to Jesus and Jesus tells them to come away and rest, which they do. They get into a boat , and they rest in a secluded space by themselves. And then the miracle of Jesus feeding the 5,000 happens. Which interestingly enough, this is the only miracle, outside of the resurrection, recorded in all four gospels. Which I think is amazing and I think the Lord is making a statement with it, to say I am the provider. I will provide for you. And so He feeds 5,000 men with two fishes and five loaves, and He's challenging the disciples . You know, they're telling Him, "send these people away. They're hungry. We're tired, Jesus, essetially, fix this." And He turns and looks at them and says, "You give them something to eat." And Peter is like, "Two hundred denarii wouldn't feed all these people." And then Jesus shows what He can do with the little that we give Him, right? We offer what we have is not much, but the Lord in his mercy and in his graciousness and in his incredible provision takes what we offer and he is able to make much of it.

Carrie: 15:30

And then we enter into this scene where Jesus walks on the water, uh, seeing the disciples struggling in the midst of this ferocious storm. And the chapter ends with the boat landing in Gennesaret and Jesus being met by the crowd who bring their sick, you know, they were touching the fringe of his cloak, and everyone who touched the fringe of his cloak were healed.

Carrie: 15:54

So this section in Mark 6 is so interesting where Jesus walks on the water and there's so much happening. So the disciples have have gone out, they've preached the gospel, they've preached repentance, they've thrown out demons, they've healed the sick, and they've come back to Jesus, and now Jesus has done something else. They he they've watched him take two fish and five loaves of bread and break it in half and and turn it into a feast. Turn it into a feast. I mean, literally, scripture says that everybody ate and they were satisfied. And then the Lord commands the disciples to pick up twelve whole baskets of the broken pieces of bread and fish. So that the not only did Jesus provide enough for 5,000 men, and that's not counting women and children, but there was 12 baskets left over.

Carrie: 16:54

One thing I do love is that Mark notes that Jesus tells the disciples to get into the boat and start rowing. And then he dismisses the crowd and he says goodbye to them. And I don't know why, but I was telling my mom, I read that, and it just, there's just something so precious about it. Like the Lord didn't just, once he had provided a meal for these people, he wasn't just shaking the dust off his feet with them and saying, good riddance, and I'm glad I'm done with these people, but they were his people and he fed them and he took the time to say goodbye and then he went to pray.

Carrie: 17:28

And so Mark tells us that it's evening, literally in the Greek, the word evening signifying the time between like six and eight in at night. So not the depth of night, not yet, and not like you know, three or four o'clock in the afternoon, early evening. Uh, and then Mark also tells us that Jesus finally, he I say finally, but he goes out on the water at the fourth watch of the night, which this was the way of Romans uh keeping time. And so it was between 3 and 6 a.m. Jesus goes out to the water, and scripture tells us that he intends to pass them by, but uh the disciples see him, they're terrified because they think he's a ghost, and then he tells them to take courage, it's him, don't be afraid. And the storm stops. The storm stops when Jesus gets into the boat with the disciples. And the other thing that I think is interesting is when they were in the storm the first time, Jesus rebukes it, but this time he doesn't even say anything. He just gets into the boat, and when he gets into the boat, the storm stops. But but Mark tells us that the disciples couldn't understand all of these things because their hearts were hardened, they hadn't gained any insight into the incident of the loaves, but their hearts were hardened, they hadn't gained any understanding.

Carrie: 19:03

And so just some things that I want to point out that I think are so important is number one, Jesus sends his disciples into the storm and he holds himself back. He goes to pray, he goes to have time with the father, knowing that he is sending his disciples into this storm. And it's not a cruel thing. The Lord had a plan, he had something that he was going to teach his disciples, and and he was with the father. He was with the father, and it's such a picture of our life. There are things that we are sent into, there are things that happen to us that maybe Jesus didn't cause, like it wasn't his will. And then there are things, there are storms that we walk into that are absolutely his will, and only he knows the difference. And and oftentimes we may we may not come. To full understanding of the things that we walk into, but scripture tells us that if we love the Lord and we keep his commandments and we obey him, we know that we're in his will, we know that we walk with him.

Carrie: 20:10

The disciples should have had the assurance that they were in the will of the Lord, even though they were in the midst of this storm. And it wasn't the first time it had happened to them. I mean, I read it and it's like, well, come on, disciples. And then I have to pause and be like, Well, come on, Carrie, because how many times has this happened in my own life? Where struggles and situations and requirements of obedience and things have come, and I'm wrestling with it and I'm crying out to the Lord. And it's like, Carrie, how have you not learned how faithful the Lord is? How have you not, how have you forgotten his provision? How have you forgotten his faithfulness and his working all things together for your good because you love him and you're called according to his purpose? How have you forgotten that the Lord promised to never leave you or forsake you? So why are you in the midst of this storm? And and and these storms haven't been small, they've been big, they've been difficult. But again, it's it's like, why in the midst of the storm are you are you focusing on what you can see?

Carrie: 21:22

You know, it's there's that saying that I've heard in church so many times. You don't tell uh God how big your storm is, tell the storm how how big your God is. And you know, it's one of those things that people like to throw out, but there's truth in it. There's truth in it. There are times where I get so myopic and so focused on what's just right in front of me and the intensity of what I feel and what I'm wrestling with and how difficult life has been, or the things that I'm struggling with, or the sin that I'm trying to overcome that I keep falling into, and that I actually forget to go to the one, or I'm I am reluctant even sometimes to go to the one who not only makes the storm cease, but even I think sometimes even more importantly, is actually with me in the midst of the storm, who comes to me in the midst of the storm, and his who is the only one who can get me out of it, who is the only one who can accomplish everything that I need in the midst of it, and who is the only one who loves me enough to send me into it.

Carrie: 22:32

And so there is there's just so much in these short few verses, and so one thing that I would remembered as I was reading this story is so the Sea of Galilee isn't Galilee, isn't like a massive, massive lake. Um, from the top, from north to south, I believe, I want to say it's about eight to ten miles long, and then from the width from eats east to west, it's about four to five miles wide, and they were right in the middle of it. And from how scripture talks about this, uh, some commentators, some writers think that Jesus, um Jesus was kind of like he couldn't actually see them. Like it talks about Mark says that the Lord saw them um in in the midst of the sea, but and so some people think it's symbolic of his omniscience, but I'm like for if Jesus was up on the mountain and he was praying, I think he could probably see them, he could probably see the storm come over the lake and know that his disciples were in the midst of it.

Carrie: 23:44

And so Jesus knew again, Jesus knew they were out there, he'd sent them into the storm again deliberately, and again, I think it's significant that this time he wasn't in the boat with them like he was in Mark 4. And so Jesus is he's praying, and then in the fourth watch of the night, he decides to get up and go to them, and and the language that Mark uses to talk about this storm is so intense. So, again, shout out to Bible Hub. Again, not an ad, just my favorite app to do word studies and to dig in and to read commentaries. But I was doing a word study on this, and so the disciples are rowing and they are straining. And literally, what this means is a tormenting trial. Thayer says it means to be harassed or distressed. When I read um topical lexicon, it says this word for, which again, I'm you guys don't want to hear me try and pronounce Greek. So this word appears 12 times in the New Testament and it's used in different ways, uh, both in the gospel, in Peter's epistles, and in uh Revelation. So whether describing pounding waves or the inner anguish of the righteous, the dread of demons, or the everlasting agony of the impenitent, the verb consistently conveys severe distress that tests the object to the limit. And in Mark 6, where we're at, you know, the disciples are buffeted by these waves. It shows that hostile forces that batter but cannot sink those who are under Christ's care. But again, I mean, we're buffeted. And it's it's the very example that I was talking about in Matthew 7 and Luke 6, where Jesus says that the rains come, the storms come, and and these houses are buffeted, they are pounded against, but only one stands. And it's the one whose whose house is built on the foundation that is Jesus Himself, his gospel, his life, the whole of scripture, and who Jesus is, what he's accomplished on the cross. And then not only is the storm, are they straining, but then the winds oppose them. And this word in the Greek highlights the reality of opposition in multiple forms. And scripture consistently portrays such adversity as neither surprising or insurmountable. Instead, it becomes an arena for the demonstration of Christ's power, the vindication of godly conduct, and the advancement of the gospel. And I love this. So the winds are in opposition to the disciples, but that word opposition still shows that even though it is absolutely adversity and it is coming against them, and to them, it probably felt insurmountable in the midst of what they were going through. But scripture tells us that when we are in the Lord and we are walking in his ways and trials and afflictions come, that they are not insurmountable. They are not unovercomable, for lack of a better way to put it, but that we, yes, we are more than conquerors if we are in Christ Jesus. And many, many times that looks so different than what we think it should look like.

Carrie: 27:37

That's what I was talking about earlier. The the disciples had experienced mountaintops with the Lord, right? They had they had been given authority from Jesus, they had gone to cast out demons, heal the sick, preach the gospel of repentance. They'd done all of these things, and yet they and they had seen miracles, they had seen Jesus take paltry loaves and small fish and make it into a feast for a crowd. And yet, in the midst of this storm, they could not remember, they could not see, they hadn't gained any understanding of the provision of Jesus from what he had just done.

Carrie: 28:24

And so often I find myself in that disposition in my own life. It still catches me unawares. I've walked with the Lord for a very, very long time, and I still sometimes fall into this same disposition. And through this and through studying these verses in Mark, I've asked the Lord to help me recognize it, to be faster, to recognize the temptation of the devil, to recognize my own hardness of heart where I refuse to or am slow to tell myself the truth, to preach the gospel to myself, and instead wallow in how hard the storm is, wallow in the buffeting and the difficulty. And and the Lord knows, Jesus knows how hard these things are. There is nobody we will ever meet in the whole of our life who knows the difficulty of suffering and affliction and betrayal and grief and loss and death and all of it better than Jesus Christ. Better than the Father or better than the Holy Spirit. And I know there is a time and a place to give ourselves space to wrestle through hard things and to work through hard things.

Carrie: 29:41

But friends, I feel the conviction from the Lord and the reminder from him. I mean, Ecclesiastes tells us that there is a time for everything under heaven. And sometimes we extend too much time in the processing of the things when the Lord would have us move into, yes, this situation is hard. Yes, you are being buffeted on every side, but move to the truth. And it's what I was saying to my mom earlier today. When in my life has Jesus Christ never not shown up for me? I know a double negative, but it's true. I there is no point in my life that I can look and say, man, Lord, you didn't show up for me there. And if I feel like maybe he didn't, those expectations are on me because I have limited human expectations about what the Lord will do. But everything that Jesus Christ has done for me, and every time he has shown up for me, and every single thing that he has walked me through, he has never been late. And he has never not shown up in my storm, and he has never not helped me. Ever. Ever. And I need to look at the storms as the opportunity to stand in the truth and to stand in the faithfulness of my God and to stand in the knowledge that He has been, He is, and He always will be my perfect provider. Always Jehovah Jirah, the Lord is my provider. He has always stepped in right on time. And every lesson that I have learned in the midst of wrestling and fighting and struggling in my storms has caused me to know my God more.

Carrie: 31:43

And I know, I know that there is so much that every single one of us is facing. Sometimes we face it silently and nobody has any clue what we're going through. Sometimes it's it's big and it's messy and people see it and it's devastating. But friends, I want to tell you whatever you are walking through, let's shift our perspective from looking at the storm and wondering why Jesus hasn't shown up and why we're we're thrashing and we're rowing and we're striving to say, Lord, I don't know when you are going to come, but I know you will. Lord, though you slay me, yet I will trust you. Lord, this in this situation in my life, in this situation in my family, for this friend or for this acquaintance or in this ministry, you showed up, you provided, you healed, you spoke, you disciplined, you moved, your truth became sight to my heart. Lord, I'm gonna keep declaring and declaring and declaring that you are good. And no matter how long you choose to let this storm last in my life, I will not doubt you.

Carrie: 32:59

And what strikes me, and a commentator pointed this out, is that Jesus told those disciples to collect the 12 baskets of the broken pieces of bread and fish, and he they took them with them in the boat. They had literal evidence, literal evidence of the provision and goodness and care and consistency of character and call of Jesus Christ. And they still doubted. And friends, I want to encourage you and know again, this is an episode where I am preaching to myself. I am preaching to myself to say, instead of looking at how hard my storm is, am I looking around and saying, Lord, here you've provided for me. I have breath in my lungs. I have a family who loves me. I have friends who care about me. I have work in your kingdom to do. Lord, will I go to the word and say, and my mom challenged me to do this this last week when I was wrestling with something? I'm gonna go back to the word, Lord, and I'm gonna read the truth about who you say I am in you. I'm gonna keep telling the truth to my weak and tired flesh. I'm gonna tell the truth in the face of the devil. And Lord Jesus, even though I am weak, I am asking for your strength to stand firm in the storm that you have sent me into, into the storm that I am walking through, into the things that maybe, Lord, you did not cause, but you allowed. Lord, how whatever it is that I am in, I am going to trust you. I am going to trust you.

Carrie: 34:48

And and I think this this episode shows this snapshot that we're given by Mark. I mean, those those men were rowing against this storm for like eight to ten hours. This was no measly, measly storm. And yet the Lord was trying to teach them, he was going to give them fresh revelation of himself, he was going to strengthen their faith, he was going to absolutely remind them and not in a cruel way because the Lord is not cruel to us, he's not cruel to us, but he was going to require of them that their faith go to a deeper level, to a deeper level, and friends. That is what the Lord is calling us to. I want to encourage you with these things.

Carrie: 35:58

And and the last thing that I want to really say and show that the Lord showed me was I think so many times we struggle in the storms of our life because we can't tangibly discern the Lord, we can't feel his presence, or ways that he's previously talked to us or communicated to us, or or ways that he's caught our attention in the word. He's not doing those things anymore. And all of a sudden we're in the wilderness, we're in the desert, we're in the storm, and we can't discern him. And and and when the storm is elongated, when the trial is elongated, and again, this is this is a confession. We we've I have fallen into the place where I'm like, Lord, where are you? Where are you? You're not here with me, which is a lie, because again, he has promised to never leave us or forsake us. So just because I can't tangibly discern his presence doesn't mean he's not with me.

Carrie: 36:57

But how many times, and I want us to really consider this how many times was Jesus consistently told that he was where he shouldn't be? And I have a few examples. People thought that Jesus should have been in a place where he wasn't because he was off doing what the Father had called him to do. At the age of 12, Joseph and Mary losing their minds. Oh my gosh, we've lost the Son of God. He is not here, he's been gone for three days. We don't know where he is. You know, they're searching in Jerusalem for three days. Son, where have you been? We've been searching all over for you. Your mother and I have been worried. And Jesus says to them, Didn't you know where I would be? Didn't you know where I would be? Peter trying, you know, Jesus prophesies his crucifixion, and Peter says, By no means, Lord, he tries to stop him from going to the cross. Walking on water, literally sleeping in the boat when the disciples are saying, Master, you should be up here with us. Jesus, why aren't you here? Why aren't you where I think you should be? The woman with the issue of blood, right? Jarius had showed up first, or Jairus, however you say his name, asking Jesus to heal his daughter who was dying. And he turns to go with him. And then the woman with the issue of blood touches the hem of his garment, and there's a whole interlude where Jesus talks to her. And Jarius is probably standing there, like, uh Lord, I told you my daughter is dying. Can we get a move on? And and in one of the gospels, a uh a servant of Jarius shows up and says, Don't bother the master any longer because your daughter's dead. Right? I mean, Jarius may have been like, Why are you talking to this woman? Hey, this woman's unclean. She's got an issue of blood, she's touched you, but I was here first. Right, right? You should be with my daughter, healing her. Why are you dealing with this woman? When I asked you first.

Carrie: 39:03

Eating with tax collectors and sinners. I mean, how many times did the Pharisees say to the disciples of Jesus, why does your master do this? Why does your rabbi do this? John tells us that Jesus waited two days because he loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. He waited two days when he heard that Lazarus was sick. Literally, literally, Jesus coming down and becoming a man, becoming fully human and fully God, and being born in a manger, poor, poor, the poorest of the poor. Places where people think God should not be. Right? We want him to come, you know. Israel wanted him to come as a military king, and we want him to come as someone who is just going to consistently make sure that life is smooth and easy for us, or that, you know, whatever expectation we have of. Him. So often Jesus is in places that we would think, you know what, Lord, you shouldn't be there. Why aren't you here with me? Where are you? You are in some place where I think you shouldn't be, maybe. Being born as a baby to a virgin, to a virgin. There ain't no reason that baby should have been in there except by the will of the Lord and by the shadowing of the Holy Spirit over Mary. The woman at the well. The disciples leave to go get him something to eat and come back. And Jesus is talking to a woman alone, a Samaritan woman, by the way. And John tells us, and we didn't say anything to him because we didn't understand.

Carrie: 40:47

We often accuse Jesus, and I don't know, even know that sometimes we do it cognitively. I know I have. But we have this expectation that when we pray and ask the Lord that he's going to show up right away. But what if the Lord waits like he waited to show up for Mary and Martha and Lazarus? What if he waits as if as with Jarius, where we've asked the Lord to come and do something for us, and yet we see him not answering our prayer in the time or way that we want him to, but we see him doing things for other people. What's our response going to be? What's our response going to be? Will we give in to the lies that the devil wants to whisper to us that he doesn't care, that he is a harsh taskmaster, that he is callous, that he's capricious, that he promised he would never be with you or he would always be with you and never forsake you, but he didn't really mean that. And that has an asterisk next to it. Oh, but he's gonna hide the reasons why he's not with you this time? Are we gonna give into our flesh, which is which is weak and it is dust, and and just decide that, you know, following Jesus or being obedient is is just not worth it, or give ourselves license to do things where, you know, well, if the Lord, you know, if the Lord doesn't care about this, then I'm just gonna do this and whatever.

Carrie: 42:13

Or will we stand firm? Will we, even in our struggle and wrestle, will we make a conscious decision to not look at the waves of our storm, but to look around and see the provision of Jesus in our life? Will we declare with even with broken hearts and bruised hands and and sorrowful spirits that today, this is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be glad in it. Will we choose to make gratitude and thankfulness, weapons of worship? Will we show a dark and and dying world what it means to suffer well with the Lord?

Carrie: 43:14

And so I I want to encourage you, as the Lord has has helped me, and I've had to really say to myself, examine my heart. Where have I calloused my heart and I don't have understanding about a situation or something that I'm going through because my heart is calloused? Where am I lacking understanding? Where am I looking at the storm? And and even if I don't say it out loud, acting like and thinking that my storm is bigger than my God. But above all, friends, especially in this Advent season, look around at what Jesus has provided for you. Not just a way out of hell, but a place in his kingdom. Not just an excuse to, you know, be righteous, quote unquote, or be a holy roller, but to have the righteousness of Jesus imparted to us. To not just enjoy the creation of the Lord, but to know the creator. And to be able to joyfully and with strong crying and tears sometimes, as Paul says, proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God, to proclaim Jesus Christ, to know him and make him known.

Carrie: 44:41

Jesus sees the storm that you are in, and he, in his own purpose and his own will, he has plans for your storm. He wants to teach you that he can do the impossible in your situation because he wants to send you, as I read from one commentator saying, he wants to send you to do the impossible in him in the lives of other people. Friends, no matter what we are facing and no matter what we are walking through, may the cry of our heart and may the knowledge of the of the Lord, may the Holy Spirit stick it in us so strong and so true. With us, nothing is possible. But with the Lord, with Jesus Christ, everything is possible. Amen and amen.