0002 What Manner of Man is This?

What happens when you're attempting to obey God but a viscious storm arises sowing doubt about the spiritual value of the assignment?

In this episode of the Spiritual Strategies Podcast, Brittany and Eric take a deep dive into Mark 4:35–41, the powerful story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee. But instead of rushing past the familiar passage, they slow down and unpack the deeper spiritual lessons hidden within just a few verses.

Many believers assume that if they are walking in obedience, life should become easier. Yet Scripture shows us something different: sometimes resistance appears the moment obedience begins.

Why?

Through thoughtful discussion and biblical insight, Brittany and Eric explore how this passage reveals the difference between fear-driven reactions and faith-filled discernment. As the disciples panic in the middle of a violent storm, Jesus wakes up from a deep sleep and responds in a way that reveals something profound about spiritual authority, faith, and discernment.

This conversation looks beneath the surface of the story to examine what may really be happening in those moments when we face resistance. Is the storm always a sign that we missed God? Or could it sometimes be evidence that we are moving exactly where He told us to go?

Together, Brittany and Eric discuss how Jesus responds to the dangerous situation in three distinct ways:

 • He rebukes the wind, addressing the source of the attack
• He speaks peace to the sea, exercising authority over creation
• He challenges the disciples’ faith, revealing the deeper issue within the moment

These responses open the door to a larger conversation about spiritual maturity, discernment, and the role of faith in navigating life’s storms.

Listeners will also hear practical encouragement on how to strengthen spiritual awareness and grow in confidence during seasons of resistance. They will also learn to make decisions on a foundation of Scripture and to respond to fear with strong faith. 

In this episode, Brittany and Eric explore:

• Why storms often appear during moments of obedience
• What the disciples’ reaction reveals about fear and faith
• The deeper meaning behind Jesus rebuking the storm
• How spiritual discernment helps us understand difficult situations
• Why faith and fear cannot coexist
• How Scripture equips us to respond to life’s challenges 
• Displaying confidence regarding your godly assignment should not be viewed as a lack of compassion
• What it means to live with confidence in your assignment from God

If you have ever questioned whether a difficult season means you missed God, this conversation will encourage you to see your circumstances through a different lens.

Sometimes the storm isn’t proof that you took the wrong path instead it's confirmation that you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.

Join Brittany and Eric as they explore how faith, wisdom, and spiritual clarity can transform the way we face life’s storms.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Welcome to the Spiritual Strategies Podcast. Here we explore God's design, spiritual growth, and the strategies that heaven gives us to live healed, free, and on purpose. On this podcast, we take a deep dive into scripture, verse by verse, slowing down to hear what the Lord is really saying and how it applies to our lives today. I'm Brittany and I'm joined by my co-host Eric. How are you today, Eric?

SPEAKER_01 0:45

I'm just fabulous. Very eager to have this conversation with you. I'm grateful. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:51

Yes, we are excited. Today we're going to talk about what happens when obedience is followed by resistance. I know a lot about that and why the storm doesn't always mean that you missed God. I think this is going to be a very exciting topic, and we're going to dive into Mark 4. You know, off the top of my head, Eric, why did this stick out to you?

SPEAKER_01 1:14

Um I'm just eager to, I have such faith, let me put it that way, that when the Lord thought to put a passage in the Bible, it's up to me to trust him and to say, okay, what are you communicating here? So it's not just this passage. During our upcoming podcast, we'll have many other passages, but this particular one is um just caught my eye for us to speak about today. And I think it's packed with with uh with value for the beginning Christian, the new, just born again, and the most mature one of all. Uh depends. It just um it doesn't depend upon how long you've been in the faith. I think there's something in here for everyone. And so I'm just eager to get this conversation underway, trust me.

SPEAKER_00 2:11

Yes, definitely. I do remember when we were talking about this earlier, we were talking about how resistance comes during the obedience, not necessarily after or before, but it's like as soon as you start to obey, expect it. And that's what we're gonna be able to talk about here today. So let's dive into the passage. I will read Mark 4, verses 35 through 41.

SPEAKER_01 2:32

We do read out of the New King James Version, just let's just do 35 by itself to begin, because if we go too far too fast, I'm here to tell you um we're gonna miss some things. And that's what I used to do. I used to read six, eight, ten, twelve verses and go, yeah, good broad drama, let's move on. But no, if we pump the brakes and just look at one verse, sometimes there's something so rich in there that uh we would miss it otherwise. And this is what I was guilty of in years past. So if you would just read Mark 435 and then we'll talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

Perfect. Okay, Mark 435. On the same day when evening had come, he said to them, Let us cross over to the other side.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Okay, you know, a typical Christian would go, boring. Like, why are you slowing me down, Eric? You know, and Brittany, why are you so on the same day as what? Well, just prior to that, he had done a nice address to a big crowd. And uh and now he's done with that. So it what time of day was it? Evening. So he had already had a busy day. A lot of people might just want to take a rest. So when evening had come, he said to them, Who's that? His disciples, let's cross over to the other side. And what what they're doing is they're taking not just one boat, but two or three or four boats. These are small fishing boats. And he's saying, What? Let us cross over to the other side. So he's the other side of what? The other side of the Sea of Galilee, and we have a map that's coming up. So they're on the north side in Capernaum, and they're they're looking to go to the south side. It's about 14 miles away. 13 miles, 14 miles away, due south. And normally that's about a two-hour trip. Now I just say all this, say, why are you going into this? Because something happened during that trip, and I think a lot of people know what's coming. But the second thing is he said, let us cross over to what? The other side. Well, sure it's the other side of the sea, but I wonder if he's got something else in there. The other side meaning, is that a cultural reference? Is he about to take his message not just to the Jewish population, but to the Gentile population? In one sentence, Brittany, there's a lot packed in there, and it provokes us to uh sharpen our insight about what's going really going on so that we can be prepared with the next verses that are coming. So there we go. Normally that trip is about two hours. Let's see what really happens.

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Yes, okay. So we see the next verse, which is verse 36. Now, when they had left the multitude, so that was all the people he was talking to, they took him, being Jesus, along in the boat as he was, and other little boats were also with him.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Yes, so there's multiple boats. Go ahead and and uh go through 41 now.

SPEAKER_00 5:48

Okay. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling, but he was in the stern, asleep on a pillow, and they awoke him and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Then he arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Peace be still, and the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. But he said to them, Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey him?

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Wow. I'm like shivering with excitement over this, over what's going on here. Let's just rewind this just a few verses, just a little passage. That's the name of our of our podcast, is passages. We're we're looking to take out six, seven, eight verses and just extract that out and decode it and see what we can learn because what's our goal? To become more mature. Okay, John 1 12 says, As many as received him, he gave them power to become sons of God, to be to become stronger and more mature in their faith and in their actions. This helps them become more trustworthy as agents of the kingdom of God. So this is all connected. So he's dec he starts by simply leading his team to do what? To cross over the sea. He's declaring his intent. He wants to expand the reach of his ministry. So they go and they run into a wicked storm. Now then they wake Jesus, not to ask for his help to run the boat, but but to do what? What did they do in that when they woke him up?

SPEAKER_00 7:34

They were panicking and asked him basically what I would ask somebody if they were asleep and I was going through a hard time. Like, what is wrong with you? Don't you see that I'm upset? Why are you not helping me?

unknown 7:45

There you go.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

That's very human.

SPEAKER_00 7:47

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:48

But but they were challenging his compassion. This is the son of God. Now, apparently they don't know yet he's the son of God, and I'll tell you why that we can say that. Okay. They just interpreted his say his peaceful sleep as a lack of concern for their safety. And not to help them, not to help them row the boat or deal with the sails or whatever, but as a concern for their safety. He wakes up, and this is what I think is important. He does three things in a matter of moments. He rebukes the wind, he speaks peace to the sea, and exposes the lack of faith of those disciples that were with him. Now, why did Jesus rebuke the wind? That's the word that's being used. He rebuked the wind because Satan is the cause of the storm. Remember, Paul later writes in Ephesians 2 2.2 that Satan is the prince of the power of the air. So he has authority at that point. This is before the crucifixion, this is before the resurrection. So we got to know we're still in the Old Testament, really, at that point, if we think about it. The New Testament begins when Jesus dies and is resurrected. So this is we just got to get these timelines right. And so Satan still has authority given to him by the first Adam to kind of run the earth and to cause all kinds of mischief. So Satan is uh has detected that Jesus is on assignment and he's trying to forestall whatever success he's about to have. Because if Jesus keeps moving forward in his ministry, he's accelerating the overthrow of Satan and his minions. Okay, that's what's coming. We've got to see things at a spiritual level. Uh I just I just love this when we realize this is like a movie. Things are happening at multiple levels. And for the viewer, we can see that if we stand back and analyze this, we can see multiple things are going on. He rebukes the wind, which is saying, what, Satan, I know you're the cause of that. But then he speaks peace to the sea. Why would he speak peace to the sea? Isn't the sea causing him all kinds of havoc? No, the sea is part of God's creation. And he's saying, see, I know you're under my authority. This is Jesus speaking. You're under my authority. Be still, be quiet. It's almost like speaking to your children, right? When you're causing havoc in a restaurant. Hey, kids, sit down, be quiet, eat your food. He's speaking peace to the sea, taking authority over it. And then what's the third thing? He's basically saying, What's wrong with your faith? He exposes the faith. And what do the people say on the boat? What do they say? Go back and take a look at that.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

They say, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Okay, and at the end of verse 41.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

And they feared exceedingly and said to one another, Who can this be that even the wind and the sea obey him?

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Who can this be? Are they trusting that this is the Messiah? You can't be, because if you're going to ask a question like that, it's O ye of little faith. These are people who are still operating at an emotional level, a compassion level. Nothing wrong with that. But do you not care that we perish? That's emotion. And now who can this be? They don't know, even intellectually, they don't know that this is the Messiah. They know he's maybe a trustworthy rabbi. He's a great moral teacher. He's somebody important to maybe help them overthrow Rome, which is what they're very concerned about. But they certainly don't have the faith yet to know who this man really is. And so this is the conditions that he is facing. So he's leading this team to cross the sea. He's declaring his intent to expand the reach of his ministry. Let's go over to the other side. They're crossing over in their little boats. They challenge his compassion. And then uh and then let's let's see what happens next. So I what I just love about this is that it creates a teaching moment for us that we can see Jesus is asleep. And as soon as he wakes up, he uses what I call spiritual acuity. He's sharp. He sees this is not just a conversation. This is not just having a meal with somebody. This is not turning water into wine. He is he's seeing the situation and he's he rebukes one thing, this is the Satan and the power of the air. He speaks peace to the sea, and he really challenges the faith of his disciples. And he's like, Why did you turn this into a compassion issue? Why didn't you understand? I'm on assignment. I've got somewhere to go, and I'm not going to be drowning here at this stage of my ministry. It's impossible. You know, I have assignments, I have things to do. And so this is what I want people to understand is that they they have assignments too. And if they will trust that, then they're not going to get all fearful and upset when something troublesome happens. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 13:18

You know, bringing it into 2026 and who I am. I just think of myself as a mom and being asleep in bed and a kid suddenly running up to me and being like, oh, they just puked in the house instantly. I'm like, oh no, and you know, freaking out and have to do this and thinking a thousand things in a row. And it it makes me think of how humans typically respond. And we don't respond, we react emotionally. But here you see that Jesus responds spiritually. And I wonder how many times in our life that we are reacting and not responding. What does that look like now?

SPEAKER_01 13:55

That's that's an excellent question. And the key here is to develop, and I'm not challenging what it's like to be a mom, I'm just saying, though, it's it's important to maintain a cool and a calm, which actually sends a message to the children that we don't need to invest so heavily in our emotions during a moment of of being wakened from a dead sleep. Um we we get to use our our knowledge, our our confidence, our uh ability to assess the situation and and deal with it and suppress whatever havoc is going on. Um it's um this is an opportunity. This is what Jesus did. He used his spiritual abilities to take care, to discern what was going on, and to treat each of the three systems, situations differently, rebuke the storm, speak peace to the sea, and challenge the disciples' faith. Because he's got a job to do. Remember, at the um in um at the Last Supper, and well, after when he's praying to his father, he says, I have finished the work that you gave me to do. Now, this is the night before the crucifixion. Wait a minute, I thought that was the big work. That's a very important work, by the way. But if he but he's saying with integrity to his father in heaven, I have finished the work that you gave me to do. What work is that? You've given me there's more right there in that passage. The men that you gave me out of the world, they're ready now. They're ready. I can go to the cross and do my job, which is to die and to be resurrected, which is to bring a whole new covenant into the earth. And yet the men who will carry this forward, they're ready. Well, wait a minute. Peter is ready? He just cut off the ear of the high priest's servant. He he just um denied knowing Jesus three times. He get he was a hostile guy. He had a temper, Peter did. I think everybody knows that who studies the Bible, he had a temper. And yet Jesus is saying he's ready. Something's about to happen. I think when the Holy Spirit comes into Peter, I think that may have something to do. But the thing is, Jesus was so trusting. Oh, it went from, oh, yeah of little faith, even saying to Peter, I'm going to give you a new name, from Cephas to Peter. And then you know, when Jesus says, you know, I'm about to die, he says, You will not. And he Jesus had to rebuke him. He says, Get thee behind me, Satan. He spoke behind through Peter to Satan, who he knew was influencing Peter at that moment. So my gosh, the um the times that that Jesus needed to raise his spiritual acuity and realize that what was really going on in the situation, I want to be like that.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Yes, definitely. But knowing who we are as humans, knowing that a lot of people in the world don't know how to get to that point of responding spiritually. If you were a new believer, or maybe you've been a believer for a very long time and you just struggle with you know reacting instead of responding, what would you say to that person? How would you tell them to work on that?

SPEAKER_01 17:13

Excellent. Number one, load up on scripture. In other words, build an inventory of God's word inside of your heart. Excuse me. Um Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. That's in the Bible. I didn't write that. That's in the Bible. And so the word, what's the word? The scriptures 33,000, some verses. Okay. I'm hiding the word in my heart that I won't sin against you. Solomon wrote, Wisdom is the principal thing, so get wisdom. But with all thy getting, get understanding. So wisdom is being able to look at life through God's eyes. So that's the first thing is that we we obtain wisdom so that we're de we're decoding a situation according to God's principles, not according to our own emotions. Secondly, he said, but with all your getting of wisdom, also get understanding, which is what understanding is the ability to uh to apply those principles, the outworking, okay, to be able to do James you know said without um faith without works is dead. So we've got it, we can have the faith, we can have the wisdom, but we've got to be able to apply it. So when you're woke awakened at three in the morning, you know what happened for the kids, whatever, that you can apply wisdom into the moment. This is what Jesus did. He rose up out of his sleep in the stern and he decoded the situation in a moment. And so the question, so first thing is get some scripture loaded up. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Definitely. And it just pops into my head when you say that the difference between um understanding and the knowledge and the understanding there is like when you call a friend and you're like, Hey, you know, I need this advice, and they give you amazing advice, but then you look at their life and they're like, shouldn't you take your own advice? It's the difference between knowing what to do and actually acting out what to do.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Okay. And then we also need to have the discipline and the willingness to die to self. Okay, that that you know that's a that's a key thing. So many times people w want to elevate their intellect, their emotions, or their will, which is the mind, the will, and the emotions, uh, which are the part of the human soul. The the trouble is the human soul, the let's say this, the human will, our our our decision-making capacity was never supposed to be activated. And this is what got us thrown out of the Garden of Eden in the first place. When Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he activated his willpower because he thought now he was smart enough to be able to discern uh good and evil through his moral filters, which is right and wrong. And so now he was labeling things right. Well, this is not right, this is wrong, this is not right. We see that in politics, we see that in home life, we see that in our communities, we see that even in churches. And and we just were never supposed to do that. I'm sorry, it's gonna probably drive people crazy to hear that. But the thing is we're discerned good and evil through our spirits. And what Jesus does, what the Lord wants us to do is to is to become more mature in our ability to do that. Just as like children, when they grow up, they are they are inculcating the what the parents want them to learn. Okay, in into they're uh bringing social norms inside of their decision-making capacity so that they can become civil individuals to work with deliverance in their communities.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

I I I love this conversation, and I think that it's so interesting and so profound that Jesus makes sure that he mentions that they're fearful. I think in any point in time when we think we're going on the right track and something comes up that automatically, just like they were when they saw this storm, they have this fear within them that builds. We have this fear of like, well, maybe we're on the wrong path, maybe we shouldn't be here, what's going on? And this this fear just overtakes.

SPEAKER_01 21:37

What do you what do you say to the fear that's yeah, that's that's terrific. And at that moment when they're fearful, if they if whether it's Jesus having an assignment, or even if it's my own personal assignment, or if it was those disciples' assignment, when they realize, no, I'm on assignment, this storm is temporary. It's it can't Overthrow me because greater is he that's in me than he that's in the world. Okay. I I can't be overthrown. Now I don't want to be arrogant about this, and I gotta be sharp and I've got to bring resources to suppress whatever wrong things are going, bad things are going on. But I I'm just not going to be overthrown. This boat will not capsize. Why? Because I trust, this is faith now. So this is what's really going to be tested. It's not the circumstances, it's the personal faith. And this is where Jesus said, Oh, ye have little faith. If you had faith of a mustard seed, he was in Nazareth. He could do no mighty works there because of their lack of faith. Okay. And uh if they had faith of a mustard seed, they could say to a mountain, be thou removed. Uh and so over and over, scripture gives us reassurance that if we have faith, so it really comes down to that one word. Without faith, in Hebrews it says, without faith, it is impossible, strong word, impossible to please God. For he who comes to God comes to God must do two things. Believe that he exists. Okay, I believe he exists, check mark, but believe that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him. He rewards them. What does he reward them? Grace, which is the power to do things his way. Okay. Faith is like a fuel supply. Excuse me, great grace is like a fuel supply that allows us to have the energy to keep going through the storm. Okay, so we want it, we want to say, Lord, I'm looking for your supernatural fuel supply of grace, and I want to want you, and I'm I'm providing faith. Faith is kind of the currency of heaven, if I would use that. Um faith is is is what God looks at to say, okay, this is an individual who trusts me, even though I can't be seen. This is what the centurion said. Uh, you don't have to come to my house and cure my servant, because why? I too am a man under authority. And he went on to his little speech. And Jesus turns around to his crew and he said, Are you hearing what this guy's got to say? Okay. Um, my gosh. And so anyway, it was um uh this is this I could go on and on. But so having faith and and building that and strengthening that faith is number one, and then uh burying scripture in our hearts so that we can use it as an inventory to bring it back whenever the um the moment occurs where uh where and what the Lord will do, the Holy Spirit, he'll reach in and activate one of those scripture passages, and we apply it and say, okay, this is this is a very practical application uh in this moment. So um that's these are these are ways this is Jesus doing it, and he said, Greater things than these you will do in my name. Okay, that's very encouraging. It's like, what? I'm gonna do greater things than Jesus? Yeah, because he's he's he's out of here. He had to go to um back to heaven to on his assignment, and he's now giving us uh uh territory to to take on behalf of the kingdom of God. That kingdom come in in earth as it is in heaven. So we're supposed to bring the kingdom down from heaven, down to earth into our little ambassador, our little embassy, whether you're in a dentist office, whether you're in a schoolroom, whether you're a mom, dad, uh whatever it is that you're doing, running a landscape operation, whatever it is that you do for a living or wherever you live, that's your embassy. And you are an ambassador of Christ to apply uh the kingdom principles into your territory. And no, the the um the enemy can't take that away from you. He may be fearful of you, he may throw obstacles in your way, but just ask the Lord, say, Lord, give me the grace to deal with this situation. I'm not gonna be fearful in a moment of trial.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

You know, I love these passages because it feels like I'm so seen when I'm reading through here. It's like Jesus knows that when something pops up out of nowhere, the human response is to be fearful. And then he gives us the way to go, hey, that's not the right way, but without like throwing us completely under the bus. I know a couple weeks ago I was walking through the store and I was like, God, I just don't know how I'm gonna pay for this. And I was just thinking about it, and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I didn't ask for anything. I was just thinking to myself, all of a sudden I heard in my head, but my gosh, how supply all your needs. And immediately I stopped dead in my tracks in the store, and I was like, I hear you. I hear you. Okay. And every bit of fear that I had was completely lifted in that moment because the exactly what you said to do, get yourself an inventory of verses, because those will be brought up in the moment of need. And that is what happened. But I love that he sees us here, that he knows what our natural response is going to be, and he still goes, I'm gonna help you and I'm gonna tell you what to do about it.

SPEAKER_01 27:22

And he was able to reach in, as in my analogy. He was able to reach into the inventory that was already in your heart.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

And pull it uh up to your awareness, your consciousness, so that you he could then ask you to apply that verse to the moment that you were in. Okay, he'll supply all your needs according to his riches in Christ Jesus. Those are he's got a lot of supply lines he can bring according to his riches in Christ Jesus. And so what that's great. You had a verse that was tucked away inside of your heart, and the Lord could reach in. And so my encouragement, you've asked it a couple times, but my encouragement to listeners would be go after some scriptures that has an appeal to you and and start reading it, read, and then memorize it, and then meditate on it, which is where you personalize it, and then eventually you engraft it, engraft it like it changes the biology of one tree when you engraft part of another one. And so we're engrafting the word into our hearts so that we can then become, we can reflex uh the um the God's principles into whatever the circumstances are, and have faith. We're on assignment. I just want to say to anybody listening, you are on assignment. If you're if you're a child of God, you are on assignment. Whether you were just born again yesterday or you've been at this for decades, you are on assignment. You need to discern the assignment, what is it that the Lord has in store for you, and then expect the storm to come. You know, avoid being like the disciples who were challenging the compassion of Jesus. Because sometimes we could we get to that point where we say, Jesus, don't you care about me? You know, um, don't you care that I'm running low on this resource or that my child is in this trouble, or that this do you not care? I know he cares deeply, my goodness. But uh but we're gonna have to strengthen our faith to get through that and not be um just you know not not again. He said no, yeah of little faith. So don't be like that. Okay. So those these are these are a couple things to to think about.

SPEAKER_00 29:54

No, that's fantastic. So for our listeners, if you're in a storm right now, this episode isn't meant to scare you, it's meant to help you see. Sometimes resistance isn't a sign to turn around, but it's confirmation that you're probably crossing into something new. Thank you so much for walking with us on today's Spiritual Strategies Institute podcast, and we'll see you next time.