The Storm That Breaks People...Unless God Steps In

re you currently facing a storm in your life that feels impossible to overcome? In this episode of The Wellspring Podcast, Pastor Randy Lynn and Justin Lynn dive deep into the powerful biblical account of Jesus walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33). 

Discover why even the most faithful believers encounter "storms" and how these trials are often tests of obedience and faith. We explore the reality of spiritual warfare, the importance of keeping your focus on Jesus when fear takes hold, and the promise that God is a present help in times of trouble. 

In this episode, we discuss:
•Why Obedience Leads to Difficulty: Understanding why following God doesn't always mean a life of comfort (0:04:31).
•The Power of Prayer: How Jesus interceded for His disciples while they were struggling in the storm (0:12:49).
•Overcoming Fear: Practical steps to keep your eyes on Jesus when the "winds" of life become boisterous (0:22:16).
•Personal Testimony: A moving story of physical and spiritual breakthrough during a season of illness (0:37:00).

No matter how dark the "fourth watch" of your night may feel, God has promised never to leave you nor forsake you. If you feel like you are sinking, remember that a cry for help to the Savior is all it takes to receive His hand of grace.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

A faith that's not tested, it's not a worthy faith.

SPEAKER_00 0:03

Storms have a tendency to reveal where our faith is anchored in.

SPEAKER_02 0:08

There's a brand of Christianity out there that teaches all the teachings of Christ and basically all the moral principles, but they leave out the supernatural element.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Well, hello again, and welcome here to the Wellspring Podcast. I'm here with my dad, Pastor Randy Lynn, and today we're going over the subject of the storm. The storm that can break you unless God steps in. And we're coming out of the text in Matthew, where Jesus shows up in the middle of the storm that the disciples are in.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

It's one of the most amazing uh happenings. It's not a story, I have to watch saying that. One of the most amazing events in the life of Jesus and the apostles.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

So let's let's go to Matthew chapter 14.

SPEAKER_02 0:56

Matthew 14, verses 22 through 33, I believe. And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him unto the other side, which he sent the multitudes, or while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain of heart to pray. And when the evening was come he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It's a ghost or it's a spirit and they cried out for fear. But straight away or right away Jesus spoke unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it if it's you, bid me come unto thee on the water and he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him and said unto him, O ye of little faith, wherefore or why did you doubt? And when they were come up into the ship the wind ceased. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Truthfully, of a truth, you are the Son of God.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

Man, that's powerful.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

It is. And be I want you to read of twenty-two again, but before we get into it, our first point, I wanted to say that storms have a tendency to reveal where our faith is anchored in. And do they? And also I wanted to tell the listener, uh, this is something that I've learned in my own life. Jesus doesn't always remove the storm immediately, right? But he will always come to us in the middle of it.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

He will. He's with us. Actually, he starts with us. He said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. But I know what we're talking in context him showing up as deliverer.

SPEAKER_00 3:12

Yes, like in this event where Jesus, he's God. Yeah. He knew there was going to be a storm on the seas. Never surprised. And he showed up in the middle of the storm with these disciples.

SPEAKER_02 3:26

Yeah, he did. Well, he wanted to have that time to pray. I mean, there are so many sermons as preachers here. Yes. There's just so many sermons in these verses. You know, he goes to pray and get what he needed from the Lord, and he knew the only way to get them over there, you know, in time to do what he wanted to do, he had to go pray. So he had to send them ahead.

SPEAKER_01 3:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

But he uh obviously knew Jesus was a man, he was filled with all nine gifts of the Holy Spirit, so he knew by the Spirit they were gonna encounter a storm a storm, but he also knew that uh he could steal the storm. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Could you read Matthew 14, 22 again?

SPEAKER_02 4:09

Twenty-two. And straightaway or right away, Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him onto the other side while he sent the multitudes away.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

So that's my first point. The disciples were in the storm because they were following Jesus' words, they were in obedience with him.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

They were. That word constrained in the King James is really strong. Uh it says in Dake's notes, it says they were either afraid to return to Herod's country, so they really didn't want to go into that boat that night. But the Lord constrained them. He told them, We've got to do this, you've got to do this, we've got a mission. We're on a mission. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

And so And he knew that they would encounter something and he would be able to calm it.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:57

And so that comes to obedience leads into difficulty, not comfort sometimes.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

Yeah. We live in a fallen world. Yeah. This is what confuses so many people, son, you know. And too often it's the preacher's fault. You know, we preach like come to Jesus and everything's going to be roses. Well, not really. Yeah. I mean, yeah, eternity settled. Thank God you have the peace that passes understanding. Oh, that's wonderful. But in this world, Jesus said we're going to have tribulation.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:29

And so people need to realize when you obey the Lord, you're in a world that's hostile to God.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Well, I look at it as the enemy, if you have a call in your life and he knows it, he's going to do everything in his power to keep you from your call. But then when you step into the call and you say yes to Jesus, that when that's when the target becomes bigger. I heard John Bevere talk on one of his podcasts of how he never had an issue with depression. He never dealt with depression and anxiety until after he was saved and starting his ministry. Yeah. He said it was not anything that he ever recollected having to deal with like a stronghold in his life. And then when he started the ministry that God called him to start, the enemy was like, I'm going to try to get him with this to get him so oppressed that he wants to quit.

SPEAKER_02 6:24

Exactly. You see, there's a there's a brand of Christianity out there that teaches you know all the teachings of Christ and basically, you know, all the moral principles, but they leave out the supernatural element.

SPEAKER_00 6:37

Hello, everyone. We're going to take a quick break from this video because I want to thank you for watching this and I want to encourage you to subscribe to this YouTube channel. We are trying every single week to ask the Lord what topics he wants us to cover and to get these podcasts recorded so that they can be on YouTube for you every Friday at 12 p.m. I want to remind you that the Wellspring Podcast is an extension of Praise Center Ministries, my home church in Sepulpa, Oklahoma, in the Tulsa area. If these videos here at the Wellspring Podcast have been blessing you and encouraging you, we want to give you an opportunity. If you would like to sew into this ministry, in the link below, you can click Tithely and it will take you to a page where you can click the drop down and click Wellspring Podcast and you can donate there. Anytime you leave a comment or like this video, it helps these videos to be pushed out by YouTube so more people can encounter the love of Christ. Now let's get back to the video.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

You know, this is a spiritual war we're in. And so that brand of Christianity really doesn't uh prepare people for the opposition you're gonna get the minute you obey God.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:53

The minute we obey God, we start out on our life's calling, whatever the Lord calls us to, it's gonna be the opposition is gonna be immediate. And that surprises a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Yeah. In this story, the disciples were exactly where Jesus told them to be. Exactly. And that just um made me think of there's a lot of places that the Lord is going to send us in ministry that's not comfortable.

SPEAKER_02 8:20

Most of the places he sends us in ministry are not comfortable.

SPEAKER_00 8:24

But in those places that are not comfortable, because we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us nowadays, he gives us the power to calm the storms in those areas.

SPEAKER_02 8:35

He does. Well, he gives us the authority, and that's what the Lord was trying to get across to Peter and the disciples. You know, all power in heaven and earth now is given unto me, all authority. And I give it to you.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:48

Because he knew the minute they started doing his works, the kingdom of darkness was going to oppose them in every possible way. And so we we do have the authority, we do have the weapons of our warfare that are mighty through God.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

But it's just not an easy journey sometimes.

SPEAKER_02 9:06

And you're you're always going to, as someone very well said, we're swimming upstream in the devil's world, because right now the enemy is the pseudo-ruler of this planet, the social order, the cosmos, and the Greek is what uh is is backed by him. So anytime we do, and the the Lord said the kingdom of God is inside us.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:28

So you have two kingdoms here, one on the outside of the Christian, opposed to everything the Christian does, and the kingdom of God on the inside of us, where Jesus said, I give you the keys, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against my church. So you've got sparks flying, you got opposition, kingdoms clashing.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

Exactly. And Paul says in James uh one, two through four, my brethren count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your of your faith produces patience.

SPEAKER_02 9:58

That's right. And it's joyful because you know, all the cliche things we Christians say, God's got me. Yeah God's got my back, he's with me, the Lord's with me. And so that's why James says it it is going to be, it looks, it looks scary, but it's really a reason to rejoice because in that moment that God comes in the storm, as we're talking about, you see God's hand, you see him move on our behalf. So it is a cause for joy.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

Yeah, in that moment, he gives you a first hand miracle. He does. He said in Isaiah 43, 2 that when you pass through the waters, I will be with you.

SPEAKER_03 10:38

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:38

And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you, and when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned.

SPEAKER_02 10:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Nor shall the flame scorch you.

SPEAKER_02 10:47

That's right. Telling us we're going through all of those things.

SPEAKER_00 10:51

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

And and as a Christian, uh, really, again, it comes back to this, and a lot of people don't talk about this light a lot that we should. This life is a probation for the next one. This is military training school for soldiers of the Lord to serve him for eternity. So it wasn't God's plan for the world to fall, wasn't that at all?

SPEAKER_00 11:18

Yeah, he built a perfect world. He built it perfectly, and the enemy came down and caused the human race, yeah, which he gave free will because he wanted us to love him because we love him, not because he made us to.

SPEAKER_03 11:32

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

And then the enemy came in, convinced humankind that they knew better than God, and we're here.

SPEAKER_02 11:42

And here we are. And that I always like to bring out, you know, uh the devil always tempts us with what we've already got. They've they're living in a perfect world, and he said, You'll be us gods, and they already were.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

I know.

SPEAKER_02 11:55

Which is a big lie and deception.

SPEAKER_00 11:57

Yeah, it's crazy when you go back and think about that. Yeah. But in continuing with this subject, um, yes, we're in a fallen world, and it's inevitable that uh we're gonna go through storms, we're gonna go through trials, and even more so sometimes, in our Christian walk, the enemy is going to attack us and bring storms into our life. And Jesus says that he will show up in the middle of it.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

He promised. And just as he did here on the water with the disciples, he didn't leave them abandoned. He just had to go pray and get the power and the because he was a man. He wasn't operating as as God.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:38

He laid all that down and he was operating as a man filled with the Holy Spirit. So he had to have his time with the Father. He had to get charged up in his spirit for the next crusade.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Yes, that's my next point. Jesus was praying while they were struggling out on the water.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:52

He said in Matthew 14, 23, and when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up to the mountain by himself to pray.

SPEAKER_02 13:01

To pray. Because he knew he had to. That was where his strength came from. But so he didn't leave them alone, but he knew that was going to be a necessity. So he had to get them on the way.

SPEAKER_00 13:13

Yes. While they were fighting in the storm, he was interceding.

SPEAKER_02 13:16

He was interceding. He was praying. And uh so yeah, they found themselves, which is a point you bring out, they obeyed God perfectly, and they found themselves right in the midst of a big storm.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

And that's gonna happen to us in our Christian walk. You know, uh back in the day, a guy named Sherman Andress of the Andress Blackwood and Company uh used to sing with the Imperials. He wrote a song Must Be Doing Something Right, because I got the devil real uptight. You know, and so it's a funny lyric. Yeah, it was. It was a crazy lyric, but it's a pretty cute little song. But it's so true. Don't think, Christian, that just because you're having opposition, you're doing something wrong.

unknown 13:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:59

Because you know in your heart. John talks about if your heart doesn't condemn you, you have confidence for God. So if you know in your heart you're doing right, you're obeying God, and the opposition comes to try to smack you down, just wear it as a badge of honor because you know you are doing something right.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

You know.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

Even when God feels distant, he's still aware and active. Jesus on the mountain remind us, reminds us in this instance that he has a higher perspective.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

He does. Well, you know, he sees the whole picture.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

And he knows that we have to go through the storms of our listen, a faith that's not tested. Was it Creston said this the other day? A faith that's not tested is not it's not a worthy faith.

SPEAKER_01 14:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

I mean, it's it's not something you can count on. And so, yeah, that's you know, it and it's not I want to bring this point out, son, it is not God testing your faith.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:57

The only test in the Bible that God brings to the believer is a test of obedience. I tell you what I want you to do, will you do that?

SPEAKER_01 15:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

No, it's the enemy who tests our faith, and as we're gonna see in this story, uh who was who was behind the storm.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Yes. I have a question for this. Um why do we sometimes mistake silence for abstent absence?

SPEAKER_02 15:25

Well, because you know, uh humans, our human nature, we don't like silence. Yeah. I mean, we we like constant input, you know, look at it.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

Especially nowadays, constant entertainment. I mean, I look at the I look at the retention rate on like my TikTok and my Instagram for my music, and I mean a lot of it is just one second swipes. It is, and it's very difficult these days to get this generation's retention for more than 10 seconds.

SPEAKER_02 15:58

It is. Well, human nature is addictive, it wants to, you know, feed me, feed me, feed me. And and so God He is not going to always, you know, make things happen on our time frame. Yeah. He knows that we've got to walk through to see him on the other side. Yeah. If they had never been in the midst of this storm, they wouldn't have known him to be the one who had power over the storm.

SPEAKER_03 16:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

And so sometimes we misinterpret silence. So what do I do during those times of seemingly silent? You just keep walking.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

Stay faithful.

SPEAKER_00 16:42

Don't lose your focus, which we're gonna talk about here in a minute with Peter.

SPEAKER_02 16:46

Don't lose your focus. And that's what a lot of Christians uh do, and I've done it in my own life at times. I've just we just want to uh you know, we want to make decisions based on fear, or we want to just we get nervous because nothing seemingly is changing.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:05

And God seems to be silent, and he's really not. He tells us what we need to know.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:11

And that element of faith and trust has to come in. God trust him.

SPEAKER_00 17:15

Yeah, and uh sometimes he seems so silent because we're not listening.

SPEAKER_02 17:19

Oh man, that's that'll preach.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

We he we come before him with all of our needs and our wants and all of our crying out of what's going on.

SPEAKER_03 17:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:30

And then we await a response, but we haven't given him the opportunity for response.

SPEAKER_02 17:37

Exactly. And today we would say we want him to be AI for us, and he's not. He is God, and he said they that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength.

SPEAKER_00 17:48

So And his timing is always perfect. He knows when your heart is ready to receive. Exactly. And when uh you're just going to have it go in one ear and out the other, or maybe he says something to you and it's not something that you like or want to do. His timing is perfect.

SPEAKER_03 18:05

It is.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

Well, here uh can you go to Matthew 14, 25?

SPEAKER_02 18:09

Yeah. And in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

I wanted to bring this up because the fourth watch is between 3 and 6 a.m. Yeah. Which was the darkest and most um it was just the darkest part of the the night.

SPEAKER_02 18:30

Yeah, the scariest uh most uh weary. You're weary in the deep hours of the night. That's yeah, so much there. Um a lot of times, well we it's it's it's talked about all the time when we discuss spiritual matters. It it gets the darkest before the dawn.

SPEAKER_01 18:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:51

You know, and that is the fourth watch. And uh sometimes when you're in a test in your faith and you're in your walk with the Lord, things get worse before they get better.

SPEAKER_01 19:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

Because of this opposition we're talking about.

SPEAKER_00 19:06

The enemy's he's got he's ramping up and ramping up to get his ultimate goal is to get you to give up. To stop. And just like we talked about in our first podcast, yeah, just when you've gotten to the place where you feel like giving up, you feel like giving in, that's when the devil is oppressing you the most.

SPEAKER_03 19:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

But usually, most of the time, I've found in my life, every time I've gotten to that point, yeah, that is when I'm about to be victorious through Jesus. And I'm about to overcome that battle or overcome that trial.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

They've written songs about it. Don't give up on the brink of your miracle. Yeah. You know, don't stop right before the dawn, you know. And and that's you're right. That's always I mean, literally everything a Christian will ever face is the enemy trying to stop your faith. Yeah. Trying to shipwreck your faith, stop you, just get you to quit.

SPEAKER_00 20:00

Yeah, and we'll have these things in our mind of how long we should go through a battle or like when God should show up, but his timing is rarely on our time.

SPEAKER_02 20:11

Well, true trust says, I'll trust you as long as it takes. Yeah. You know, till you show up. Yep. They didn't know, they didn't know how long it would be before the Lord got there.

SPEAKER_00 20:23

Yeah. But then Jesus got there. Yeah. He appeared in the middle of the storm. Right. He says in Psalms 46 1, God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in times of trouble.

SPEAKER_02 20:35

Get that in times of trouble.

SPEAKER_00 20:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

Right there.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

And in Lamentations 3 22 through 23, he says, Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because his passions, compassions fail not.

SPEAKER_03 20:49

Right.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

And they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness.

SPEAKER_02 20:54

His mercies are new every morning. And that is an allegory, but it's a fact as well in the in the literal world. His mercies are new every morning. Every day is a new day. You know, I was speaking to you before this podcast about the message I preached a couple weeks ago about despair. People find themselves in despair, which means complete loss of hope. Completely giving up. And if the enemy can get you into despair, then that's where a lot of people will just just quit and give up. And that's the enemy's goal. But if you don't, if you just have a little holy rebellion in you against the enemy, and you'll just stand up and say, I refuse to quit. That's that trust thing that just it makes God happy. When we trust him like that. And you know, we we throw that word around in Christian circles. Just trust Jesus, you know, just it sounds so nice, but when the Pressure's on. Yeah. That's when you're gonna know what trust really means.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Yeah, and just like in uh this event in the Bible where they mistook Jesus for a ghost.

SPEAKER_03 22:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:14

Fear began to overtake them.

SPEAKER_03 22:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:17

Fear distorts your vision.

SPEAKER_02 22:19

Oh, that's good. Fear will always cause you to act in darkness. You are not seeing clearly. Because fear is darkness.

SPEAKER_01 22:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:29

It's part of the spirit of kingdom of darkness. And that's why God said He's not giving us the spirit of fear.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Yeah, it can cause you to misinterpret what God is doing in the midst of the storm.

SPEAKER_02 22:40

Misinterpret. And and that's why I always teach people be led of the spirit, not don't ever allow yourself to make a decision out of fear or out of uh you know, a push. I I've just got to do this, I've just got to do this. Well, uh, if it's God's will right now, it'll be God's will tomorrow.

SPEAKER_00 22:59

Yeah, you know it goes back to his timing.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

It goes back to his timing. Do I trust him or am I really trusting in myself?

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Yeah, that's something that the devil's gonna try to do in the midst of the storm. He's going, he is the great manipulator. He's gonna think like just like he did with Eve in the garden, are you sure that God said this? And so in the midst of the storm, he's gonna cause you to question if you're on the right path or you're actually on the plan of God for your life, or that's right, and or you're doing the right thing.

SPEAKER_02 23:31

Yeah, which brings up a huge question. How do I know I'm doing the right thing? And then we say, go back to this.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:41

Are you doing what this word says? And that's how you know you're doing the right thing. That's how you know you're in the will of God. Is it what the Bible says? Is it what the Holy Spirit agrees with? And then you'll know I just gotta keep on trucking.

SPEAKER_00 23:55

Yeah. And then you uh cast start casting fear aside and just seeking after Jesus, and uh then he when he shows up, uh the peace comes.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

And he will always show up because he's promised to.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:12

I mean, that's why he said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. I'll be there with you always, even to the end of the age, end of the age. So the enemy is uh master of making us feel a lot of things. Well, God's not there. Does that make it real?

SPEAKER_00 24:28

No.

SPEAKER_02 24:29

Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_00 24:30

You mean you can't see the wind, but you can feel the wind.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Uh, he says in 2 Timothy 1 7, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, that's right, but of power, love, and a sound mind. Yeah. And so in those times of trials and storms, you have verses in the Bible, in the word of God, yeah to fall back on, reminding you that fear cannot overtake you.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

And that there is a peace that's going to come.

SPEAKER_02 24:57

That's right. It it if you don't give in to fear, then then we've got great promises from the Lord. You know, first John 4 4, greater is he in us, yeah. He that's in the world. Uh this is the victory. Another scripture in 1 John. This is a victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.

SPEAKER_00 25:18

Yes. I have John 14 27. Peace I leave with you, peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, and neither let it be afraid.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

Neither let it be afraid. Yeah. And then we could go on. Perfect love cast out fear. If you perfectly know the Lord and you love him, you know who he is, you know his nature, and we find that out by studying the word, yeah, getting close to Jesus. If you know him, you know he perfectly loves me.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:51

And then if you and I perfectly love him, there's no reason to fear.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

Yeah, but it is a daily walk.

SPEAKER_02 25:58

It's a daily walk.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Paul said that he has to cast this flesh aside daily. That's the truth. And so you can overcome, you can be so full of the scripture one day and in prayer, and you're driving in your car listening to worship music, and you have allowed Jesus to overcome in your life that day. Right. And then the next day comes, the next morning comes. But if you wake up and you choose not to put that aside, right, then that is a foothold for the enemy to bring that fear back in. You have to stay in a constant state of overcoming and putting your flesh down to allow Jesus to bring the peace in your life.

SPEAKER_02 26:38

And that's just the old timers just say that's putting God first.

SPEAKER_00 26:41

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 26:42

Putting God first in your time, putting God first in your thoughts every day.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:47

Renewing your mind with the word of God, because the enemy knows us. I like to say he's been observing humans for six thousand years. He knows us well.

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:57

And he's good at predicting when we're slacking a little bit, you know. Yeah. And so he comes in right then.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

As the storm progressed and they saw Jesus walking on the water, and I screamed out of fear that it would it's that it's a ghost. But then one of the disciples called out and said, It's the Lord. Yeah. After Jesus said, I am He. And then Peter said, If you are the Lord, let me come to you. So Peter steps out here in Matthew 14, 28 through 29. Could you go ahead and read that?

SPEAKER_02 27:34

And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be you, bid me come unto thee on the water. I love Peter. Peter's practical, he's specific, he's just like you and me. Yeah. He loves, you know, he loves concrete evidence. He loves facts. He loves real things. And he's like, if this is the Lord, I can walk on water.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:03

And you know, we we that's a faith. Talk about we get down on Peter, you know, he denied the Lord and all those things. But I'm gonna tell you what, nobody else got out of the boat that day and said, Let me walk on the water. And he actually did.

SPEAKER_00 28:17

Yeah, your faith requires action. It does. And that's exactly what he did. I mean, talk about a faith to be the only one to step out on a raging sea. That's right. Knowing, well, not even knowing that like you're not gonna sink.

SPEAKER_03 28:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:36

No. But he just knew that that was Jesus, he was going to walk on the water.

SPEAKER_02 28:42

If he's really Jesus, the Son of the Living God, like I said in the in the other scripture, you are the Christ, the son. Yeah. If that's him, I can walk on water too. And he did.

SPEAKER_00 28:54

Yes. But I love this about Peter because he's so, like you said, he's so much just like you and I, everybody else. Yeah. Um, he had such great faith in this verse.

SPEAKER_03 29:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

Such incredible faith in this moment.

SPEAKER_03 29:09

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

But then when he began to lose focus, he started to sink and cried out.

SPEAKER_02 29:16

That's powerful. Which says to us in the middle of the storm, you have to keep your eyes on Jesus. Yes. You have to keep your eyes on the focused on the answer and not the problem.

SPEAKER_00 29:31

Yes. That's what I see so many people do, and I've done in my own life in different areas. I've been so focused on the problems that were going on. Yeah. So focused on maybe the people that hurt me or the situations that were bringing me down that I lost my focus in the one who was going to pull me out of it.

SPEAKER_02 29:56

Exactly. Well, and it's easy to do because again, we don't minimize oppression as real. Satan has power to spiritually come against us and nearly knock the wind out of us, you know.

SPEAKER_01 30:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:08

I mean, it's real. We don't minimize the test. This storm was real. They would have died if Jesus hadn't been there and showed that. But at the same time, we know that the master is with us, and so we know he's greater. Again, it's a test of faith. Who's bigger? Yeah. My problem or God?

SPEAKER_00 30:26

Yeah, and just how we were talking about fear, fear begins to grow where our faith loses focus.

SPEAKER_02 30:34

That's right. It does. The absence of faith is fear.

SPEAKER_00 30:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:38

And so we have to keep our eyes on Jesus. And if I was saying something to anyone today, what do I do in the midst of this storm? You have to keep your eyes focused on the Lord and what he said. You know, and that that does that means more than just looking at a picture of Jesus. That means I've got to focus. What did he tell me? What did he say to me? I'll be with you always. I'll never leave you, never forsake you.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 31:09

I've got good things for you, abundant life for you. So that's what you focus on, what he said.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

Yes. And when he began to look up and focus on Jesus, Jesus immediately reached for him.

SPEAKER_02 31:20

Yeah. And this is beautiful. I love to bring this out on this verse. When he was beginning to sink, he cried, Lord, save me. So many times people, I don't know what to say to God. Just what Peter said, Lord, save me. Help. It's really simple. And it's a great thing. It it means it goes straight to the core of your being. Not trying to be religious. Lord, save me.

SPEAKER_00 31:49

Yeah, I mean, and if you're a born-again Christian, you're not crying out, Lord, save me in that aspect. In that aspect, you're look you're saying, Lord, save me from myself.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

Exactly. Save me from my unbelief. Save me from this trial. Yeah. Save me from the enemy trying to knock my faith off.

SPEAKER_00 32:06

Yeah. And you cry out, and then his grace meets you in your weakest moment.

SPEAKER_02 32:12

Well, just what Jesus did, he reached out his hand. Yeah. And spiritually, in the spirit, the Lord does the same thing to us. If we don't focus on the storm, if we'll focus on him and put our faith in him, he'll grab us every time.

SPEAKER_00 32:26

Yes. I love what David says in Psalms Psalm 34, 18. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of the them all.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

Out of them all. And that really sums that scripture you just read is the sum of what we're saying here. If you serve God, if you love God, if you want to obey God, you are going to be thrown in the middle of the storm at times. In fact, a lot of times. And so the Holy Spirit through David acknowledged many are the afflictions of the righteous. And that's what we, not in a negative sense, we've got to prepare Christians for. You try to obey God with all your heart, you're going to go through some stuff.

SPEAKER_00 33:19

Yes. Just goes back to uh when Paul was writing, count it all joy.

SPEAKER_03 33:24

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:25

Whenever you come against these trials.

SPEAKER_03 33:27

Right. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 33:28

Because that means uh that you're on the plan that God has for you in your life. That means that you are walking in victory. You're walking in the anointing. So you can count it all joy because you are doing something that the devil hates.

SPEAKER_02 33:43

That's right. And you know the end of the story.

SPEAKER_00 33:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 33:47

Because of who God is, because of who Jesus is, you know how it's going to turn out if I don't quit. God's already done his part. Yeah. He's already promised us victory. So we're in a, as I like to say, we're in a fixed fight. It's going to end well if we just don't quit.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:03

We're going to end in victory. That's right. So praise the Lord. But the Lord delivers us out of them all. All every single trial.

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Yes. And in Matthew, uh, back to this event in the Bible, Matthew 14, 32 through 33, it talks about when Jesus stepped into the boat.

SPEAKER_03 34:24

Oh, that's powerful. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

When he stepped into the boat, the storm ceased.

SPEAKER_02 34:29

Yeah. Supernatural power. Right then we see God in human flesh, the creator.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:39

The storm had to obey the one who made it.

SPEAKER_01 34:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

However, as I remind people, he did it in the same gift of the Holy Spirit work, the gift of the working of miracles.

SPEAKER_01 34:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

That's one of the nine gifts of the Spirit right out of 1 Corinthians 12. The gift of working of miracles. So he had that gift on him in him. And the minute his foot, I bet he said in his heart, when I put my foot on that boat, the storm has to stop.

SPEAKER_01 35:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:08

And that gift of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus being the, you know, the man empowered by the Holy Spirit, stop the storm. Supernatural event.

SPEAKER_00 35:18

I and I just uh this point just came to mind. You know, the disciples had been walking with him.

SPEAKER_03 35:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:24

They've already seen him do miracles. Yeah. They've already seen him preaching and teaching.

SPEAKER_03 35:30

Right.

SPEAKER_00 35:32

And the way that storms are in our lives as a Christian, they generally get us closer to God. We end up being more our relationship deepens through the storm.

SPEAKER_03 35:47

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

And so these disciples, they were with Jesus. They had a relationship with him.

SPEAKER_03 35:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:53

But after this moment, after the storm was over, they begin to cry out, You are the Lord. They begin to cry out to him. And their relationship with him from that moment forward was a deeper relationship.

SPEAKER_02 36:08

It was, and they knew more, you know, as the old saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt, but they realized, yeah, we're familiar with Jesus. We've walked with him, but he's not just Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 36:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:20

He is the God man.

SPEAKER_01 36:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 36:22

He is God in human flesh. And so, yeah, I don't you know, and you hear it in their voice, a reverence, a fear of God came out of that. They saw this as God.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:35

So I love that, you know. And and then, you know, he tells them, Why did you doubt? Yeah. Why did you doubt? And uh boy, that happens to us, doesn't it? You know. We get to the end of it, and God, you know, we don't give up and God comes through. We we even ask ourselves, why was I so worried?

SPEAKER_00 36:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:55

So it's good stuff there.

SPEAKER_00 36:57

I wanted to tell a story from my own life. Yeah. Um a couple years ago. Uh, you remember I didn't know I had pneumonia.

SPEAKER_03 37:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 37:09

And I had fluid build up in my lungs, and I was trying to make it. It was in the point of time where me and Lauren and the kids were living at your house while I was building this one. Right.

SPEAKER_02 37:21

And I was just stressed and strain and yes.

SPEAKER_00 37:24

I was just going and not stopping, and I didn't realize how sick I was. And I tried to make it, and I tried to make it, and I came to a point where that was a huge storm in my life.

SPEAKER_03 37:38

It really was.

SPEAKER_00 37:39

I remember coming to a a point one evening where I was hallucinating all over the the room, and I I was just in so much pain, I just wanted to just it to end. And I couldn't breathe and I couldn't think.

SPEAKER_03 37:57

Right.

SPEAKER_00 37:58

And I called Lauren. I said, I th I've got to go to the doctor. I've got to figure out what's going on.

SPEAKER_03 38:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:05

And then we showed up and she couldn't figure out just on the outside what was going on, but then they took her an x-ray and they found out that my left lung was half full of fluid. Yeah. And um that I had pneumonia.

SPEAKER_02 38:21

And which is for a saxophone player, that's not.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

If you don't know, I'm a musician and I've I sing and I also play the saxophone. And I say this because I'm uh mirroring it to this story where Peter had to step out in faith.

SPEAKER_03 38:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:38

Um, I had uh lighthouse camp meeting was coming up. Yes, it was uh two weeks after that.

SPEAKER_03 38:44

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 38:45

And uh after I'd gotten better, this I was sick for a total of 12, I can't remember if it was 12 or 14 days.

SPEAKER_03 38:53

It's a long time.

SPEAKER_00 38:54

I remember after um going to the doctor and getting uh the prescriptions and stuff that I needed to cause the pneumonia to start to die out. Yeah, I remember going to the front porch and falling asleep.

SPEAKER_03 39:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:11

And then I remembered I spent like an hour just to try to get myself strong enough to go to the mailbox. Yeah. And then I'd walk back and I'd fall asleep on the porch. My body was drained. I've never been so sick in my life. Yeah, I've never gone through that kind of sickness in a that form of a storm in my whole life. And then I remember I hadn't played my saxophone for over a month.

SPEAKER_03 39:39

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:40

And this meeting was coming up, and Lauren was asking me, I mean, are you gonna be able to do this? And oh, I want to go back because I remember um towards I think it was like four days before I was really getting better. I turned on worship music in the living room.

SPEAKER_03 40:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:01

And you guys were getting ready to eat. And I just remember getting on the floor and crying and praying, and then I stood up and I asked Lauren to come pray for me.

SPEAKER_03 40:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:10

And I remember in that moment I felt the Lord starting to heal me.

SPEAKER_03 40:14

Yes, praise God.

SPEAKER_00 40:15

In a way that nothing else could.

SPEAKER_03 40:17

Right.

SPEAKER_00 40:18

And he met with me in that storm, and I and the hallucinations went away, and the the wanting to give up went away, and feeling like I was never going to be able to play the saxophone again went away. Those fears went away whenever I put on the focus of Jesus. I put on worship.

SPEAKER_02 40:35

On the worship. And see, the devil always attacks a person's gift. You know, that's one of your many gifts, but that is a hugely anointed. I mean, when you play that horn, people are touched, people get healed. I mean, it's a supernatural gift. And so what did the enemy come after? He came after your gift.

SPEAKER_00 40:55

Yes, he did.

SPEAKER_02 40:56

And and but the Lord took you. So that was really a test of faith. Yeah, your body was, you know, you're building this house and all of that, but it was a really an attack on your anointing and your gifting to bring the presence of God.

SPEAKER_00 41:10

It was a trial, it was a storm that I was going through. It was. And uh when I came out of this, all the way up until when I got to Ufala to play for Camp Meeting, the first service, that was the first time in an entire month I'd taken my horn out of the case.

SPEAKER_03 41:27

Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_00 41:28

I had no idea if I was gonna be able to play it.

SPEAKER_03 41:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:32

Uh, I remember starting that first service trying to play, and man, between breaths, yeah, it it was like I was getting lightheaded. My lungs were just hurting, and I it was it was very difficult, but I was doing it because I knew that that's what God wanted me to do.

SPEAKER_03 41:54

Right.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

And so I stepped out in faith and I knew that God was gonna come through. Yes, yes, and we get through the worship set, and Pastor John Parrish, he just got on the mic and just turned around and said, Justin, come down here.

SPEAKER_03 42:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:07

And I went down there and they began to pray for me. Praise God. And then that moment, yeah, I got healed.

SPEAKER_03 42:14

Hallelujah.

SPEAKER_00 42:15

And after that, after not playing my horn for an entire month, yeah, I played uh praise by elevation. Oh, and I remember I go back and I see that video, and I was jumping all over the stage while I was playing. While you were playing. So I I went through a trial. I went through a one of the biggest health storms of my life. Right. I continued, the fear started to creep in, just like this entire story. Fear started to creep in. Yeah. And I started to lose focus. And that was in the times where I felt like I wanted to just quit.

SPEAKER_03 42:52

Right.

SPEAKER_00 42:53

And I felt like it was over. Yeah. I was hallucinating. And then I began to bring my focus back to Jesus.

SPEAKER_03 43:01

Right.

SPEAKER_00 43:01

And then that was one step after another, stepping out in faith to even go down there, bringing my horn, knowing that I hadn't played and that God was going to have to make me be able to play.

SPEAKER_01 43:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 43:15

And then throughout all of that became the fruition of my healing.

SPEAKER_02 43:19

It did. And listen, there's you had to get, listen, uh, real fear is you can't breathe. Yeah. Talk about fear.

unknown 43:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:28

I mean, if you can't catch your breath, so that was a real point for you to. I mean, that's life and death. We can't breathe. So you really had to step out in faith, knowing that God was going to touch you.

SPEAKER_00 43:40

Yeah, and I'm a very active person and have to fall asleep, just take walking to the mailboxes. Something I have never encountered in my life.

SPEAKER_02 43:50

Oxygen was so low, it just unreal. But that was a real test, son. But praise the Lord met you in the middle of your storm.

SPEAKER_00 43:59

Just like that.

SPEAKER_02 44:00

This is like what we're reading.

SPEAKER_00 44:03

Jesus came in the middle of the storm and met Peter and the disciples.

SPEAKER_02 44:06

He did. And it ended like the Son of God was there and it ended like it should.

SPEAKER_00 44:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 44:14

Because you were healed by the power of Jesus' name. And as you said, that service was amazing. The power and presence of God came. The Spirit of God got on you. And you did. You danced all over the state and played your horn. Which again is a supernatural proof that God is the healer. The Lord is the Lord our healer. And He promises us. And as long as we didn't quit, you didn't quit. It took some gutsy faith to step out. And then the prayers of the saints, you know, which avail much, praise God. Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 44:49

Well, I wanted to speak to you today. Are you in a storm right now? Are you in the midst of a trial right now in your life? That you are leaning your focus towards. And right now, maybe you came across this video and if you've watched this far. I can tell you that Jesus is going to meet with you in the middle of this storm. If just like Peter, you'll reach your hand up to him and cry, Lord, save me. What storm are you going through right now? Because you can't get out of this storm on your own. The storms that we go through, the storms that the enemy tries to put on our life, will ultimately break us unless God steps in and makes a way.

SPEAKER_02 45:42

That's right. And I want to say to you also today, if you are even the reason you're in your own storm. That scripture you read out of Lamentations. It's a law of the Lord's mercies, we're not consumed.

SPEAKER_01 45:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 45:59

So don't fear having faith because you created maybe the storm. You know what? God loves us, his mercy endures forever. And even if you help create the storm, if you'll do what he just said, just reach up your hand and say, Lord, save me. God will save you even from a storm you created. And especially the ones the enemy brought against you. Yes. He will save you because he's a good God. And he loves you. And the Lord delights in mercy, the scripture says. Don't hesitate. Even if you made a mess of your life, he loves to turn miracles or turn messes into miracles. And so reach out to him today. Ask the Lord to save you.

SPEAKER_00 46:51

Yes. Could you go ahead and pray for our listeners today that whatever storm they're going through, that they continue to put their focus on Jesus and that Jesus will show up in the midst of their storm.

SPEAKER_02 47:05

Amen. Father, we just thank you. We are so thankful for every single listener today, everyone watching this podcast, because Lord, we know everything in this world is by divine appointment. They're here because they came as an appointment from you. And Lord, we are so thankful that we have to be uh that we get to be together. And we're on the other side of this microphone. So I pray that you would let them feel your presence right now where they are to know that they're in the right place at the right time, to know they're hearing the right message. And so, Father, I just pray for my friends and and my dear listener today that's watching. Lord, encourage them. Let them know there's no, there's nothing they've done that can keep them from you if they come unto you. There's no sin too great, no chasm too deep. There's no place they can go and be found in life that you can't pull them out, that you can't do something about it. So, Lord, let them feel your presence right now, your sweet holy presence, that warmth of hope, that knowing of the Holy Spirit, that if they'll just call on you, everything will be all right. Reach them today. We plead the blood over them, and we bind the enemy over them, telling them there's no hope. We come against that in the mighty name of Jesus, and we thank you right now as we agree with their faith. If they don't quit, if they will look to Jesus and trust in him, they will be delivered out of this storm. In the name of Jesus, Lord, we pray over them right now. Touch them, Lord, and let them feel your mighty delivering power. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Look up. He's the author and finisher of your faith. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 49:00

Amen. And if you find yourself today like Peter and these disciples, and you're in this storm, I pray that you prayed this prayer with us, and that you are seeing God show up right now, that you're feeling his presence show up right where you are, in your car or in your work office. Yes. I pray that you continue to live in the joy and love that Jesus brings to your life today.

unknown 49:30

Amen.