When Jesus Leads You Into a Storm
Luke 8: 22-25
22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the
other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm
came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. 24 And they went
and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind
and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to them, “Where is
your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this,
that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”.
Good afternoon church, first of all, Happy Mother’s day. If you see any mums here, give them a
hug, shower them with love, and appreciate them. We thank God for the gift of mothers and
the way Christ’s love is reflected through their life.
I know days like this can also bring all sorts of emotions with it. I just want to say that, as a
church, we also remember that Jesus draws near to the brokenhearted. For those who grieve,
who long, who struggle, or who carry wounds, His compassion is real and present today for you.
As we worship together, may we remember, may we be encouraged that we rest in the God
who rejoices with us and weeps with us, He is for us and not against us, and whose grace is
enough for every story in the room.
Today we are going to continue the series of Luke. I personally like today’s passage very much
because it is deeply relatable to all of us. As we know, Luke’s Gospel has 2 main goals, that is to
help us to see the person and the work of Jesus Christ. In story after story, we watch Jesus
graciously reveal Himself to people who don’t fully understand Him yet. A lot of times, people
misunderstood who He is and what He did, yet Jesus responded in patience and compassion.
My prayer is that as we learn about this tonight, Jesus would reveal Himself to us, even when
we are far away in our understanding. He longs to reveal Himself to us, so we can see His heart
and His ministry for us personally. Let’s get into the story.
Today we are going to focus on 3 points:
1) The provisioned storm
2) The imperfect response
3) The ongoing change
1) The Provisioned Storm
22 One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the
other side of the lake.” So they set out, 23 and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm
came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger.
Luke tells us that Jesus got into the boat with His disciples. As they sailed, Jesus fell asleep —
and suddenly a violent storm hit. The same story was also recorded in the book of Matthew and
Mark. That’s very helpful for us to understand the context. The original Greek word used here
describes something like an earthquake. This is to illustrate that this storm was so big that it
caused everything to shake. Even the experienced fishermen among the disciples like Peter,
Andrew, James and John - who spent most of their lives in the water - had never seen anything
like it.
A storm represents something that we cannot control. It is a force of nature, meaning it can hit
suddenly, unexpectedly, and without warning. You just can’t predict. Fear rises when you realize
you're powerless before something that is bigger than you, that you have no control over and
no matter how much you try, you are at their mercy, whatever those things are. That’s when we
experience fear.
In the Old Testament, the Bible often compares the troubles of life to the perils of the sea. The
Sea of Galilee is well‐known for sudden, violent storms because of its unique geography. One
moment the disciples were sailing peacefully; the next, they were fighting for their lives. And
isn’t that how life often feels? One phone call, one diagnosis, one fall, one word, one conflict,
one financial hit — and suddenly we’re drowning.
Like the disciples, we often think we will be experienced enough eventually to handle our
situations. But then, a few seconds later, we realise that we couldn’t and we start panicking. I’m
sure this is something that all mothers can definitely relate to. One day we thought we figured
out motherhood, with the right routines, right method, right parenting, and then suddenly one
day, those things no longer worked. One day you feel like you are a great mum and easily the
next moment, you feel like the worst mum in the world. How volatile, right? That’s the reality of
life, not just motherhood.
And my friend, I want to tell you today, that you are not alone. The bible has been talking about
the same stories of God’s people experiencing what we are experiencing right now. I’m so
comforted knowing we can relate our daily struggles to the word of God. It is not something of a
higher, sterile standard so far away from our reality. Scripture never dismisses our reality. It
doesn’t gaslight us. It acknowledges our weaknesses and our mess. It doesn’t pretend our pain
isn’t real. Isn’t that comforting? To be seen in the midst of what we are going through. That’s
what Scripture is doing to us.
Going back to the story. The first thing being pointed here in verse 22 is how Jesus was the one
who took them across. “And he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the
lake.”Jesus was the One who led them into the storm. When He said, “Let us go across.”, He
knew what was coming. The storm was not an accident — it was part of His intention.
What can we see here? It shows us that Jesus here is actually in full control of everything from
the start, every single thing. It is also hinting there could be some kind of purpose, some kind of
point to Jesus bringing them into the storm. He was trying to make a point here.
Though the disciples did not know it at that moment, storm was divinely appointed to teach
them about God and his power in their lives. The storm was never wasted. Wouldn’t we all
agree that without difficulties, without trials, without stresses, and even failures, we would
never grow to be what we should become? These things expose us, shape us, humble us, and
grow us. Without storms and trials, we would be self centered, self reliant, proud, and
spiritually empty fools.
In fact, apostle Peter, who was in this very boat, he later wrote —“Beloved, do not be surprised
at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were
happening to you” 1 Peter 4:12. He was saying, these are not strange things at all! As Christians,
we should not be surprised by a stormy life. In this first point, we can learn that even the
dangerous storm is part of God’s loving provision and appointed grace. They all happen under
the umbrella of God’s sovereignty. Whatever occurs in your life today, remember, God has
sovereignly surveyed and approved (the story of Job told us that). Chuck Swindoll said, we may
never understand why, but our pain is no accident to Him who guides our journey. Before any
storm ever reaches you, it passes through Him first.
For those who believe the gospel, storms are not signs of God’s absence. They are signs of His
provision. All that happens to us comes from the hand of a loving Father because in the gospel,
all God’s wrath has been removed. He does every single thing for our good.
In His goodness, God often brings us into situations, or trials, or storms, where what we know
about Him is being transformed into what we trust about Him. From head to heart. He does that
despite us — despite all our mess, all our weakness, all our bad responses, all our lack of
goodness.
2) The Imperfect Response
24 And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and
rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. 25 He said to
them, “Where is your faith?”
We see the disciples’ reaction here. They ran to Jesus in the storm and woke him. Their first
instinct is to go to Christ in danger. They did the right thing - they ran to Jesus, but they ran in
panic. We can get more clarity when you read Matthew and Mark again. Mark 4: 38 And they
woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” You can get a
sense that they were in panic over the situation. And when we’re panicking, our first tendency
is to blame others. Fear often makes us assume the worst. In this case, they accused Jesus for
not caring for their lives.
Jesus woke, rebuked the wind and waves, and instantly everything became calm. He didn’t pray.
He didn’t ask for God’s help. He simply commanded — and creation obeyed. As simple as that.
Then He turned to the disciples in verse 25 and he rebuked them, “where is your faith?”.
So the disciples went to Jesus - that means they had faith, right? But Jesus rebuked them asking
where is your faith. So do they have faith?
Matt 8:26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” The phrase Jesus
used here was not where is your faith but here he said “oh you of little faith”, so the emphasis
here is that the disciples did have faith. They did. Their first instinct was to go to Christ in the
midst of their fear and danger, yet it was little faith. It was small, fragile, inconsistent, lacking
faith.
In the book of Mark, Jesus says,"Do you still have no faith?" Jesus wasn’t saying that they totally
have no faith. The word “still” here tells us that by this point of the disciples journey with Jesus,
they should have had a deeper trust in Him. They had seen the centurion’s servant healed and
the people raised from the dead. Even more, they had been with Jesus for three whole years.
They had seen His character. They had listened to his teachings. As if Jesus was saying, “After all
you’ve seen, how are you still doubting My heart?”.
In their fear, the disciples had abandoned all what they knew about Jesus. Isn’t it so relatable to
life when you are going through struggles and your heart doubts, “does God care about me and
what I am going through?”. Often when overwhelmed with fear, all our reasons to trust God
disappear — we forgot all God’s goodness in the past, all of God’s faithfulness, everything good
we know about Him. Keller said, when you panic, you are refusing to exercise the faith that you
already got. You are refusing to get out of what you know about Jesus.
Their problem wasn’t that they woke Jesus. Their problem was how they woke Him. They
questioned his character. The disciples were not rebuked for calling out for help or for
deliverance from the storm, the rebuke was because of their unbelief, not trusting in His
character, in his goodness in the midst of the storm.
And yet, Jesus still calmed the storm. He stayed with them. He rescued them. Even with the
disciples’ imperfect, fragile, lacking faith, Jesus was gracious to answer their needs. Unlike us,
Jesus meets imperfect faith with perfect patience. If it were us, we would respond in frustration
and anger. I would probably respond in my mum-rage.
Finally, we can see the purpose of the storm. What is it? Jesus brought them here to grow their
faith, to help them see who He is in order for their faith and their trust to grow.
Now think with me, how should the disciples respond differently now if they have faith? I don’t
think they would say, “It’s OK guys, let Jesus sleep, let's keep on paddling, we are fine.” If they
have that kind of attitude, I think they would most likely die in that storm. The faithful act is not
"don't wake Jesus up because we are fine”. I think that they still would have woken Jesus up but
they wouldn't have said, “Don’t you care?” instead they would say “Lord, help! We are
drowning! We know you can save, help us!”. Like the father of the demon-possessed boy in
Mark saying “I believe, Lord, help my unbelief”.
Mike Winger said this, when we are facing the storm (hardship), imagine looking at the picture,
we are not just looking at how bad the storm is but we are also looking at the goodness of God,
the character of God and the love of God. They are included in one picture. That is something
that we must continue to learn and to exercise because by sinful nature, we are automatically
drawn towards the bad things, focusing on the storms.
Circumstances are going to keep pushing that button to find out where your faith is and how
much trust you have in Him. If you feel like you failed, so did the disciples. I failed many, many
times. Even in their failure, Jesus never abandoned them. Jesus rescued them despite their lack
of faith. He did not try to lecture them in frustration or condemn them, but He kindly answered
them first. Even His rebuke was filled with patience. That is Who He is. Storms, in the hand of
God, reveal our unbelief — not to shame us, but to heal us. God exposes what we trust so He
can be the One we trust. That in itself, is a grace of God.
3) The Ongoing Change
And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he
commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”.
See? They now had a bigger view of Christ. They see how He's in control over all things and as a
result of that, they had peace right there. But here's what's interesting. I want to pay attention
here, it doesn't say - Jesus led them to the storm // Jesus calmed the storm // and then the
disciples were no longer afraid. It doesn't say that.
It says Jesus led them to the storm // Jesus calmed the storm then the disciples were afraid.
Look at that last verse 25.
The storm stopped but the disciples were still afraid. What has changed now? The object of
their fear. Before, they were scared of the storm, now they are more fearful of being in the
presence of Jesus. At last, they asked, “Who is this?”. That’s what they should have been asking
all along.
Tim preached a few weeks ago about the humble faith. I remember he quoted Keller saying “It
is not the strength of your faith but the object of your faith that actually saves you. Strong faith
in a weak branch is fatally inferior to weak faith in a strong branch.” Faith is not believing that I
will be A-OK, in whatever that I am going through. Faith is believing that God is good despite
what I am going through. Faith focuses on trusting in His heart and His character, regardless of
the circumstances. It is not subjected to situations or outcome, but anchored in a Person of
Jesus.
We learn something about true faith here — it’s not the absence of fear, but the reorientation
of fear. Not “less fear,” but “fear in the right place.” That’s one of many calibrations the Gospel
does to our heart. It reorients our priorities, our fear, our joy, it calibrates our heart entirely.
See Christian maturity does not consist of less fear. In fact, as Christians we technically have a
lot more to “fear” living in this time and age. Again, mums, parents, we can testify to this.
Christian maturity is not about less fear, but more about fearing the right thing.
Are we experiencing fear right now in this season that we're in? Of course.
In 2026, we are having so many storms, if not already?
In our life, we are constantly bombarded with storms. I don't think the key here is to look at
yourself and say “don't be scared, don't be scared, don't be afraid”. What Christ is saying here is
for you to be more afraid, for you to be more in awe, for you to marvel at the One being greater
than any of these storms, that He is in control of them, He’s not surprised by them and more
importantly, He is on your team. He is for you, not against you in that storm. SO it's less about
being not afraid of the storm and it's more about being in more awe of Jesus. We don’t find
peace by looking within, we find it by looking at Jesus.
Church, as long as we live, we will always be in this tension between what you know about God
and whether you decide to actually trust Him and His character. Because trouble is always going
to come, at some point in life, you will be at that tipping point.
When you are at that tipping point - I want us to hear this - Tezar Putra said this, that’s when we
have to remember as Christians, if you believe in the gospel, if you believe in the cross, then
that means Jesus has calmed YOUR storm. He has soothed the greatest storm that you're meant
to experience and that's the storm of the Father's wrath. He calmed it not just by rebuking it, He
stopped it by throwing himself into it. He stopped it by being swallowed up by it so that you can
have that calm and peace. We see here in Luke 8, Jesus is the Lord of Storm. But see on the
cross the Lord of the Storm took upon himself your greatest storm. He took it so that you may
have peace even when you are in the midst of your ‘smaller’ storms right now.
And He did that because He loves us. He obediently bowed His head into that storm and took it
for us. And if you see Him loving you that much, He had to bow His head into that storm, then
any other storms that come along your way, you will never say “Lord, do you not care” because
you know 100% He definitely cares for you, even when your feelings say otherwise.
That’s the ultimate reason we CAN trust Jesus in our storms is because He has already calmed
our greatest storm. The cross is the eternal proof that He cares.
In fact, now Jesus promises to be with us in every storm. “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I
have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. . . . For I am the LORD your God, the Holy
One of Israel, your Savior” (Isa. 43:1–3).
Whatever storms we are facing now, God has brought us to this point in our lives, and he is
using our present experiences to make us more like Jesus, shaping us into the glorious image of
his Son.
“By affliction He teaches us many precious lessons, which, without it we should never learn. By
affliction He shows us our emptiness and weakness, draws us to the throne of grace, purifies
our affections, weans us from the world, and makes us long for heaven. In the resurrection
morning we shall all say, ‘it is good for me that I was afflicted.’ We shall thank God for every
storm.” - J. C. Ryle.
Each storm we had or are now facing, empties our self-sufficiency and makes us run back to the
faithful Provider. J.C. Ryle reminds us that one day we will say, “It is good for me that I was
afflicted.” And that day is coming - the day when we finally see every detail, every thread, every
hidden mercy woven into our story. On that day, we will look back and realise that God was wise
in all He allowed, and we will find ourselves agreeing with Him that it was good for things to
happen the way they did.
So wherever you are today, whatever storm that you are in - go to Him.
Preach the gospel to your heart.
Remember the cross - He cares.
Remember His character.
Remember His presence in your boat.
If you have received what He has done for you, then you can be sure He is able to carry you
through till the end.He will get you out of this storm because He has already brought you out of
your greatest storm.
He can deliver you. He will deliver you — whether that deliverance comes on this shore or the
next. He died so you may live.
Do this over and over again. Because only the beauty of the gospel can keep us from growing
bitter as the waves of trouble keep crashing around us. And only the beauty of the gospel can
keep us, not just for us to remain being Christians, but for us to grow and bear fruits even in the
midst of the storm.
Press this truth in our heart and as we do so and we wait upon him, He will give us grace, He
will help our unbelief. He will grow our faith to trust in Him. He will continue the good work He
has started in us and bring it to completion.
Discussion questions:
- What struck you the most from the sermon?
- Do you tend to see storms in your life as a sign of God's absence or provision? Why?
- How does Jesus' response to your little faith differ from your response to your storm?
- What does this story teach you about faith?
- How does the gospel enable you to trust God amid the storm of life?