The Other Side - Part 2

Text: Mark 4:35-41

Traveling is fun and exciting.  You have the anticipation of the trip and what it will be like.  You have the preparation of packing and planning.  Then comes the trip itself.  At each of these stages comes great joy and marvelous apprehension.  The fear of the unknown and the unexpected can creep in and cause paralysis to point of cancellation for some of us, but most of us push through or don't even recognize our fear and get in the car, plane, train, or boat and head out for the great unknown.

What helps many of us in preparating is to study the area we are going to and the journey that will take us there.  We map it all out.  We plan our stops around scenic points or favorite restaurants.  We are going to make the journey part of the trip.  We enjoy getting there as much as being there.

When God calls us to go to the "other side" however, we can't exactly plan our trip like this.  In some cases we don't know where the "other side" really is or how we are going to get there, we just know that God has called us to go.  In other cases we know full well where there is and we don't like the idea of going or the path that getting there is going to take.

Look at this:
"That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, 'Let us go over to the other side.' Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.  A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.  Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.  The disciples woke him and said to him, 'Teacher, don't you care if we drown?'
"He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!' Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
"He said to his disciples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?'
"They were terrified and asked each other, 'Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!'" Mark 4:35-41 (NIV)

These guys were fisherman, many of them.  They grew up fishing on the Sea of Galilee.  They knew these storms and many of them had been caught in one at one point or other.

They also "knew" Jesus, or so they thought.  They had seen him cast out demons and heal the sick.  They had already heard His teachings, yet they still didn't comprehend or believe. This leads to the age old question:
Is believing seeing or seeing believing?

Let me pause here for a moment, Jesus was in the boat with them.  He was at peace because He knew that it wasn't His time yet.  If Jesus is in your boat and your life is swamped - if you feel like life is out of control and you are following God and His plan to go the other side - then rest assured that you are going to make it.  See Jesus wasn't sent to die in a boat, He was destined to die on a cross.  In our lives Jesus is risen, never to die again.  If He is with us then we won't sink or capsize or drown.  He will see to it that we make it to the "other side".

Some times the journey isn't an easy sail across the lake.  It isn't tiptoeing through the tulips.  It isn't a nice drive across town.  It is fraught with many perils and dangers.  It is filled with spirit crushing events. See our enemy, Satan, wants to demoralize us before we ever get there.  He doesn't want us to make it there alive, physically, emotionally, mentally or spiritually.  He will do whatever it takes to stop us from making it to the other side whole and intact.

Here comes the encouragement for all of us, "He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, 'Quiet! Be still!' Then the wind died down and it was completely calm." Mark 4.39

"Greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world." 1 John 4.4

Our Savior and Lord, the One who is planning and leading this trip to the "other side", is greater than the one opposing us. We will make the trip to the other side.  We will see God show up in an amazing way and do something that only He can do.  We will see the glory of the Father revealed in and through us as we make this journey to the "other side".

Don't let fear of the unknown paralyze you from making the trip to the "other side" this year.  Don't let the storms of life cause you to lose heart and go back.  Don't let life drowned out the passion and desire to live for God totally and completely.  Don't stop making the journey to the "other side" because God has a task for you.  He has a role for you to play.  He has Himself to reveal to the people and lands of the "other side" and He wants to do it through you.

Prayer: Lord, would you please help me! I am drowning in life.  I am overwhelmed to the point of death with fear and trembling.  I feel like I'm going under for the last time, but I know the truth in my head that You are with me.  I know the reality is that You are more powerful, help me to live it out and believe it in my heart.  Please help me to not be so afraid and to walk in faith.  I want to see You glorified and magnified among the people who live on the "other side". Amen.

Heritage

When Jen was in Montgomery people there would ask her, "Who are your people?"  Meaning, are you from the Jones' here in Montgomery.  I think that it is important to understand our heritage and history for several reasons.  One of which so we don't repeat the same mistakes as our ancestors.  The other, is to gain perspective from them about life and how I fit into it.

A couple of weeks ago I had the great privilege to be with my Great-Grandmother in California.  She is 101 years old.  It has been 27 years since I saw her last.  It was the best 3 hours of my day listening to her tell stories and spending time with her.  I took my computer with me and got to Skype with my family back home and let them "meet" Great-Great-Grandma via the internet.  It was wonderful to watch her interact with my daughters and see them in awe of such an amazing woman.

Jen commented that Grandma kept putting her head on my shoulder and holding my hand the entire time.  It was wonderful to spend time with her.  At one point holding back the tears, my Grandma touched my face and told me that she was proud of the man that I had become.  What a great encouragement.  I never knew how important it was to hear from your family that you had done well until that moment.  It was wonderful to know that someone who has lived so long and seen so much in life was proud of me.

There are so many people who have gone on before us in the Christian life that are watching us and proud of us.  Hebrews 12.1-3 gives us great perspective on this:

Do you see what this mean--all these pioneers who blasted the way, all these veterans cheering us on?  It means we'd better get on with it.  Strip down, start running--and never quit!  No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins.  Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we're in.  Study how he did it.  Because he never lost sight of where he was headed--that exhilarating finish in and with God--he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever.  And now he's there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.  When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls.

Remember those who have lived before you and make them proud.  Remember God, who walked this road ahead of you, and make Him proud.

Running requires perseverance

In middle school I used to run track.  I think that they were just looking for warm bodies to put in uniforms.  I wasn't fast enough for sprints.  I could not endure the long distance.  So I was the middle distance runner.  I could run one lap pretty good, not great but okay to finish in the top 5 for middle school students.  Today I run from my daughters when they want to have a tickle fight, to the table when I'm hungry, or in an emergency situation.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12.1 (NIV)

People are watching us.  As believers, people are watching every move we make to see if there is something different about us.  There are many witnesses, both believers and non-believers, who are spectating our lives.  Would they say that we are different from the world?  If they were to go around with us for a day would they be able to tell that we are Christ-followers?

Each of have a course marked out for us.  Each course is different.  Each course is filled with it's own up's and down's, curves and straights, bumps and bruises.  Every course is different like the people who run them.  I know that doesn't sound fair because I would love to run someone else's course because it looks more fun, but that is how God works.  You have a course to run that I can't run.  You have a purpose that only you are meant to fulfill.

This course requires of you endurance and perseverance.  We, the members of the great crowd of witnesses, need you to run the race set before you with perseverance.  We need you to grasp, with all your might, the course that has been set before you today, don't worry about the course around the next turn or over the next hill, look only to the course that is just before you.  We need you to throw off every and anything that is entangling your and slowing your down.  Anything that is causing you to trip up needs to be removed.

It is time for us believers to step up to the line and start the race that has been set before you.  You might have stumbled and quit running.  You might have many bruises or even broken bones, but it is time to get back on the course and keep running.  Trust me, I know about bruises.  I understand the pain of broken bones, both physically and emotionally.  I have experienced my share of hurts and have even taken some time off of the course, or so I thought.  But it is time to get back into the race.

Whether you believe it or not, you have never stopped running the race.  People have always been watching.  They have always been evaluating.  They have always been cheering and encouraging.  Don't quit running!  Don't give up!  We need you to persevere for the saints that have gone on before, the saints that are present today and the saints that are coming after.  Keep running!