When you feel disconnected from God | Jonathan Evans

Have you ever been in a storm where you need Jesus, but he's gone quiet on you? I'm praying and you're quiet. I'm in church and I still feel disconnected. I call my accountability, but I'm not getting any divine reassurance. I'm reading the Bible, but I'm still not experiencing any hope.

Like, this is what your word says. You're with us on the boat, but you're not with us on the boat. Where are you? We going to just jump into his word because this summer is all about the sun. Mark chapter 4 verse 35-41. If you're not standing, stand on up.

Stand on up. So you stand. If you're in your house, stand up. Mark 4:35 and it reads, "On that day when evening came, he said to them, let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd, they took him along with them into the boat just as he was.

And other boats were with him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind. And the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus himself was in the stern asleep on a cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?"

And he got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And he said to them, "Why are you afraid? How how is it that you have no faith?" They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

I know who it is. We just said his name. His name is Jesus. Today I want to talk to you about the title under the sun because today we need to realize that everything comes under the authority of Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father, we love you. This is your word.

I pray that you bless it for your people in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. You may be seated. I'm glad we came into this sermon with that song because as you see the disciples are about to enter a storm and they going to need Jesus. Matter of fact, when you go out and you face life storms, don't forget his name.

You called his name in church, but don't forget his name in culture. It starts out by saying on that day, this was a day where Jesus was on the seashores of the Sea of Galilee near Capernaum. And he was teaching the crowd. There was a crowd that was out there.

It was a crowd kind of like this. And all over the country and the world, it's Sunday, so crowds show up. And he was teaching the people by way of parables about the kingdom of God. And he was teaching them these parables on that day before evening came.

And he was saying things like, "A sewer went out to sew. And when the sewer went out to sew, he swed some seed and some seed fell among the roadside and got eaten up by birds. Other seed fell amongst rocky soil, sprung up for a second, but then quickly went away.

Other seed fell among the thorns and then other seed found its way into good soil and reaped a hundfold. He was saying things like a lamp that is bought should not be hidden but that which is hidden is only hidden for a second only to be revealed again.

He was saying other things like um a mustard seed is smaller than the rest but when that thing takes root and is planted it grows up much bigger than everything else. So much so that the birds of the air perch on its branches and are covered by its shade.

He was teaching them by way of parable. The reason why he was teaching the crowd by way of parable is because the crowd likes that kind of stuff. So he only preached to them based on the level of their belief. Because the crowd likes stories. The crowd likes illustrations.

The crowd likes the lights, the camera, the action. Even if they leave the same as how they came in. So he only gave them according to their ability to hear. That's why often he would say, "He who has an ear, let him hear." Because you can have ears and not be listening.

So he would just give them a parable and some stories. Matter of fact, John 2 24 and 25 says, "Many believed on him, but Jesus himself would not commit himself to them because he knew what was in them." So you can be in church now. ((applause)) You can be committed to coming to church and Jesus not be committed to you.

So he gave to them based on their ability to take in, based on their ability to believe, based on the faith that they had. He gave them the stories. But to the disciples he gave the mysteries. Verse 34 says in this chapter that he gave to the disciples a clear understanding.

In other words, everybody didn't get that clarity because everybody's not the same. All over America and the world, you have fans and you have followers. Fans love the likes, the camera, the actions. Fans get excited, but it doesn't take root for very long. Followers want to understand clearly because they're trying to follow.

They're not just coming to an event. They're not just treating church like it's a conference that I come to once a week to get a little bit of encouragement only for the gas to run back out to come back up to fill up again. So there was a delineation even here between crowd and disciples.

And all this day he was teaching the people and giving the disciples a clear understanding. And then when evening came he gave another sermon. In verse 35 and 36 he gave a clear sermon. Verse 35 is in red in your Bibles what Jesus said. And here's the sermon.

Let us go over to the other side. Now, if Jesus were in the house today, we'd be hyped. If Jesus were standing on the stage and he looked at the crowd and said, "Let us go over to the other side." There's hope in that statement. We would be in here talking about other side, other side, other side.

Amen. Hallelujah. Take me over it. We would be doing all types of stuff because when Jesus tells you we about to go to the other side, people get excited and they're ready to go. That was the sermon that he gave after giving sermons all day and giving clarity to the disciples.

He said, "Now, let's move on what we just talked about. All right? Let's now go to the other side. This is going to be an important sermon because little did the disciples know that going to the other side would get met with a hurricane caliber storm. In other words, these disciples didn't need just the didn't just need the word to get excited to follow.

These disciples needed the word to gird themselves up for the incoming storm. Okay, let me say it again. Many people come to church and get the word and are excited about it, not realizing that you need the word to keep close to tattoo on your heart because you need it in preparation for life's storms.

You can get excited about a word and not be prepared for the storm that the word was given to you for. So many Christians today in church will get excited and still leave unequipped. This is why tomorrow when you ask somebody what the sermon is about, they going to say, "Um um um um it was good, but uh uh uh uh."

First of all, I'll be studying hard for these ser sermons. I'm gonna need y'all to remember what we talked about. But the reason why it's hard for us to remember is because we got excited with no plan for implementation. See, when you already know a storm is coming, you get prepared for that thing.

Okay. How many of you um keep an umbrella in your car? Look at that. Why? It's sunny. It don't matter if the weather man say it's going to be 100°. Ain't no cloud in sight. You know what you going to have in your car? An umbrella. Because just in case something changes, just in case the tide turns, just in case the weatherman didn't know what he was talking about, just in case something comes that I wasn't expecting, I am still ready.

You don't want to have to get ready. You want to stay ready. If you ever see somebody out in a storm and they're not ready, they look crazy. When they get out of a car, they get out of the car like this. And you're going to see that the disciples were panicking because the storm made them forget to hold on to God's word.

When you're in a storm and you have this thing with you, it looks a whole lot different than the people who don't. Because while they're running and panicking, you're just walking. You're in the same storm, but the storm is not on you. You're able to navigate the storm differently simply because you were prepared for the storm that you're now navigating.

And so it's the the disciples didn't realize that they were being given a word that they needed to hold on to to cover them in life storms. What am I saying? When you come to church, get ready. Get ready for life storms. Don't applaud. Say his name. Jesus.

Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Like we did in that song. And then panic as soon as you walk out of the door. That means you sang the songs. That means you clapped. That means you stood up and you left the umbrella in the church. This is what has happened to the disciples is that they got a powerful word.

That word has hope and promise embedded in it. Let us go over to the other side. You know where that means? We f to go. Y'all hear me say fa like we about to go to the other side. And it details that they were excited because it says that the disciples took Jesus along with them as he was.

They got ahead of the word. They were so excited because they were ready to follow and left with a word totally unprepared. And immediately in verse 37 it says, "And arose a fierce gale of wind." This is not just reading the Bible and you say, "Oh, they hit a storm."

No, this is hurricane season. It wasn't a long distance from where they were going, but there arose a fierce gale of wind when they got in the boat. Now, Luke 8 23 gives you more detail and it tells you systematically how things happened. Luke 8:23 says this. As they were sailing along, Jesus went to sleep and then there descended a storm on the lake.

Now, let me take you through Luke's progression because this is interesting. Mark tells you they got in the boat and a storm hit them. Luke tells you, no, there was actually a period of time where they were sailing. It says as they were sailing along. So when they started following Jesus, they was on the boat toasting.

All right, they was on the boat sailing, the wind was hitting the sail at the proper speed. The water was glass. They was just hanging out having a good time. And while they were hanging out and sailing and everything was okay, it details and tells you that that's when Jesus went away and went to sleep.

Okay. The next time you see the disciples looking for Jesus is only when they thought they were going to die. Okay. While they were sailing along, Jesus went to sleep. They ain't care. But when they needed saving, all of a sudden, they were worried about their proximity. Yeah.

It's amazing because many Christians don't care where Jesus is when things are going well. As long as we're sailing, we don't care where he is. But if something goes bad, we use Jesus like a spare tire. We only pull him out when life goes flat. You need to know why we're up here saying his name over and over and over again.

You need Jesus in the winter and the summer. You need Jesus in the fall and the spring, when it's up, when it's down. We always need to have tenacity when it comes to our proximity. We need to be with Jesus because when that thing turns, we need to be right where he is.

It says, "And in that moment, as they were sailing on the lake, the storm descended on them. They're looking straight ahead. It's it's sunny. Everything is fine. They're toasting their glasses. They're hanging out. And then it says descended means from up there. That's called a sudden storm. A rose gives gives the connotation in the Greek to happen upon suddenly to come about.

I don't know if anybody's ever experienced any storms that just happen suddenly. It seems like it just descends on you from nowhere. Everything was good and you were sailing at the proper speed. The waters were glass. Everything was sunny. You just got through telling somebody at church, "God is good all the time."

And all the time, "God is good." With a smile on your face and you meant it. And as soon as you walked out the door, suddenly something happened to you or upon you or in your family. It's when you get that sudden call that you weren't expecting about someone in your family who was hurt, injured, or worse.

It's when your job all of the sudden is downsizing. When you thought you were just about to get a promotion. It's when you suddenly get the call or you find out that there was infidelity in your home and it knocks you off your feet when you thought your marriage was going in the right direction.

These things happen and they happen suddenly. And what's bad about these sudden storms that we go through, what makes matters even worse on this boat is it tells you when they hit a hurricane. Jesus is sleep. Okay. Um, have you ever been in a storm? Where you need Jesus, but he's gone quiet on you?

Have you I'm just saying I if is it just me who said, "May God, where are you? I'm praying and you're quiet. I'm in church and I still feel disconnected. I call my accountability, but I'm not getting any divine reassurance. I'm reading the Bible, but I'm still not experiencing any hope.

Like, this is what your word says. You're with us on the boat, but you're not with us on the boat. Where are you? He's asleep. And that makes the storm even worse. It says the boat was already filling up. The boat was getting tossed around. They think that they're going to die.

The situation is heavy. You can imagine that they themselves are taking a moment to try to save themselves to get the water off of the boat and nothing is working. And Jesus is quiet. God is not talking. He is sleeping. Let me let me make it a little bit more worse.

He's sleeping on a cushion. You know what that means? That means he went to sleep on purpose. Good night. You went to sleep on purpose. You don't think he knew that storm was coming when he said, "Let us go over to the other side." And he went to sleep on purpose.

God's not talking to me during the storm of my life. I'm not hearing him. I'm not getting anything from him. Where are you? Why would you not be speaking when I need you to speak? Why would you not be here when I need you to be here? And you going to go to sleep on me in purpose?

On purpose. All right. Um, ladies and gentlemen, when God goes to sleep on you on purpose and you're not hearing from him and you're in the middle of the storm, it's because he is testing you. Your teacher doesn't talk either when you're taking a test. You cannot raise your hand and say, "Hey, I need some help."

Sh, take the test. The reason why the teacher doesn't talk while you're taking a test is because they are testing you on information you have already been given. Let's go back. Let us go over to the other side. I've been preaching all day about the kingdom. I've taken the time to explain it to you clearly.

You've watched my miracles and now I want to watch your faith because without faith it's impossible to please the Lord. and I have to prepare you for storms because I'm going to tell you something else in the future that's going to bring about more storms. Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations.

And as soon as they listen, Peter was thrown in jail. James got killed by the sword. They It was a storm doing what God told them to do. And they would have to believe later that what God said, he will finish what he started. So he's preparing them now for their future later.

And if you don't want storms, what you're telling God is don't give me a future because I want to remain unprepared. I' I've already given you the lesson. I I told you. Let us go over to the other side. Other side. Other side. Other side. Instead, the disciples panicked.

Instead, the believers panicked. Instead, the church folk looked like the culture. Instead, there was no difference between the believer and the unbeliever. They were around Jesus but evidently didn't have the faith in the Jesus they were around. Now this is very difficult. This is very difficult to not panic and trust when you're in a hurricane.

Amen. To say it's not difficult. I I'd be when my Okay, being on this stage means nothing as it relates to my humanity. I'm feeling just like y'all. So all that pedestal stuff y'all got in your minds, man. Get rid of that. I have to live life just like y'all.

My mom died just like some of y'all. I got to So, let me tell you, let me tell you where where I got when I got when I shut all the lights off in the house. So, you know, we had eight people die. My mom died. Then my dad suddenly had to step down and I'm like, what?

So, we up here and we we stand, but behind the scenes, we got tears. We hit hurricane season and we're like, "God, why are you so quiet?" And so I'm frustrated and I'm panicking cuz I'm like, "Uh-oh. What does all of this mean?" We had someone die in our family every four months.

We felt like it was final destination. We was wondering who's next. So I literally started panicking like, "What do I do? I'm I'm reading, but I'm putting it to the side. I'm trying to fix it myself. I'm bailing out water trying to figure out who I can talk to or who can do something or who can make me calm, who can keep me from being depressed and anxious, who can keep me from fear and anxiety, who can help me.

And so, but I came to a moment where I did just like this. There's nothing I could do. I could I couldn't do anything. So then I just sat still in the house like this. And I just started reminding myself of what he said. Lord Nah 17 says that you are my stronghold when I'm in trouble.

Psalm 46 1-3 says, "You are my refuge, my very present in the time of trouble." It says to be still and know that you are God. 2 Coronicles 2017 says, "Do not fight, just hold and watch the salvation of the Lord." Isaiah 26:3, you give perfect peace those whose minds are stayed up on you.

And so I couldn't just let it just be a sermon anymore. churchiness was no longer good enough. It didn't keep me from panicking. You see, when you get a sermon, Philippians 4:6 and 7 that says, "Be anxious for nothing, but through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, make your requests knows known, and God who gives you a peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts in Christ Jesus."

That's not just for you to get excited. That's for the time you feel ex fear and anxiety. You have to recall it. Which is why the word says, "Meditate on my word day and night, and you will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season.

Its leaf will not wither. And whatever you do, you will prosper." You got to recall it. Otherwise, you're just going to panic. ((music playing)) When Psalm 34:18 says, "God is near to the brokenhearted and he saves those who are crushed in spirit," that's not just for you to shake your head at.

That's for you to tattoo it on your mind and your heart for the time that you experience loss and grief. You can sit under that umbrella because the grief is still there. The rain is still falling, but at least you have something in it. And so I sat there and and said, "I can't do it.

The I'm bailing water and more water is coming. If um you know what the disciples should have done? You know what they should have done? If Jesus said, "Let us go over to the other side." And a hurricane came and he went to sleep on a cushion, they should have found a cushion and go went to sleep right with him.

Cuz let me tell you, let me tell you. Um, if they went to sleep with him, you know what would have happened? They would have got to the other side. It would have still been the same storm. They would have still been soaked, maybe a little scared, but they would have experienced the salvation of the Lord anyway, cuz God's going to do what he says anyway.

Notice the difference between the disciples and Jesus on the exact same boat. This was a wild storm. The boat was nearly sinking. The wind was thunderous. The water was slashing in and sloshing over. Whatever adjectives you want to give it, it was that bad. The boat is tossed.

No control. The seas in the Bible are representative of evil. So evil was winning. And the whole time it's that bad, Jesus sleeps. I don't know how you sleep through that. They feel like they're going to die. It's so bad. And Jesus sleeps. The disciples were in fear in the storm.

Jesus was unshaken in the storm. Y'all don't get it. What shakes you doesn't shake God. Hebrews 12 lets you know we serve an unshakable kingdom. That he will sleep through the very thing that you're afraid of. You know why? because he has authority over it. The disciples ran in.

Wake up. ((applause)) Okay. Do you not care that we perish? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Do you not care that we die or perish? We're in this storm. Watch what Jesus did.

I never seen this before. It's three words in verse 39. Three words right at the beginning. Once they said, "Wake up. Do you not care that we perish?" It says, "He got up." Oo, wake up. Do you not care? We need salvation. He got up. Wake up. Do you not care that I'm about to die?

He got up. Wake up, Jesus. I need to be saved. He got up. Don't you realize that when he was sleeping, it was chaos. When he was sleeping, they had no hope. When he was sleeping, they thought they were going to die. But as soon as he got up, all of a sudden, there was hope, salvation, and life.

He got up and said, "Sh, be still." The seed that represented chaos was now underneath the authority of the sun. Life was given to the disciples. Everything changed when he got up. Don't you know on Friday when he died, it was chaos. People didn't have any hope. They didn't know how they were going to live.

They didn't know that they could get to tomorrow. They only thought they were going to perish. But he got up and early on Sunday morning. All of a sudden there was life. All of a sudden evil was subdued. All of a sudden the seas were perfectly calm. All of a sudden everything changed because he got up.

I need somebody to make some noise that Jesus got up because he is the Christ, the son of the living God who comes to take away the sins of the world. I didn't recognize in the story at first that he went to sleep and it was chaos. But then once he got up, he said, "Shh, be still."

That he supplemented perfection where there was evil. That all of the sudden the the lake was like glass and the winds calmed down and the waves ceased for one reason and one reason alone. because he got up. And watch what he says when he gets up. He got up.

Watch this. The storm Hush. Be quiet. ((music playing)) It's a hurricane. Can you imagine Jesus standing in New Orleans and telling Katrina, "Be quiet." And everything becoming like glass immediately when he speaks. quiet and everything became perfectly calm. The scripture says perfectly calm. Perfectly calm because he got up and said, "Sh."

And we panic in a storm. And we serve a God who can just go, "Shh, be still. And then he followed it up with something we need to remember. He said uh to the disciples, "Shh, be quiet, Storm." Perfectly calm. Looks at his disciples. Why were you afraid?

Why did you act like that? Do you not believe in who I am? You look just like the people I left on the shore. Why were you afraid? If I was Peter, I'd have been like, "Because I was about to die. He says, "Do you have no faith?"

This lets me know that after Jesus was called upon and got up and calmed the storms that he was letting the disciples know, you failed the test. You must do better. If you can't handle this storm, how are you going to handle the book of Acts? You must be prepared, more prepared than that because I'm calling you to follow me.

And if I, your master, suffer, then what do you think the Christian life looks like? You say, "Well, how did they fail the test? They got a storm. Call on Jesus. Jesus made it better." This test was not about whether Jesus can make it better or not. Yes, this test was about whether you can be better or not, regardless of if he makes it better.

Can you walk through the storm? Do you believe that all authority is under the sun? I'm going to get out of here with this statement. Um, this is one of the clearest pictures in scripture of the humanity and deity of God in bodily form. He went to sleep because he was tired.

Remember, he had been preaching all day. I only preached twice. And at lunch, I'd be like, told my dad, I got to build my stamina. This is he was tired, so he went to sleep. And yes, he was testing them, but he went to sleep because he was tired and then got up from his sleep and told the storm to be quiet.

Jesus is 100% man and 100% God. He has two natures in one person without mixture forever. That is who he is. He's 100% man, not 50. He's 100% God. He has two natures that have been placed in one container called the person of Jesus Christ without mixture forever.

This is why he can be hungry and then go feed 5,000 with two fish and five loaves. This is why he can be thirsty and then turn around and walk on water. This is why he can die and then turn around and get up because he is the God man.

The one who can sympathize with your weaknesses and who can do something about it. He's the one who's over the storm even when he sleeps into the storm. He is Jesus the Christ. So when they ask the question, what manner of man is this that even the wind and the seas obey him?

We know who it is. It's Jesus the Christ, the son of the living God, who is 100% man, 100% God, two natures, one person forever. And he is worthy of your life. He is worthy of your trust. He is worthy of your faith. He is worthy of your praise because that is who he is.

So just remember when you hit the storm that everything comes under the sun. Everything. As we get ready to close just for a moment, no moving cuz we're about to bring in some new members. Before we do, I want to thank everyone for joining us online. Our online audience.

Heavenly Father, bless the online audience. The digital disciples. Lord, we pray Lord that you would bless them indeed. Enlarge their territory. Walk with them as well. We're all in this together in Jesus name. Amen.