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When God Is Hard to See- Minister Max Lucado · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

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  Speaker 1: Hi friends, I'm Max Licato. Welcome to Fresh Hope. Today
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  Speaker 1: we continue a series based on my book, In the
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  Speaker 1: Eye of the Storm. Hold tight, we're headed straight into
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  Speaker 1: the storms that wreak havoc on our lives and You know,
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  Speaker 1: there's a window in your heart through which you can
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  Speaker 1: see God. And once upon a time, that window was clear.
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  Speaker 1: You could see God as vividly as you could see
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  Speaker 1: a gentle valley or hillside. The glass was clean, the
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  Speaker 1: pain unbroken. You knew God. You knew how He worked.
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  Speaker 1: No surprises. Nothing unexpected. You knew that God had a
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  Speaker 1: will and you continually discovered what that will was. Then, suddenly,
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  Speaker 1: the window cracked. A pebble broke the window. A pebble
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  Speaker 1: of pain. Perhaps the stone struck when you were a
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  Speaker 1: child and a parent left home forever. Maybe the rock
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  Speaker 1: hit in adolescence when your heart was broken. Maybe you
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  Speaker 1: made it into adulthood before the window was cracked. But
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  Speaker 1: then the pebble came. Was it a phone call? Maybe
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  Speaker 1: the officer's voice on the line said, We have your
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  Speaker 1: daughter at the station. You better come down. Was it
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  Speaker 1: a letter on the kitchen table? Messy handwriting declaring, I've left.
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  Speaker 1: It's over. I just don't love you anymore. Was it
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  Speaker 1: a diagnosis from the doctor saying the news isn't good?
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  Speaker 1: Whatever the pebbles form, the result was the same. A
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  Speaker 1: shattered window, a spider web of fragmented pieces. Suddenly, God
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  Speaker 1: was not so easy to see. His figure was distorted.
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  Speaker 1: It was hard to see him through the pain. You
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  Speaker 1: were puzzled. God wouldn't allow something like this to happen,
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  Speaker 1: would he? Tragedy and travesty weren't on the agenda, were they?
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  Speaker 1: Had you been fooled? Had you been blind? The moment
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  Speaker 1: the pebble struck, the glass became a reference point for you.
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  Speaker 1: From then on, there was life before the pain and
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  Speaker 1: life after the pain. Before your pain... The view was clear.
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  Speaker 1: God seemed so near. After your pain, well, he was
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  Speaker 1: harder to see. Now maybe these words don't describe your situation.
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  Speaker 1: There are some people who never have to redefine or
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  Speaker 1: refocus their view of God. Most of us do. Most
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  Speaker 1: of us know what it means to feel disappointed by God.
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  Speaker 1: Most of us have a way of completing this sentence.
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  Speaker 1: If God is God, then, and you fill in the blank,
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  Speaker 1: call it an agenda, a divine job description. Each of
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  Speaker 1: us has an unspoken yet definitive expectation of what God
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  Speaker 1: should do. If God is God, then there will be
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  Speaker 1: no financial collapse in my family. My children will never
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  Speaker 1: be buried before me. People will treat me fairly. My
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  Speaker 1: prayer will be answered. Now, these are not articulated criteria.
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  Speaker 1: They are not written down or notarized, but they are real.
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  Speaker 1: And they define the expectations we have of God. And
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  Speaker 1: when pain comes into our world, these expectations go unmet
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  Speaker 1: and doubts begin to surface. We look for God, but
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  Speaker 1: can't find Him. Fragmented glass hinders our vision, and you
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  Speaker 1: aren't quite sure what you see. The disciples weren't sure
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  Speaker 1: what they saw either. Our story picks up soon after
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  Speaker 1: Jesus fed the 5,000. On that day, Jesus failed to
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  Speaker 1: meet the disciples' expectations. The 12 had finished their training.
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  Speaker 1: They were ready for battle. They expected Jesus to Let
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  Speaker 1: the crowds crown him as king and attack the city
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  Speaker 1: of Herod where John the Baptist had been killed. They
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  Speaker 1: expected battle plans, strategies, a new era for Israel. What
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  Speaker 1: did they get? Just the opposite. Instead of weapons, they
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  Speaker 1: got oars. Rather than being sent to fight, they were
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  Speaker 1: sent to float. The crowds were sent away. Jesus walked away.
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  Speaker 1: And they were left on the water with the storm
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  Speaker 1: brewing in the sky. Now what kind of Messiah would
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  Speaker 1: do this? Note carefully the sequence of the stormy evening
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  Speaker 1: as Matthew records it in chapter 14, verses 22 through 24. Immediately,
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  Speaker 1: Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go
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  Speaker 1: on ahead of him to the other side while he
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  Speaker 1: dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went
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  Speaker 1: up on a mountainside by himself to pray. And when
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  Speaker 1: evening came, he was there alone. But the boat was
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  Speaker 1: already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves
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  Speaker 1: because the wind was against it. Matthew is specific about
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  Speaker 1: the order of events. Jesus sent the disciples to the boat.
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  Speaker 1: Then he dismissed the crowd. Then he ascended a mountainside.
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  Speaker 1: It was evening, probably around 6 p.m. The storm struck immediately.
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  Speaker 1: The sun had scarcely set before typhoon-like winds began to roar.
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  Speaker 1: Note that Jesus sent the disciples into the storm alone.
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  Speaker 1: Even as he was ascending the mountainside, he could feel
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  Speaker 1: and hear the gale's force. Jesus was not ignorant of
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  Speaker 1: the storm. He was aware that a torrent was coming
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  Speaker 1: that would soon carpet bomb the sea's surface. But he
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  Speaker 1: didn't turn around. The disciples were left to face the
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  Speaker 1: storm alone. The greatest storm that night was not in
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  Speaker 1: the sky. It was in the disciples' hearts. The greatest
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  Speaker 1: fear was not from seeing the storm-driven waves. It came
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  Speaker 1: from seeing the back of their leader as he left
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  Speaker 1: them to face the night with only questions as companions.
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  Speaker 1: It was this fury that the disciples were facing that night.
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  Speaker 1: Imagine the incredible strain of bouncing from wave to wave
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  Speaker 1: on a tiny fishing vessel. One hour would weary you.
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  Speaker 1: Two hours would exhaust you. Surely Jesus will help us,
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  Speaker 1: they thought. They had seen him still storms like this
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  Speaker 1: before on this same sea. They had awakened him during
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  Speaker 1: a storm and he had commanded the skies to be silent.
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  Speaker 1: They'd seen him quiet the wind and soothe the waves.
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  Speaker 1: Surely he will come off the mountain, but he doesn't.
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  Speaker 1: Their arms begin to ache from rowing, still no sign
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus. Three hours, four hours, the winds rage, the
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  Speaker 1: boat bounces, still no Jesus. Midnight comes, their eyes search
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  Speaker 1: for God in vain. By now the disciples have been
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  Speaker 1: on the sea for as long as As six hours,
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  Speaker 1: all this time, they have fought the storm and sought
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  Speaker 1: the master. And so far, the storm is winning. And
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  Speaker 1: the master is nowhere to be found. One of them cried,
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  Speaker 1: where is he? Another yelled, has he forgotten us? A
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  Speaker 1: third muttered, he feeds thousands of strangers and yet leaves
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  Speaker 1: us to die. The gospel of Mark adds a compelling
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  Speaker 1: insight into the attitude of the disciples. In chapter 6,
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  Speaker 1: in verse 52, Mark says, They had not understood about
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  Speaker 1: the loaves. Their hearts were hardened. What does Mark mean?
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  Speaker 1: Simply this. The disciples were mad. They began the evening
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  Speaker 1: in a huff. Their hearts were hardened toward Jesus because
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  Speaker 1: he fed the multitude. Their preference, according to Matthew 14, 15,
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  Speaker 1: had been to send the crowds away. And Jesus told
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  Speaker 1: them to feed the people. But they wouldn't even try.
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  Speaker 1: They said it couldn't be done. They told Jesus to
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  Speaker 1: let the people take care of themselves. Also keep in
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  Speaker 1: mind that the disciples had just spent some time on
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  Speaker 1: center stage on a mission for Jesus. performing miracles in
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  Speaker 1: his name. They had tasted stardom. They were celebrities. They
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  Speaker 1: had rallied the crowds. They had recruited an army. They
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  Speaker 1: were no doubt pretty proud of themselves with chests full.
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  Speaker 1: a bit puffy and heads a bit swollen. They had
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  Speaker 1: told Jesus, ah, just send them away. Jesus didn't. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: he chose to bypass the reluctant disciples and use the
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  Speaker 1: faith of an anonymous boy and his meager lunch. What
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  Speaker 1: the disciples said could not be done was done in
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  Speaker 1: spite of them, not through them. So they pouted. Rather
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  Speaker 1: than be amazed at the miracle, they became mad at
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  Speaker 1: the master. After all, they had felt foolish passing out
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  Speaker 1: the very bread they said could not be made. Add
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  Speaker 1: to that Jesus' command to go to the boat when
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  Speaker 1: they wanted to go to battle, and it's easier to
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  Speaker 1: understand why these guys are burning. 1 a.m., no Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: 2 a.m., no Jesus. Peter, Andrew, James, and John have
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  Speaker 1: seen storms like this. They are fishermen. The sea is
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  Speaker 1: their life. They know the havoc these gale force winds
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  Speaker 1: can wreak. They've seen the splintered hulls float to shore.
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  Speaker 1: They've attended the funerals. They know better than anyone that
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  Speaker 1: this night could be their last. Why doesn't he come,
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  Speaker 1: they ask. Well, finally he does. Matthew 14, 25 says,
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  Speaker 1: During the fourth watch of the night, which would have
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  Speaker 1: been between 3 and 6 a.m., Jesus went out to them,
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  Speaker 1: walking on the lake. Jesus came. He finally came. But
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  Speaker 1: between verse 24, being buffeted by the waves, and verse 25,
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  Speaker 1: when Jesus appeared, a thousand questions are asked. Questions you've
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  Speaker 1: probably asked too. Perhaps you know the angst of being
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  Speaker 1: suspended between verses 24 and 25. Maybe you're riding a storm,
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  Speaker 1: searching the coastline for a light, a glimmer of hope,
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  Speaker 1: and you know that Jesus knows what you're going through.
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  Speaker 1: You know he's aware of your storm. But as hard
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  Speaker 1: as you look to find him, you can't see him.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe your heart, like the disciples' hearts, has been hardened
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  Speaker 1: by unmet expectations. Your pleadings for help are salted with
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  Speaker 1: angry questions. In the first part of this series, we
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  Speaker 1: talked about stress. In the final part, we're addressing storms.
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  Speaker 1: Stress attacks your nerves. Storms attack your faith. Stress interrupts.
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  Speaker 1: Storms destroy. Stress comes like a siren. storms come like
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  Speaker 1: a missile. Stress clouds the day, storms usher in the night.
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  Speaker 1: The question of stress is, how can I cope? The
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  Speaker 1: question of storms, where is God and why would he
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  Speaker 1: do this? If the pebble of pain has struck the
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  Speaker 1: window of your heart, if you've known the horror of
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  Speaker 1: of looking for God's face and seeing only His back
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  Speaker 1: as He ascends a mountainside, the next episode of this
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  Speaker 1: series is for you. I'll tell you a story about
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  Speaker 1: a father who learned of trust, not during six hours
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  Speaker 1: on a boat, but during a six-hour drive with three children.
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  Speaker 1: The message, when you can't see Him, trust Him. The
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  Speaker 1: figure you see is not a ghost, and the voice
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  Speaker 1: you hear is not the wind. Jesus is closer than
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  Speaker 1: you've ever dreamed. Thanks so much for joining me today,
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  Speaker 1: my friends. I hope you'll come back next time as
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  Speaker 1: we conclude this series based on my book, In the
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  Speaker 1: Eye of the Storm. Until then, please remember, no matter
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  Speaker 1: how stormy your day or restless your night, God knows
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  Speaker 1: how you feel and He understands.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have to stay close, as long as you're
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  Speaker 2: somewhere out there, that's enough for me.
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  Speaker 3: I don't need to hold you near me, don't need
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  Speaker 3: promises to keep.
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  Speaker 4: Just the thought that you are breathing Somewhere in this
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  Speaker 4: world I see Even if I'm not beside you Even
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  Speaker 4: if you never know There's a quiet kind of comfort
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  Speaker 4: Just in knowing you still glow I don't need forever
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  Speaker 4: I just need you to exist.
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  Speaker 3: You don't have to stay with me.
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  Speaker 5: You don't have to feel the same Just as long
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  Speaker 5: as you're still out there Calling softly through my days
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  Speaker 5: You don't have to look my way.
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  Speaker 4: You don't have to be my home It's.
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  Speaker 5: Enough to know you're living In a world I'm not
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  Speaker 5: alone I won't chase you through the distance. Won't disturb
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  Speaker 5: your chosen life. I'll just keep you in my silence.
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  Speaker 4: Like a star that shines at night. Through the dark.
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  Speaker 1: And through the blue.
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  Speaker 6: I still think of you. You don't have to be
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  Speaker 6: my home.
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  Speaker 3: It's enough to know you're living in a.
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  Speaker 4: World I'm not alone. I don't need to be your
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  Speaker 4: light I don't need to cross your mind All I
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  Speaker 4: need is just the truth That you're somewhere Still alive.
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  Speaker 3: You don't have to stay with me You don't have
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  Speaker 3: to feel the same Just as long as you're still
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  Speaker 3: out there Calling softly through my days You don't have
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  Speaker 3: to look my way You don't have to be my
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  Speaker 3: home It's enough to know you're living
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  Speaker 1: In a world I'm not alone