When Storms Come: Finding Hope in Jesus

So as the story concludes, here's six quick life lessons. Number one, get the message and use it when the storm comes or get the message and use it now that you're in the storm. Doesn't matter to me as long as you get the message. Jesus is all powerful. Number two, he can and does work miracles. And he will work miracles in you and in your life. He will. [01:33:02] (44 seconds)  #JesusAllPowerful

But when you put your hope in Jesus, it's never misplaced. Five, when we turn our lives over to God, what he does will always amaze us. And six, whatever storms come into our life as a person of faith, none of them can keep us from what God has promised to us. Not one of them. [01:34:24] (37 seconds)  #HopeInGodsPromises

In the storm, Jesus was not concerned about the outcome of this trip. He knew he would die on a cross, but not on a boat. He knew that. He knew at all times his heavenly father was watching over him and he could sleep peacefully in the storm. And he knew getting to the other side was never in question. Go back to what he said at the beginning of the story. Let's get in a boat and let's go to the other side. [01:20:37] (50 seconds)  #PeaceInTheStorm

And immediately, was a great calm, emphasis word in the text, great calm. Not just calm, but a great calm after the great storm. It refers to peacefulness in the moment. As you read the story for a moment, there's silence. Read between the lines in it. There's relief. No wind, no waves, just calmness. The storm is over, and I'm here to tell you, if you're in a storm, there will come a time when the storm will end. [01:26:40] (52 seconds)  #GreatCalmAfterStorm

In the Christian publication of Psychology Today, doctor Mark Goldston writes of seven killers of hope. Seven killers of hope. He says, first, if you have no gratitude, you're disappointed. That's because disappointment is tied to an inability to see what we should feel grateful for. Second, he says if you have no confidence, you're doubtful. That's because doubt increases anxiety, weakens self esteem and causes us to overthink and become double minded. Minded. [00:59:53] (45 seconds)  #KillersOfHope

The monkey looked at the orange in the jar and reached in to get it only to find that once it held the orange in its grip, its hand would not release from the jar. As long as it refused to let go of the orange, the monkey was controlled by the jar. Here's another by the way. When we choose to not forgive others, we also choose to give them power over us, making us their prisoner. [01:03:55] (45 seconds)  #LetGoToBeFree

Doctor Goldston's point is this, if you are disappointed, full of doubt, pessimistic, skeptical, cynical, filled with disdain, and bitter, it's impossible to have hope. But our world is full of these things. Is it any wonder then that we struggle from day to day trying to be people of hope? [01:04:40] (29 seconds)  #ChoicesThatKillHope

So we gotta get rid of it. Right? So we're gonna get rid of pessimism, and we're gonna get forgiveness, and we're gonna get rid of this being ungrateful and cynicism and being disrespectful and oh, almost did hope there. And skeptical and doubtful. We just gotta get rid of these things. And what we have left is what we were intended to have in the beginning, and that is hope. [01:07:54] (41 seconds)  #ClearOutForHope