Okay so a storm hits your life, it's a big one, so big in fact that you don't know if you're going to make it through. We've all had those and doubtless there are more on the way. So what are you going to do right there in the middle of that storm, how are you going to react?

I mentioned earlier on in this series that I began my walk with Jesus in the middle of a boat on an incredibly stormy ocean. Not literally speaking you understand but my first two or three years with Him were the worst few years of my life, I've never been lower, it's never been darker and scarier and lonelier and more painful and I tell you I never ever want to be back in that place.

Of course whether or not we end up in the middle of another storm isn't always up to us. Yeah sometimes it's our fault, God always lets us live through the consequences of our sin and so sometimes the pain that we're going through is just that, it's the only way we learn our lessons in life isn't it? Like that old Yiddish proverb:

Every generation has to learn for itself that the stove is hot.

But sometimes a storm blows in that simply isn't our fault, it just happens and as we saw yesterday on the program those storms aren't just some accident but the sovereign will of God. It's hard to imagine that God would let that happen to us but you see He is so much more interested in our character than our comfort. A verse that I go back to again and again when I'm suffering is James chapter 1 verses 2 to 4:

My brothers and sisters whenever you face trials of any kind consider it nothing but joy because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its full effect so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

And we've already seen that God uses storms in that very way. Let's revisit that stormy story in Matthew chapter 14 again because there's a couple of more things that God has to say to us through what Jesus and the disciples did on that day. So let's go back, Matthew chapter 14 beginning at verse 22:

Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead on the other side while He dismissed the crowds and after He dismissed the crowds He went up the mountain by himself to pray. Now when evening came He was there alone but by this time the boat, battered by waves, was far from the land for the wind was against them.

And early in the morning He came walking towards them on the sea but when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea they were terrified saying 'it's a ghost' and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said 'take heart, it is I, don't be afraid.' Peter answered Him, 'Lord if it's you command me to come to you on the water' and Jesus said 'come'. So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water and came towards Jesus.

But when he noticed the strong wind he became frightened and beginning to sink he cried out 'Lord save me'. Jesus immediately reached out His hand and caught him saying 'you of little faith, why did you doubt?' When they got into the boat the wind ceased and those in the boat worshipped Him saying 'truly you are the Son of God.

Okay so putting the disciples in harm's way was a deliberate choice that Jesus made. Storm, wind, even the seasoned fishermen among them were getting downright scared. And then just to top it off Jesus comes walking across the water towards them and they think they're seeing a ghost.

It's often the way when Jesus steps supernaturally into the storms in our lives. As much as we don't like the storm we kind of understand the things we can see and touch and feel, but man when the hand of God starts moving supernaturally, that's a bit unsettling and scary sometimes. When Jesus first steps into our storm it can be scary until we hear His voice, until we know that it's Him.

I remember in my storm, man when He led me to a Church and then He led me to a Bible college, that was completely crazy given who I was and where I was at, it was scary but then He speaks, He speaks words of assurance and comfort. Don't be afraid, it's me.

People ask me, "how do you hear that, how do you hear Him speak?" Most often I've heard Him speak through the Bible, I know it sounds corny but it's true. This morning as I read the next Psalm that I was due to read He just spoke so directly into what I was going through. But He speaks through sermons, sometimes He touches me deeply when I'm watching a movie, through things that happen. When you read your Bible you'll see He speaks in all sorts of different ways and that speaking brings courage to your heart.

When the ministry of ChristianityWorks a few years ago looked like it was going to crash and burn for a lack of funds man I spent a lot of time on my knees and I can tell you it was Jesus speaking to me that gave me the courage and the resolve to keep going. And then right there, the next single most bizarre part of this story unfolds:

Peter gets out of the boat, Peter answered Him 'Lord if it's you command me to come to you on the water' and He said 'come' so Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water and came towards Jesus.

Now just stop and think about that, not only did the words of Jesus inspire enough courage in Peter's heart to get out of the boat and walk on water which in itself is just amazing but he did it while the storm was still raging. And you know something that's often how Jesus does things; He calls us out of the boat in the middle of the storm.

Now at the peak of the storm we have the maximum number of excuses available to us to stay back in the boat, really we do. Now's not the right time, we're a long way from land, the boat's been battered and overcome by waves, the wind's against us, now is simply not a good time Jesus, let's wait for the storm to stop.

But now the Holy Spirit inspires Peter to say, "Lord if it really is you command me to come to you on the water." That right there speaks of a heart ready to follow Jesus, Peter knew he was better out on the water with Jesus in the middle of a storm than back in the boat with his mates who are paralysed by fear.

This is what it means to go overboard with Jesus, to follow Him wherever He may call, to ask Him to call us on, to serve Him, to trust Him to do the impossible in Him and one day Jesus is going to call you out of the boat right in the middle of one of your storms, trust me.

If you're listening, if your heart is open, if you yearn for Him He will call you and when you step out of that boat in His power rather than your own strength you're not going to be perfect at it anymore than Peter was. Peter took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the storm which is when he started to sink but Jesus was there, Jesus is always there. Immediately He reached out His hand, Jesus is always there to catch us when we fail, when our faith wanes.

Overboard with Jesus means putting it all on the line. Some people rock along to Church and give their ten percent tithe almost like tipping God and they think to themselves, "yep, tick in the box, I'm a good Christian, I go to Church, I sing the songs, I give a tithe of my income, tick, tick, tick."

Nothing wrong with any of those things but one day right in the middle of a storm He will call you out of your boat to step out onto the water in the middle of that storm. There's only one thing that keeps you afloat in that place, its Jesus, your faith in Him and it's not until you've experienced that, it's not until you've seen Jesus calm the storm that you can truly say from the bottom of your heart, truly you are the Son of God.

Storms come into our lives as a sovereign act of God, they completely overwhelm us and in the middle of them if we're looking, if we're listening and waiting, Jesus will call us out of the boat onto the water to experience His miracle working power and faithfulness. The question is are you ready, are you looking, are you waiting, will you go?