Mark 4: 35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” The Gospel of Mark is filled with great moments of action. This scene in chapter 4 feels like it could be from a movie. The description used by the author helps me to feel like I was there in the boat soaking wet with the rest of the disciples. It is almost that Mark described it so viscerally in order to justify the fear that he and the other disciples were experiencing in a small boat in the middle of a raging storm. While I, and probably most of you who are reading, are not sailors, we do have times where we are facing really big storms. And what do we do in those situations? Of course, we get afraid! Now our storms can be financial storms, physical storms, or even emotional storms. But no matter what we are facing, Jesus is there in the boat with us. He is encouraging us to have faith! I have read this passage many times. When reading it, my big takeaway used to be, “I need to have the faith to tell a storm to call down.” In turn I have tried speaking to my issues and commanding them to go away. Well, I don’t know if you have ever tried commanding a bill to be paid when you don’t have money, but it doesn’t work as well as I would like it to. But I think what Jesus was teaching the disciples in this moment is to have faith that HE WAS WITH THEM IN THE STORM.
Jesus is with you in that storm.
The disciples definitely needed to understand this because they had some pretty enormous storms to face in their future. The people in this boat were the ones who were martyred for their faith many years later. And I haven't heard a story of a disciple telling a jailer, or an executioner that they needed to be calm. No, we hear stories of them rejoicing that they were so close with Jesus. He was with them in their storm. I sincerely hope that none of us are going to have to face anything as dire as martyrdom in our lives on Earth. But we will have to face some pretty big storms. There will be moments of dire financial straits. Let me encourage you, Jesus is with you in that storm. There will be times where we are facing a difficult diagnosis. Let me encourage you, Jesus is with you in that storm. There will also be times of extreme depression and loneliness. So, let me leave you with one last encouragement. Jesus is with you in whatever storm you are facing. Learn to find Him!
Increase to Increase By: Hannah Massa
Mark 4:1 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and ca hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
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There are so many different ways in which we sow seed. Jesus explains that “the sower sows the word” (Mark 4:14), so we know that seed = word. I remember as a child hearing this verse, and other verses like this one, and thinking that it just meant preaching. Obviously, whoever is preaching is sharing the word, so that must be how it’s done! Funny how we can be right and wrong at the same time.
Sowing the word can look different every day. Sometimes it’s taking a friend out for lunch who has felt a little lonely and needs a good laugh. It’s spending an extra 10 minutes in bonding/playing with your kids. It is using the gifts that you have to diligently bless others. Also, it’s preaching, and letting The Lord speak through you into the lives of others. Planting those seeds sounds simple enough, but seed doesn’t always come back how we expect it to. As we see in the key scripture above, the results are not consistent. Even when the seed fell on good soil, it did not all yield a hundredfold.
You are called to go from glory to glory. From increase to increase.
I want to draw a line here to help us understand where the difference lies. The difference is that we don’t look to our surroundings or our “seasons” to tell us when or what to sow. We also cannot rely on them to tell us when we will reap a harvest. The only way to do be successful in any capacity is to make The Lord our foundation and focus. By keeping our eyes, our minds, and our hearts on Him. 2 Corinthians 9:10 says this, “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.”
Let me encourage you today, that Jesus did not intend for you to have unanswered prayers. Just as the crop yielded thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and a hundredfold, so you are called to go from glory to glory. From increase to increase. And I 100% believe that when we look to Him, He will provide all that we could ever need; indeed, all that we could ever want.
A Farmer Went Out | Mark 4 Mark 4:1–20 (ESV) The Parable of the Sower 4 Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land. 2 And he was teaching them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: 3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. 5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil. 6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. 8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.” 9 And he said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
10 And when he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 11 And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside everything is in parables, 12 so that “ ‘they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven.’ ” 13 And he said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word.15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy. 17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. 18 And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. 20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.”
1. The Seed is the Word. Incorruptible seed. 1 Peter 1:23 (NIV) For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
A seed is potential….the fruit is the product.
2. Jesus is the word! John 1:14 (NIV) The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
3 conditions that keep us from being fruitful: #1. Hardness of heart. Satan steals it.
#2. The shallow emotional hearer Quick fruit is not always lasting fruit. Trials are mandatory for your development.
No Root, No, Fruit!
#3. A focus on worldy things
The Process of fruitfulness 1. Conception 2. Cultivation 3. Fruition
Healthy things don’t just grow. They multiply.
Additional reading:
Parable of the sower: Mt 13:1–23 Lk 8:4–15, Isa 6:9,10
