Storms and Calms | Sunday, February 8, 2026

Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Anthony. Good morning. Welcome to Cross Connection. You can have a seat. It is so good to see you here this morning. It seems like there are more of you than usual. There must be something going on this afternoon. Your prayers are extra strong this morning.

Have you ever gone through a storm before? I think most people have. Some people really enjoy storms. Have you ever watched those videos of storm chasers? I think some of those people are crazy, but they are fun to watch. Those individuals pursue storms like a hunter pursuing an elk. It’s like the greatest thing ever for them. They want to get as close to the chaos as possible. They love the thrill of the storm, the adrenaline of getting close to danger, and witnessing the power of a massive tornado up close.

On the other hand, some people dread storms. They would do virtually anything in their power to avoid them. They are terrified of the storm. But like it or not, nobody lives a storm-free life. Of course, I’m not just talking about a physical storm. I’m referring to the great challenges that every single person will face—the difficulties of life that we sometimes metaphorically refer to as a storm. These are the situations we find ourselves in, praying to get out of as fast as possible, often gripped with fear.

One of the most challenging realities you begin to discover as you walk with Christ is that sometimes God leads us right into the middle of a storm. In the midst of it, you might wonder, "Why would you do this?" It can feel like He does it on purpose. Not because He enjoys storms, and certainly not because He likes to see us uncomfortable or fearful, but rather because sometimes the storm is unavoidable in the process of fulfilling His purpose and plan. His larger purpose and plan may have nothing to do with you specifically, but sometimes it is connected to the purpose and plan He has for your life.

At that moment, He takes us into the midst of a storm. Another challenging part of that is that there are some lessons that are only learned in a storm. You don't realize it until you've been in the midst of it or gone through it that there was a lesson you learned there that you would not have learned otherwise. It's the most difficult way to learn those lessons, but those lessons are rich and important.

I have found this many times before as I have spent time with people who are going through a storm or have come through a storm. Maybe the storm was a diagnosis, or perhaps it was a deep loss. They realized in the midst of that storm that there were things they learned about Christ or about themselves that God revealed to them through the storm, which they would never have known otherwise. Therefore, as bad as the storm is, they look back on it with a certain admiration for what God did in the midst of it. This can be really hard to comprehend for those who haven't gone through the same storm.

Those are some of the things I think we're going to discover as we get into the text today. In the story of Luke chapter 8 that we're in this morning, Jesus and His disciples are about to face a storm—a significant storm. It's no ordinary storm. In fact, as we go through it, we're going to see that this is not just a windstorm, which happened relatively frequently in the area they were in due to the geography of Galilee. We'll talk about that more in a moment.

But this storm was significant. One of the Gospel writers, who was actually the only one who writes about this and was in the storm, refers to it with a very interesting Greek word: "seismos." In one sense, with that word, he's calling it like an earthquake on the sea. It's interesting that Matthew, who was probably there in this storm on the boat, uses that word. The other Gospel writers who were not there, Mark and Luke, use a word that could be translated as whirlwind or hurricane. It was a significant storm.

Because of where this took place on the Sea of Galilee, these kinds of windstorms are not abnormal. However, there was something behind this one that was more than just wind. It's not a stretch to say that there was something spiritual behind this. It's not just pastoral hyperbole.

To say this was a spiritual storm is accurate, because Jesus deals with this storm. He rebukes the wind and the waves in the same way that he would have rebuked an evil spirit when he cast a spirit out of a demon-possessed individual. The interesting thing that becomes clear as you situate the story in Luke's Gospel is that the larger context of this passage reveals that the physical storm Jesus and his disciples go through in Luke chapter 8 is not the real or even the biggest storm in the story. There is a greater storm that takes place as you follow the context, as we will see.

To understand this, we need to open our Bibles. If you would take out your Bible this morning, and if you don't have one, you can raise your hand, and an usher will bring you one. We are in the Gospel of Luke, so turn to about the middle of your Bible and start turning to the right. You will find Matthew, Mark, and then Luke.

Luke chapter 8. I'm going to ask you to stand. Luke chapter 8, verse 22, says, "Now it happened on a certain day that he, Jesus, got into the boat with his disciples and said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.' And they launched out. But as they sailed, he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in jeopardy. And they came to him and awoke him, saying, 'Master, Master, we are perishing.' Then he arose and rebuked the wind and the raging water, and they ceased, and there was a calm. But he said to them, 'Where is your faith?' And they were afraid and marveled, saying to one another, 'Who can this be? For he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.'"

God, I pray that you would give us some insight into the answer to that question this morning: Who can this be? But, Lord, would you also give us insight into the question you asked your disciples: Where is your faith? God, help us to learn a little bit more about who you are, that it might inspire us to trust you a little more greatly at the close of this service than we did at the start. God, continue to speak to us, teach us, and renew the spirit of our minds so that we would be able to show in our actions this next week.

A little bit more of Your glory as we walk out Your word and Your purpose. We pray this in Jesus' name, and all those that agreed said, Amen. You can be seated.

This is a great story. It's not an unfamiliar story. If you grew up in church and went through Sunday school, you probably remember this story. Even if you just casually read the Bible, this one shows up in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, so you can't miss it. There is a convergence of a number of noteworthy elements in this passage. As I was reading through it this week, I highlighted six things that stood out to me.

First, Jesus says, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." When Jesus says this to His disciples as they're getting into the boat, they were probably in or around the town called Capernaum. If you look at the map in the back of your Bible at the Sea of Galilee, you'll notice that it looks kind of like an almond with a pointy part down in the southern tip. Capernaum was in the upper left of the screen, the northwest corner, if you will, of the map. Most of Jesus's ministry took place in and around Capernaum.

Now, He gets into the boat with His disciples and says, "Let us cross over to the other side of the sea." He is revealing, with His desire to cross over and His petition to His disciples, that He has a purpose on the other side of the sea. Not only does He reveal His purpose in His request, but also, as many commentators have noted, this is a promise. "Let us cross over." If Jesus intends to cross over to the other side of the sea, He is going to cross over to the other side of the sea. So, though it is a petition, it is also a promise. It reveals His purpose, but it is also a promise to His disciples. He did not say to His disciples, "Let us attempt to cross over." He did not say, "Let us see if we make it." He said, "Let us cross over to the other side of the sea."

The second thing that this story clearly reveals is Christ's divine power. You cannot miss that. They are in the midst of this great storm, and Jesus is woken up from His sleep. He rebukes the wind and the raging sea, and everything stops. His disciples are frightened by His power, maybe even more than they were frightened by the storm. So we see Jesus's divine power here in this passage.

We don't only see His divine power here in this passage; we also see His humanity. When He got into the boat, what did He immediately do? He slept. This story reveals something about Christ's character, which is what the church spent the first four centuries of its history contemplating. We talked a lot about this last summer as we went through a series on the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed emerged from the discussions and debates of the early church regarding the nature of Jesus.

In the Gospels, we see clearly that He is divine. He speaks to the wind and the waves, and they cease. Who else has power like that? The Jewish people of the first century recognized that only God has that power, as they understood from the ancient scriptures. The Old Testament makes this very clear. So, His deity is on display in this passage, but so is His humanity. This presents a challenge regarding the nature of Jesus, leading us into the entire discussion of Christology—the study of Christ and the nature of this great man who is more than a man.

The conclusion of the church, after many hundreds of years of discussion and consideration of what the scriptures teach about Jesus, is that He is fully God and fully man. This is what theologians refer to as the hypostatic union—the merging of these two natures, one hundred percent God and one hundred percent man. We see this strange reality where He has the power to rebuke the wind and the waves, yet He also sometimes gets tired and needs to sleep, just like you and I.

The third thing we see is that this was a very bad storm. As I mentioned, Matthew refers to it with the word "seismos." It is an earthquake on the sea. Storms are bad, but I don't know; I mean, I'm not afraid of the water or the ocean, but being in a storm on the sea brings a certain kind of fear, does it not? It feels like we're toast. That is not where I want to be during a storm.

It's like I don't know if you guys used to watch that show, "The Deadliest Catch." Those guys are insane. I would watch that and feel stress; there would be anxiety in me just watching them in the midst of the storm. I can't imagine being in a storm if I'm that anxious just watching it on my big flat-screen TV. How frightening would that be?

The geography of the Sea of Galilee is interesting. The Sea of Galilee sits 700 feet below sea level. To the east of the Sea of Galilee are the great deserts leading toward Arabia, while to the west...

The Sea of Galilee is not very far from the Mediterranean Sea. We experience a similar reality here in San Diego County, where we have the deserts to the east and the ocean to the west. The cool coastal air comes in and meets the dry, hot weather, creating a great clash of winds. We experience this a number of times a year when the winds come from the east. We call them Santa Ana winds. If you have a name for a weather pattern, it’s usually not good. The personified name "Santa Ana" sounds nice, as if she must be glorious. However, she is quite terrible, especially when there’s a fire.

Imagine that between the dry, arid desert and the cool coastal Mediterranean Sea lies a depression 700 feet below sea level, with all kinds of channels and ravines that bring the wind right into this swirling chaos on the lake they call the Sea of Galilee. It’s a lake, not huge, and it doesn’t even fit the criteria of a sea. That’s why Luke refers to it as a lake.

As the wind came down on the lake, it stirred up a storm. It’s not abnormal for that to happen from time to time, but I would suggest that this storm was no ordinary windstorm on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus’s disciples eventually came to him, waking him up, and said, "Master, Master, we’re perishing." Another Gospel writer adds, "Don’t you care that we’re perishing?" They were essentially asking where he was at that moment.

Keep in mind that four of Jesus’s inner circle followers—Peter, Andrew, James, and John—grew up as fishermen on this lake. If anyone knew the Sea of Galilee and its windstorms, it was these seasoned sailors. Yet, they became fearful to the point of coming to Jesus and saying, "We are perishing." If they were saying that, you know it must have been bad. This was no ordinary storm; there was a spiritual component to it.

I find it fascinating that Jesus slept during the storm. Apparently, the disciples didn’t stir him until they were at the point of total panic and fear of doom. The text notes that they were...

Filling with water, the disciples were in jeopardy. And this is no Alex Trebek jeopardy; they were going to die. Now, as I said, I could be reading too much into this, but I don't think I am. It took them a while to finally come to Him. I don't think I'm reading too much into this because I know myself, and I tend to not ask for help until I absolutely need it. As a guy, I want to try and figure things out and fix them on my own. It's not until I've tried multiple times and failed that I finally ask for help.

I hate to say it, because as a pastor, it sounds pretty much like a confession, but far too frequently, I am very late to pray. It's not abnormal for someone to remind me, "We should probably pray." I often respond, "Oh, well, yeah, we probably should have done that days ago." Remember, Peter, Andrew, James, and John were seasoned sailors. They probably thought, "No, no, no, we got this. Don't wake Him; He's tired. We don't need Him right now," until they truly needed Him. Then it was like, "Where are You?"

So now they come to Jesus and wake Him up. This leads to the fifth noteworthy point in this text: Jesus rebuked the wind and the raging water. He spoke to natural elements as if they were entities. He rebuked the wind and the waves. Now, if any other person were speaking to the wind, you might think they were a little off. But I want to suggest to you that I don't think He was talking to the wind and the waves. I believe He was addressing whatever was behind the wind and the waves in this instance. He was rebuking something in the same way that He would rebuke an evil spirit coming out of a possessed individual.

Notice also that this is not the only rebuke; Jesus also mildly rebuked His disciples, didn't He? He asked them a question: "Why were you fearful? Oh, you of little faith." This is recorded in Matthew's Gospel. He says, "Where is your faith?" He does not say, "Where's your courage?" He doesn't look at Peter and say, "Where's your seamanship?" He doesn't say that. He says, "Where is your faith?"

Where is your faith? That's a really striking question because it's one of those introspection questions. You have to really think: Where is my faith? What is my faith? What am I trusting in? Am I trusting in me? Am I trusting my abilities? Am I trusting in Christ? Why am I trusting in Christ? Is He trustworthy? There are so many rabbit holes to go down with those simple words—four words: Where is your faith?

Sixth, and finally, note that Jesus' disciples, as I alluded to a moment ago, were afraid and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be? For He commands even the winds, and they obey Him." Is it wrong to suggest that when Jesus displayed His power over the storm, His followers were more afraid of Him than the storm when the storm was done? I don't think it was.

There are many different aspects that we could zero in on here in this text, in this story, but here's what stood out to me as I was thinking about it this week. As you study the whole of the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation, you discover that sometimes it is God who brings storms into our lives. Sometimes He is the one who causes the storm.

Now, sometimes He does it for our discipline. Jonah comes to mind—another guy who found himself in a storm. He was sleeping, and he was in the storm because he was disobeying God. God had told him to do something, and he didn't want to do it, so he went in the opposite direction, and God brought a storm for discipline.

Sometimes God allows or brings storms for our development or to reveal or to put on display something of His nature or in us. I think of Job. Job went through a storm, a storm that he says, "That which I feared the worst has come upon me." Some of you have been in that storm before. It's the very thing that you thought about that could happen to you or to someone in your family, and you dreaded that it might happen.

And you prayed that it wouldn't happen, and then you find yourself in the midst of it. There you are in the storm. In the storm, God reveals Himself or reveals something to you that you would not have seen otherwise. It could be by God for His discipline or for His development in us. Sometimes God brings storms, but what becomes clear in this text is that there are other times when the storm is not for our discipline from God or for our development from God; it is straight from the devil.

Regardless of the means by which the storm came to you or the reason you are now in that storm, we need to recognize this: God has the power to bring us through the storm. To put it another way, point number one, if you're taking notes, the storms that terrify us are subject to Christ, who promised to see us through.

The reality is that you sometimes don't learn this lesson until you're actually in a storm or have come through one. There are some lessons that are only learned through the storm, and this is one of them. You can hear it from somebody else, read it in the Bible, or observe it as a reality, but you don't actually know it until you've gone through the storm. Those things that terrify us are subject to Christ, who promised to see us through.

I think that sometimes Jesus allows us to face storms to teach us these very lessons. Whether the storm is from Him or it is demonic, that doesn't really matter. You could waste a lot of stress, anxiety, fear, and constant examination trying to answer the question, "Is this from God or is this from the devil?" It doesn't really matter.

He could, and this is the part that's very challenging, keep us from trouble. Could He not? I mean, if He is the one who calms the storm, could He not keep me from trouble? And yet He doesn't, and sometimes He doesn't on purpose. To be honest with you, that sometimes makes us upset. I'm not sure that we like that.

Reading this passage this week reminded me of another passage that was written about a thousand years before this in the Psalms. If you would turn to Psalm 107, turn about the middle of your Bible, and find Psalm 107. We'll pick it up there.

At verse 23, consider how this relates to the text. Psalm 107, verse 23 states, "Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep." For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens; they go down again to the depths. Their soul, whose soul? The soul of the people who are doing business on the sea, their soul mounts because of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger like drunken men; they are at their wit's end.

Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distress. He calms the storm so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet. So He guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people and praise Him in the company of His elders. What a powerful passage!

Do you see the connection? It's almost as if those words, written a thousand years before this story in the Gospel of Luke, were written specifically for this story. But doesn't that kind of bother you? Because it bothers me. He commanded and raised the stormy wind. Why? Why does God command and raise the stormy wind if He will also later calm the storm so that its waves are still?

The only answer seems to me to be, and maybe I'm wrong, but He has a purpose in the storm. One of His purposes is to reveal what? Well, we just noted it a moment ago as point one: the storms that terrify us are subject to Christ, who promised to see us through. Remember the first line in our story in Luke 8? It gave us these words: "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." Those eleven words, Jesus's petition to His disciples, "Hey, carry us across the lake. You guys got the boat. I'm going to take a nap," reveal something of His purpose, and they are a promise. If His plan was to cross over the lake, then His promise was that they would cross.

Over the lake, this brings up an interesting thing to consider. As you look at the storms of this world, whether they are external or internal, and observe all the chaos in the broken and fallen world we live in, people can be gripped by fear and terror over all the what-ifs and potential things that could happen. People are fearful about the economy, war, pestilences, and a long list of other concerns.

I find that because I have hope in Christ, I possess a future and a hope, an eschatological end. When I talk about an eschatological end, I am not referring to things like the rapture or the tribulation. No, I am talking about the belief that one day Christ will rule and reign forever, and I will be in His presence. In His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. This conviction is based on the Scriptures. Therefore, when chaotic things happen in the world that could grip me with fear, I remind myself that it is not that bad.

When I encounter someone who is completely gripped by fear due to what is happening in Washington, Moscow, or any other situation, I recognize that they are lacking hope in Christ. For instance, I have been hearing a lot about fears surrounding artificial intelligence lately, and people often ask, "Are we going to be okay? Are we going to get through this?" When I find someone in that state of fear, I know they may not know the hope that I have in Jesus. This presents an opportunity for me to share that hope with them.

He told His disciples, "We're going to cross over the lake." This is why He asked them, "Where is your faith?" He had already told them they were going to the other side of the lake; He did not say it would be easy. The storm Jesus confronted and rebuked on the sea is not the only storm in the story. Fitting for today, it was kind of like the pregame show. The storm on the sea, as we will see, was meant to keep Jesus from confronting and rebuking.

The much bigger storm is illustrated in Luke 8:26. They sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is on the opposite side of Galilee. When Jesus stepped out on land, a certain man from a city met him. This man had demons for a long time; he wore no clothes and did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him. With a loud voice, he said, "What do I have to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me."

Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, for it had often seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he broke out of those bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "I am Legion, for we are many."

The demons begged Jesus not to command them to go out into the abyss. Nearby, a herd of swine was feeding on the mountain, and they begged Him to permit them to enter the pigs. Jesus permitted them, and the demons went out of the man and entered the swine. The herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.

Point number two: sometimes the storms we face are meant to produce panic and hinder God's purpose. I want to make it clear that not every situation or storm falls into this category, but sometimes it is true. I am not saying that every hard thing we face is demonic or spiritual, but we must recognize that some things are.

We live in a highly naturalistic-focused environment in Western culture, where we have been seduced to think that there is nothing spiritual. Therefore, we miss the reality that some things are indeed spiritual. Sometimes storms are simply the result of living in a broken and fallen world. In this world, there are things like cancer and car accidents. Sometimes the storms we go through are corrective, as seen in the story of Jonah.

Because of our disobedience, we are experiencing the chastening of the Lord, the discipline of the storm. Sometimes these storms are for our development or for us to reveal, or have revealed to us, something of the greatness of God, like with Job. But sometimes, as this text invites us to consider, the storms are resistance meant to intimidate God's people and keep them from obedience.

I suggest to you that the storm on the sea was the opposition of the enemy to keep Jesus from coming to the soul that needed His deliverance, who was in a much, much bigger storm than what Jesus and His disciples endured on the sea. The man on the opposite side of Galilee was in bondage; he was under the grip of a legion of demons. If ever there was a man who needed deliverance from Jesus, it is this unnamed soul.

Think about this: the Sea of Galilee, at its widest point, is seven miles across. This man is just seven miles away from the one who is delivering multitudes of people. Yet, he is under the grip of a multitude of demons and is in desperate need of Christ's deliverance. On a clear day, he is close enough to see the town of Capernaum, where Jesus is casting out demons, but he is so far removed that he has no hope of ever getting to Him unless that man came to him.

And that's your story too. That's what the gospel is all about. We were in no hope without God in this world, and He came to us no matter the opposition. As I pointed out when we started this gospel many months ago, this is the central theme teaching of the Gospel of Luke. It is revealed in Luke chapter 19, verse 10, where Jesus says, "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost." That's what He is doing here; He has come to seek and to save that which is lost.

Point number three: Jesus crosses over and confronts darkness to come for those who could never come to Him. Now, the sad fact is that not everyone can accept that. Look at verse 34, when those who fed them—that is, the pigs—were involved. Just a side note: pigs are not very highly valued by the Jews.

When those who fed the pigs saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. They went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. They were filled with fear. In fact, the exact same word that is used to describe the fear of the disciples when they saw Jesus's power on the sea is now gripping the hearts of these individuals. They were afraid.

Those who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Jesus to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. He got into the boat and returned.

Interestingly, the same power displayed in Jesus that calmed the storm on the sea and caused great fear in his disciples now caused the people of Gadara to marvel, saying, "Who can this be? For he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." That power over the sea is now displayed in his power over the demons that had gripped this poor possessed man, causing great fear. This man had instilled great fear in the people of Gadara, and now, seeing Jesus's power to deliver him, they were filled with fear once again. Their response was to say, "We don't want you here. You need to go."

Two movies on one screen: they see the same thing but interpret it entirely differently. The fear of Christ can lead to reverence or to rejection. This is a challenging concept. Jesus's disciples worshipped him, while the people of Gadara declared him unwelcome.

It is truly amazing how the people of Gadara responded. They had lived in fear of the demoniac, trying to bind him with chains and bonds to guard him. They were scared of this man screaming out in the wilderness, warning others to stay away. Now, he is delivered, and I love those words: he is sitting, clothed, and in his right mind.

That's some of your testimonies, right? There are people who are kind of afraid because they feel like you don't remember them. I don't know what happened, but whatever it was, it left an impact.

The response of the people was great fear of the man who had delivered the demoniac, and so they asked Jesus to leave. I read in one place that they held a prayer meeting against their own salvation. Wow. Jesus got into the boat and returned.

But note this in verse 38: the man from whom the demons had departed begged Jesus that he might be with Him. However, Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you." The man went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city the great things that Jesus had done for him.

When Jesus returned, the multitudes welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him. That's quite a story—an amazing passage of Scripture.

Sometimes a storm is just a storm. Listen, you live in a broken world. It's not unlikely that you're going to fall and skin your knee from time to time, or that someone will rear-end you, or that you will lose your job or a contract. It's not always something spiritual. God is not doing this to you. You might feel like you're under the terror of the Lord, but no, you're just living in a broken world. We will weep with those who weep and say, "Man, I'm really sorry. You live in a broken world."

Sometimes storms are just storms. However, sometimes they are discipline. You didn't do what you knew you were supposed to do, or you did what you knew you were not supposed to do, and now you're in a storm of your own making. My dad would say, "You did it to yourself."

Sometimes storms are for development. God has allowed this into your life to further develop you more and more into the image of Christ because this is the only way. Then there are times when storms are true resistance; the enemy meant to produce panic to keep you from obedience.

Either way, whatever the cause of the storm, whatever the reason for the storm, the main question is not, "How big is your storm?" We love to compare our storms. One person might say, "You don't understand; mine is so much worse than yours." Another might respond, "No, it's not. Mine is worse." But in reality, it's just a storm. The question is, "Where is your faith?" That's the deep question.

Jesus isn't only Lord over the wind and the water. As we see in this passage, He is Lord over the darkness. He is Lord over that which is behind the madness. He crosses over on purpose. He has a purpose; He has a plan. He confronts evil, as He did here in this passage. He comes for the one to seek and to save that which is lost.

Luke gives us two reactions to the same Jesus. One group was fearful of who this one was in their boat, who had just commanded the wind, and it responded to Him. They bowed in worship, saying, "Who is this?" They marveled at His presence. Another group, however, said, "Depart from us. We don't want this here." His power felt disruptive; it felt uncomfortable.

We find ourselves at a fork in the road. When Jesus steps into your life, He doesn't just calm external storms; He starts confronting internal issues, bondage. He wants to bring freedom, but He also often calls us to change, to follow Him in new ways. The question is, will we welcome Him in the challenging changes He brings to us, or will we say, "No, I don't want this here"?

So what's the application? If you're in a storm right now, don't panic. I think the text teaches us three things, which we can remember as PTO: Pray, Trust, Obey. If you know there's darkness, bondage, sin, fear, or shame, don't hide it. Don't negotiate with it.

Bring it to Christ in prayer, trusting Him and obeying what He tells you to do. Don't be like the people of Gadara who said, "No, we don't want that here." That power that has power over storms and power over demons—no, we don't want that here because it might challenge us to do something differently. That's Jesus calling right there.

Don't be like the men and women of Gadara, but be like the delivered man to whom Jesus said, "Return to your own house and tell them what great things God has done for you." That's what it is to be exemplary: to proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Amen.

Let's stand and we'll close in prayer.

Father God, thank You for this story and what it teaches us, but not only what it teaches, but also what it challenges us to consider or confront. God, thank You for the reality that in the storm—whether it's just the storm because we live in a broken world, or it's a storm that You have brought us into or brought to us to discipline or to develop us, or it's a storm from the devil—whatever the case, it doesn't matter.

What we find in the storm is that You are there with us, present to help us to trust in You and to transform us more and more into Your likeness and image. God, help us to learn those lessons and help us to have compassion on those who are going through the storm. Let us be those willing to sit alongside them, to weep with those who weep, knowing that we too will someday be in a storm.

God, thank You for Your Word. Help us to learn to pray, trust, and obey. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.