Pastor Scott Olin - "CONTRARY WINDS"

CONTRARY WINDS

Pastor Scott Olin, Washington

And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. And he saw them toiling in rowing; FOR THE WIND WAS CONTRARY unto them: and about the forth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been spirit, and cried out: For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened. Mark 6:45-52.

Everything in the word of God applies to us. EVERYTHING! The scripture has been given to us to learn what to, and what not to do.

In vs. 45 Jesus has just sent his men over before him to the other side. He Himself had every intention of joining them. They were on their way to Bethsaida. The word Bethsaida means, "Fishing house." Great picture!

Here the King of Glory clearly reveals His intention, and His heart. He's on His way to a place that references fish. That's who He is today. He is consistently moving toward those places that have fish. And He has commanded us to do the same thing. As He is, so should we should always be moving toward places in this world to catch fish.

This story is intriguing to me because of this one line in vs. 48,

"... for the wind was contrary unto them."

Webster says:

� Contrary.

� Opposite.

� A fact or condition incompatible with another. In a manner opposite of what is usual or expected.

Now, these guys had fished these waters for years. They knew where the fish were, and when they were there. They understood the currents and the wind patterns.

If anyone knew this body of water, it was these fisherman. And yet the scripture says that this wind was contrary unto them. Question: Is there a wind blowing from heaven that is unlike what we've experienced in the past? Is it a wind that is contrary to us? Does this wind feel like it is opposing us at times? Now remember, Jesus was set on Bethsaida. That's where He was set to go. Matter of fact, vs. 48 says that if these guys hadn't cried out, He, Jesus, would have passed them by. He was then and is today set on going to where the fish are! He longs for us to go as well. But He has given us free choice. We can either get on board with what He's doing, or sit on the sideline, but Jesus is going fishing!

So it's clear what His intentions were. He was going to the ''Fishing house" but the disciples were struggling with this storm.

Question: Where did this storm come from? I mean was it natural, spiritual? Was it an attack from the enemy? Or, is it possible that God had something to do with this?

You have to go back and read Ps. 107:23-27. It very clearly reveals the character of our Father. In short that passage says that God sends storms to get the attention of those that He loves. Does He do that today? Has He changed in character? Yes we are living in grace, but the nature of God has never, and will never change.

Wear this loosely, but I believe that the storm came from God. Here's why. If you read the account in John 6, the bible says that as Jesus got into the boat, that not only did the storm stop, but immediately the boat was on dry land, or at the place that they were headed. Now, that's not natural, and it's not to probable that the devil is going to support anything that Jesus is doing. I believe that this is a supernatural moment. Also, Jesus just steps into the boat and the wind stops. In Mark 4, there is another storm. In this storm Jesus spoke to, and rebuked what was going on. I'm not sure that the Son of God would stand against anything that the Father is doing. As a matter a fact, the bible says in John 8:29, Jesus speaking,

" I do always those things that please Him, (The Father.) I think it's quite possible that this particular storm came from heaven. Why? Before we get into that, let me point out a few things. Let's suppose that this storm did come from God.

O.K. Then why does the bible say that the disciples were fighting against it? Vs 48, "He saw them toiling in rowing;"

Now if this was God, why were the disciples fighting against it? Answer? Simple: They didn't know it was God. But we do the same thing from time to time. We get caught in something and are convinced if we don't get out, we're are going' go down. We don't even consider stopping and asking the Lord what's going on. In this story this storm came to do something. It came to reveal the hearts of the disciples. Jesus wanted to take them to the next step, but first He needed to deal with some heart stuff. It's the same with us. Anything that opposes us, is painful to us, that is uncomfortable, we chalk up to a storm. I have always wondered what Jesus saw. I mean, the disciples saw a storm. They saw something that could quite possibly pull them under, for good. But what did Jesus see? What was this incident all about?

Well the scripture says that as Jesus came into this little boat, that the wind ceased. It also says: �they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered."� Here is what we needed to get to. Vs. 52 "For they considered not the miracle of the loaves, for their heart was hardened." Let's recap and see what we've got so far. Jesus is looking for fish. He has sent his men ahead of him. But he knows about this hard heart thing. His mission and passion is to release these guys into the world, to do the same stuff He Himself is doing. Yet, He needs to deal with this issue of "hard hearts." So, here comes the storm. Jesus sent them knowing the storm was coming up, and in my opinion, knowing who sent it. Again, the word says storm. What did Jesus see? If you read Johns account, it was the storm that got them to the other side in the first place!

Here's the problem. Vs.51, "They were sore amazed!" WHY? Jesus had just fed 5000 men, not counting woman and children. They had seen him do so much in the time they had been with him. Heal, cast out critters, raise the dead and open blind eyes, and so many other things. Why were they surprised at this?

They shouldn't have been surprised at anything they saw. That seemed to concern Jesus. The bible says they were sore amazed because they had not considered the miracle of the loaves. The reason they had not considered the loaves was because their hearts were hard. I believe that Jesus is longing to see His people live in an expectation of what He is going to do. My hard heart will keep me from living there. He longs for the church to once again begin to experience the power and authority that the first century church lived and walked in. My hard heart will not allow me to do that.

I believe that he wanted to release his disciples in a new and fresh way to imitate all He Himself was doing, but knew until their hearts were softened, that was not possible. These men, like us today, needed to walk in the expectation of what Jesus was doing, and what He had called them to do. They were amazed because they didn't know how to walk in expectation of what He could do. They were unable to because of their hard heart. It keeps me from living on the level that Jesus needs me to be. That windy day was all about the Father revealing the hearts of His men so as to take them further on in the journey with His Son Jesus.

The King of Glory wants us to be expectant every day we get up, and every time we gather in his name. His Kingdom is not just about word, but power. I Cor. 4:20 He longs to show Himself strong through His body. How can He do that if we don't believe that He'll do the same things today that He did back then? I need to expect the unexpected. I need to believe the unbelievable. I need to live in a supernatural mindset.

The storm that the disciples fought against, will we do that also?

Let me challenge you with this: The next time you are in a storm, take a moment and ask the Lord: "OK, is this you Father? Or is it satan, or simply circumstances?�

� If it's satan, you have authority over him.

� If circumstances, then Jesus will give wisdom to deal with it;

� If it's God, then maybe He's trying to reveal something to you that needs to change.

If we don't live in the word of God and consider, meditate, chew on all the miracles of yesterday and the power of our Lord, we to may end up with a hard heart, and not live in the expectation that He wants us to.

Are you in a storm today? They often come to reveal my heart. What's the Spirit of God saying to you, about you?

Pastor Scott

NewHopeCityChurch.com

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