Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - The Counselor, Part 1: Why Are You So Afraid?

Episode Date: March 29, 2014

If you could ask God one thing, what would it be? Our questions reveal more about our faith than our curiosities. When Jesus asks the questions, He sheds light on who we really are and what we truly believe. Find out how His questions reveal our h... Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why don't you tell me what happened? I was with Jesus all day. So we get on a boat to cross the lake, and, you know, more boats come too. I guess they were all so caught up and following him that they didn't even see it coming. See what coming? That storm last night. I have never been on the lake in a storm like that. And there Jesus is, in the stern, laying down.

Fast asleep. We woke him up. We asked him, teacher, do you not care if we perish? How did he answer? He shouted at the storm. Quiet, be still. And get this, the wind just stopped. The lake completely flat.

How did that make you feel? That part was awesome. But then he turned to us. He looked me right in the eye and he said, Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? I am very, very excited to start a brand new message series called The Counselor. And today I want to welcome those of you at all of our different life churches, those of you at our partnering network churches, and our extended family all over the world at church online.

Thank you so much for taking time to worship with us. If you have your Bibles with you or you want to follow along in You Virgin, we're going to be in Mark chapter four today as we start a brand new message series about Jesus that I'm calling the council. Now, I don't know how many of you have ever been to counseling before. I've actually been to two different rounds of counseling, and I think there's a lot of wisdom when you need help to find someone who's wiser than you that can help you find direction. Quite honestly, the first time I went, I did not want to go. I was forced to go by my overseers

because they said I had a problem being a workaholic. The second time I actually went on my own will because I recognized they were right, and I needed to get some help. to get some help. And so I went for that reason and also for another reason I'll tell you about a little later in the message. But quite honestly, I was the second time very excited to get some help, but I was shocked at first that I went in with questions seeking answers and my counselor just kept asking me questions. I'm paying you $100 an hour and I've got questions and you're asking me questions. That doesn't seem right. but what I didn't realize is that the best way to find truth is often on the other side of a good question.

In fact, my counselor asked me several sessions in two questions that really, I mean, just pierced my soul and helped bring me on the beginning of a journey of healing. I never will forget, my counselor looked at me and we were talking about the issue of working too much. And he said, who is it that you're trying to impress? and what is it that you're trying to prove? And when I had to really be honest about the answers to those questions, I could see the sickness that was driving me, and that started me on a journey toward healing. It was a good question that helped me find the answer.

Well, what's really interesting when you read the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you're going to see Jesus asking questions over and over and over again. You can barely read very many conversations, Satan's at all before you see Jesus throwing a question back at those who are asking questions to him. In fact, he asked well over 100 recorded questions in the gospel. And so what we're going to do in this message series is we're going to look at four of the most important questions that Jesus asked and let him, by the power of his spirit, be our counselor. So let me tell you what we're

going to do in the upcoming weeks. Today is the first question for those of you that may be in the middle of a trial. There's kind of a storm going on in your life. We're going to see Jesus asked the question, why are you so afraid? Next week, for those of you that maybe you need a miracle, you're in a really tough spot and you need just the power of God, the touch from God, you can't do something on your own. We're going to see Jesus asked the question, do you believe I can do this? The third week will really speak to those who have kind of like an ongoing challenge, maybe a habit that you can't break, maybe a physical problem that you can't overcome, maybe a reoccurring sin. Jesus asked a question that on the surface seems obvious,

but when you dig beneath the surface, it's really a profound question. He asks, do you want to be well? The fourth week is actually Easter weekend, and we're going to deal with one of the biggest challenges, I believe, in the modern church today, and yet one of the least talked about, subjects. For those who have spiritual doubts, we're going to see Jesus asked the question, why do you doubt? Today, though, let me give you the context of Mark chapter 4. We're going to see Jesus was actually teaching from a boat. And so he's maybe the boats pulled up on shore and there's a lot of people gathered around. And he says to his disciples, let's leave the crowd and go to the other side of the sea. And the boat, which was his pulpit, is about to become

his sermon illustration. So with that in mind, let's dive into Mark chapter four. We'll read verses 35 through 41, then we'll break it down verse by verse. Here's what Mark's gospel says. That day when evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, let's go over to the other side. Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along just as he was in the boat. There was also other boats with him. Verse 37, here's where it gets interesting. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swapped. Now, I don't know if any of you have ever been in a boat that you thought was going to sink before. If I haven't been, that would freak me out.

But I have been in a plane that I thought was going to crash before. If you've ever been in a plane where there's massive turbulence, you may not be a believer, but you suddenly become a prayer, right? You're like, oh, God, if you're there, help me out. And so this is kind of that type of situation where they're thinking this is the end. This is like massive panic. We're going to drown is what they think. So verse 38 says this, Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion, which is for some reason

funny to me. They're thinking they're going to drown, and Jesus has taken a cat nap. And so the disciples woke him up and said to him, teacher, don't you care if we drowned? He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, quiet, be still. Then the wind died down and was completely calm. He said to his disciples, here's the question. Say it with me.

He said, why are you so afraid? Guys, I'm on the boat, okay? You've seen me do some great things. Why are you freaking out? Then he says, do you still have no faith? The disciples, they were terrified, and they asked each other, who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him. Why are you so afraid?

Well, I did a lot of research on this text, and I'm not a meteorologist at all, and don't claim to be one. But what I discovered through my research is the Sea of Galilee is about 680. 80 feet below sea level, and it's surrounded by all these mountains. And so, according to the experts, this is like the perfect place for a storm to blow up out of nowhere. It's very, very common for a storm just to explode into the Sea of Galilee with very little warning at all, kind of like where I live in Oklahoma, can be a very beautiful day, and then out of nowhere, boom, massive storms can hit.

In fact, throughout the years, we've been hit with very serious tornadoes. And last year, we had one that we thought was coming directly toward our house. And so, Amy was out with some of the kids, and they were hiding the best they could in a Walmart. Dear God, help you if you're stuck in a Walmart, and there's a tornado coming. But I had two of my kids at the home, and we actually got in our storm shelter. I've got a picture of that moment, and there, I am taking a selfie. You've got Anna in the background having the time of her life, and joy just knows this is the end of all. And it's, you know, that's a cute picture.

I almost even hate to show up because so many people lost so much in storms around that time, even lies. And it's a terrifying feeling when it sounds like there's a train coming towards you, and it's just this massive storm comes out of nowhere. And what's interesting is as you go through life, sometimes life can be just so good and so normal. And then out of nowhere, using it as a metaphor, some storm comes into your life. It could be, you know, you're having the best sales month of your career. And then you find out your company's laying people off. And because you're one of the newest people on the team, you realize your number's probably up.

Out of nowhere, things were great. and then boom, you could be out of a job. It could be your marriage is better than it ever has been. And you think, man, we're finally smooth sailing. And your spouse goes to the doctor to check something out. And suddenly you've got horrible news. And it just comes out of nowhere. And you feel like the rug's been pulled out from undrinking.

You just don't even know how you're going to make it. Or you think your child is doing good. You know, you prayed so much and worked with your child. You think, okay, they're finally on the right track. and then you find out the truth. And suddenly, when your child is making bad decisions, it doesn't matter what else in your life is going well. Everything zeroes in on that,

and you find that you're in the middle of a storm. In fact, what's always interesting to me is church people are sometimes the best at hiding the storms that they're in. Some of you right now, you look totally fine, but behind your smile, you're in a middle of a storm, and maybe nobody even knows about it. In fact, I've seen times where people are jealous of other people going, man, I wish I had their life. You know, I wish I lived in that house, and you're thinking, I'm two payments behind on this house and I may lose this house.

And nobody even knows the private storm that I'm going through. Sometimes people look on and say, man, I wish I had a marriage like that. I mean, they seem to get along so good. And you're thinking, you have no idea. We can fake it on the outside, but on the inside, man, we barely are even hanging on by a thread. sometimes, man, you look good on the outside and nobody else would know that you go to sleep afraid, you cry yourself to sleep, you feel more alone, even the pressure of a lot of good things sometimes it just feels like way too much. And even though you're blessed in all different

ways, you think there's no way I can keep going at this pace. And so you put on a smile and yet on the inside, you're in a storm and nobody knows about it. In fact, I want to just kind of ask as gently as I can, and I pray that you'll be honest. At all of our different churches, how many of you right now would say it could be a big one, it could be kind of a small one, it could be one that could be coming, it could be in the life of someone near you that you love, but how many of you would say that right now you or somebody close to you is in the middle of a storm right now? So many of us, so often in our lives, are in the middle of things that we just didn't see

coming and would never, ever choose. What I want to do today is from this story, as Jesus asked this piercing question, I want to show you specifically two things to remember when you're in the storm. Two things to remember and embrace when you're in the storm. The first one, if you're taking notes, I hope this is good news to you, that you are in the storm with his presence. You're in the storm with the presence of our good God. Verse 37 and 38 shows us that a furious squall came up and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swapped. But we see in verse 38, Jesus was where, let's all say it together, all of our churches. Jesus was in the stern sleeping on a cushion.

Where was Jesus? Jesus was in the stern. Jesus was in the boat. Here's what happened so often, though. I believe a lot of people think, okay, wait a minute. If I'm with Jesus, there shouldn't be a storm. Okay, I gave my life to Christ, therefore it should be smooth sailing for the rest of my life. And I need to tell you, that's just not true.

In fact, Jesus said, in this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, I've overcome the world. Jesus never promised if you come to him, life will be easy and it will be storm free. In fact, the reality is often the opposite. When you move from darkness to light, suddenly you step into the middle of a spiritual battle. You see, Christianity is not a playground, but a battleground between forces of darkness and forces of light. And when you step onto the side of the light, suddenly darkness is against you and you will face it. opposition and you will face temptation and there will be spiritual warfare and to think just because I'm with Jesus nothing should go wrong is a distortion of the message of the gospel. In fact,

God never ever promises you that just because Jesus is on the boat that the storm will never rock you. What he promises is the storm will never sink you because God is, is for you and God is with you and there is nothing that can take you out of the presence of God. Jesus was in the stern. He was on the boat and that's the total game changer. In fact, I read this really interesting article and it talked about older people and it said that older people actually live longer if there's something else living in their house. It's interesting to me.

If you're older, you should take notes. Okay, this is good stuff. You live longer when there's anything else living in the house. Anything at all. It can be an old death guy that doesn't even talk back to you. It can be a house plant, okay? A fern. It can be a cute dog, a little lap dog, a big, ugly dog.

It can be a goldfish. It can be a ferret. It can be a gerbil. It can be a hamster. I don't know what the difference is, but there probably is some. It can be a hedgehog. Some research claims that it can even be certain kinds of cats. I don't know yet.

There's still research. But what I know is that older people live longer when there's something living inside the house. Every now and then, some of you are going to be in the middle of a storm. and it's going to get really, really bad. And people are going to look on and say, how are you getting through that? How are you enduring this? How come your world's falling apart,

and yet you're not falling apart? How come everything's going wrong, and yet you still have this quiet confidence? Why is it that you're in the middle of this storm, and there's this deep assurance? Why is it that you have this peace in the middle of the storm, and what you're going to be able to tell them, him is because there's someone living in my house. You see, there's something in the house,

and it's not just life, but it's the author of life. You see, his presence is with me. Jesus is in the boat, and he's in my house. And because he is with me, I can sense his strength, and I can sense his presence, and I can sense his power, and I can sense his comfort, because he is with me. He is in the boat with me. Just because I'm in a storm doesn't mean that he's not with me. I always tell people, never let the presence of a storm cause you to doubt the presence of God. Oh, I'm preaching today.

Don't you ever let the presence of a storm cause you to doubt the presence of God? I like to personalize scripture. I like to take Psalm 46 and personalize that God is my refuge. He is my strength. He is my ever-present help in a time of trouble. He is with me in the storm. I love to personalize Hebrews 13-5. Never will my God leave me.

Never will he forsake me. I love to personalize Psalm 23, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. You see, I'm not staying there, but I'm not staying there. I'm walking through. And when I'm walking through, I will fear no evil. Why? Because my God is with me. He never, ever promised that the storm wouldn't rock you.

He promised that the storm wouldn't sink you. You see, he's in my house. He's on the boat. I'm not alone in the middle of the storm. I pray that you find comfort, no matter what you're going through, that you are in the storm with his presence. The second thing if you're taking notes, and this hopefully will minister to you, you're also in the storm for His purposes.

You're in the storm with His presence, and you're in the storm for His purpose. Think about this. Think about this. Jesus said, let's go to the other side. So whose idea was it? This is an obvious question. It was Jesus' idea. Let's go to the other side.

Why was he taking them to the other side? Why was he taking them to the other side? Well, Jesus was God in the flesh, and he knew on the east side of the sea was a guy that was hurting himself because he was possessed with an evil spirit. And Jesus was taking the disciples to the other side, and Jesus was going to speak healing into this guy's life. And Jesus being God in the flesh, knew that there would be a storm that blows up. Jesus knew that he was taking the disciples on the boat into and through a storm. Whose idea was it? It was Jesus' idea who knew they would be going into the storm. So from that line of logic, we can say that they were not in the storm because they were out of God's will. They were actually in the storm because they were in God's will. Some of you're going to get mad at me right now and you're going to say, oh, so what you're telling me is that God caused this storm. God brought the God caused this storm. And I can't get into that territory. nor do I believe any human being has the ability to 100% of the time describe, did God cause the storm or did God in his sovereignty allow the storm?

I cannot tell you that God caused the storm or did God allow the storm, but I can tell you that God always uses the storm to do a work inside of us. In fact, I believe with all my heart, that's why James could say something, powerful as this. James the brother of Jesus in chapter one verses two through four. He says, consider it pure joy. In other words, move to the state of worship within your soul. You are so full of joy. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters. Whenever you face trials of many kinds, wait a minute. I mean, that sounds just like ridiculous. You rejoice in the middle of storms, that's what James says. Why? Because you know that the testing of your faith. Some of you right now,

guess what? You are in the middle of a test. And a good teacher, why does a good teacher test you? To pass you and promote you, right? At the end of the year, you take a final exam. And if you pass the test, you move to a new level. And God, in his love, may be allowed. you to experience something, even testing your faith, promoting you to another level of belief, and this faith produces perseverance, something living inside of you. James says, let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. The reality is, I just have to call it like it is, in our church, we have a lot of people who are very young in their faith, very, very young.

And we need some maturing. How does God mature us in a lot of different ways? He matures us as we get to know his word and he renews our minds. He matures us as we discover our spiritual gifts and we make a difference in someone else's life. He matures us as we go through certain storms so that God does something in us. In fact, some of you, I would say the difference between where you are and the way, And where God ultimately wants you to be is the storm that you have yet to endure.

I don't know how many of you know somebody who are like, they're just rock solid in their faith. Well, I can promise you they've been through some storms with Jesus. They know his faithfulness. They know his presence. They've learned that there is a purpose in every single storm that God is often doing something in us and teaching us something in the middle of the storm that we couldn't learn in any, other way. Did he cause it or did he allow it? I don't know, but I do know that he always uses it. In fact, I'll tell you the second reason I went to counseling. The first reason was because it has

been a significant ongoing problem that for whatever reason I'm trying to prove or, you know, work too much. And with God's help through wise counselors and my wife and others, I'm most on a road to health in that area. The second reason I went to counseling, it's a little bit embarrassing to tell you because it kind of puts me in a, it's just a little bit embarrassing, but I'm going to tell you anyway.

I had this irrational fear of like a massive financial collapse, and leading the church made it even more so because we have so many staff members that I want to make sure you know, have food to eat and a place to stay. And so for just for years and years, from the time I was a little kid, I was afraid the economy is going to fall apart and it's going to be this horrible nightmare, this irrational fear. And so I went to the counselor and the counselor started

asked me questions. And, you know, we got into this and what about your childhood. And then when finally he asked some question, it just became as clear to me as day. I told him, oh my gosh, I remember, I was a little kid, and I would go over to my grandma's house. And my grandma was a hero to me. I mean, I learned so much from her. But grandma grew up in the Great Depression. And anybody that you know that grew up in the Great Depression has a very different perspective on life than those who did not. And so I was six, maybe seven years old, and grandma would cut these grapefruits.

Then we'd sit out on her front porch and eat grapefruits and count the cars as they'd go by. and then Grandma would tell me one day the economy is going to fall apart again, and you need to have your money saved, or you're not going to be able to eat, and you're not going to be able to feed your family. I'm freaking out that you're laughing because I've been in counseling trying to get over this, and you think it's funny, okay? And so, I mean, I'm just this little kid.

Grandma gave me $10 for Christmas, and, man, I put it under the carpet. I'm not putting in the bank, because there's going to be a run on the banks in one day, you know, And it's like, it's under my carpet because I have this irrational fear. And you can imagine a six, seven, eight year old hearing that. And I just grew up with this horrible sense that it was going to happen one day. Well, 2008 or so, we hit kind of a global economic crisis. And suddenly the thing that I had feared my whole life was upon me. And it was the weirdest thing.

all of a sudden that which I feared was there were in the middle of the storm and I'm here to tell you all I could sense was in this storm Jesus is with me on the boat and I had no fear whatsoever it was like none whatsoever I was like okay here it is and like all my faith went into him like he's going to get through this

and so I just stood up before the staff and I'm telling you there was hardly a non-profit or a church that wasn't laying off 20% of the the people, 30% of the people, everybody taking cuts. And I said, we're not hiring anybody, we're cutting back in all these different ways. But by the grace of God, I believe we won't lay anybody off. And I'm telling you, we didn't lay anybody off. Nobody took a pay cut. Made it through, and we're even able to grow in the middle of this. And I am so different today. I have no fear whatsoever. Some of you, you're like, you're still freaking out. You're

digging bunkers. You know, and I don't judge you, man. I would have been there with a shovel, okay, before. But, you know, you can fill your bathtub full of peanut butter. You know, I have no fear whatsoever because for the first time in my life, my faith is not what's in the bank. My faith is in the one who's in the boat. You see, that changed everything. I went through the storm, and I'm different because Jesus was on my boat. The disciples had not yet gotten there. And so they're panic. Jesus, we're going to drown. Wake up, Jesus, wake up.

And what does Jesus do? I love this. Verse 39. Jesus gets up. He rebukes the wind. I don't know what that looks like. Bad wind. Bad, bad wind.

Stop it, wind. You're in time out. But, you know, I don't know. He rebukes the wind. And he says to the waves, quiet, be still. That's cocky. I just, that's just like, yeah. The wind dies down and it's completely calm.

Then Jesus looks at his disciples. Why are you guys so afraid? Don't you remember me like opening blind eyes, healing deaf ears? Don't you, don't you remember that I'm the author of life with you? Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? They were terrified, and they asked each other, oh, who is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him.

What happened? Notice what they called him? Teacher, teacher, teacher. Do you care if we drown? Teacher, teacher. At this point, Jesus was just their teacher. What did he call them later? Lord.

Okay? Here's what happened. The fear of the storm started to grow. into a holy fear of the Lord. Who is this? This is amazing. The fear of what might happen to them transferred into a reverential,

holy, awe-filled fear of the Lord God. Okay. So, a lot of you right now, you're in a storm. If you're a follower of Jesus, I'm going to ask you this. Why are so afraid?

Have you forgotten? You're in the storm with the presence of God. And he is for you, with you, working in all things to bring about good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. You're in the storm with his presence and you're in the storm for his purpose. So why are you so afraid? Why are you so afraid? And as you get to know him and he matures you as you grow through some. storms and you endure some storms with them. Suddenly here's what happens. In the middle of the storm,

you can be afraid because the boat looks like it's going to sink. But suddenly, your hope is no longer in the boat, but your soul is anchored in the Lord. And that changes everything. You see, I used to be so afraid of financial collapse. I mean, it was a paralyzing, ongoing fear. But my hope is no longer in the boat. You see, my soul is anchored in the Lord because he is on my boat, he is in my house, he dwells within me, he is with me, and he is for me. Therefore, he has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Why are you so afraid when Jesus is with you in the boat? Father, we pray that in your presence, God, that you would do a healing work, and especially God, for those who are enduring maybe even a more severe storm

than anything we even talked about, God, we pray that your Holy Spirit would do a work in our hearts that only you can do. As you take a minute at all of our churches and you reflect in prayer, I want to just take a moment and pray for those of you that would say, I am in the middle of a storm, or maybe somebody I love that I'm close to needs a touch from God in the middle of the storm. If that's you at all of our churches, if you're enduring something very difficult right now, or you're close to someone that is that really needs the presence of God, would you just lift up your hands right now? All of our different churches, just an act of faith, just lift them up. Man, there are so many hands going up. God, I just, I hurt with those who are hurting today,

and I know, God, you hurt even more so. But I'm so thankful, God, that in your, in your sovereign love, that you know the details of every single situation. And God, not only just, I pray that you would calm the storm as you often can and do. But God, even if you don't calm the storm, I pray that your divine presence would minister peace, a peace that goes beyond our human ability to understand. God, I pray that the power of your Holy Spirit would bring a comfort that only you can bring.

And, God, in your presence, I pray that we could start to even sense a purpose that you're doing something in us. You're teaching us something that we couldn't learn in any other way. God, in the presence of your son, God, there is hope even in the middle of the worst storm. God, help us to cling to Jesus, cling to him, believe that he is enough. And, God, I pray for miracles that the storms would pass quickly, that there would be healing, wholeness, forgiveness, restoration. God, that the storms would be stilled, but even more so that we would know the everlasting presence and glory of your son.

Jesus. As you keep praying today at all of our different churches, some of you right now, let me just be real honest, you're kind of in a storm, but you're not in the storm with Jesus. You're in the storm on your own. And what I believe with all my heart is that the goodness of God through his son, Jesus, wants to comfort you and lead you through this storm to a place of eternal security that you cannot have apart from him. I admit very plainly, I don't understand why God allows certain things. There are so many questions I have. But I do know that sometimes I believe God will allow us to get so low that we have nowhere else to look but up and to call on him. Because when there is no storm, sometimes we don't feel a deep need for him.

But in the middle of the storm, you realize you need divine help. Some of you right now, you may recognize your need for him. The reality is whether in a storm or not we all need him because our sinfulness separates us from a holy God. But in his love and in his mercy, our God is so good. It's called the gospel. It's the good news that God became one of us. In the person of his son, Jesus, who was born without sin, lived the perfect life, died on a cross and was raised again so that anyone who calls on his name would be saved. No matter who you are, what you've done, how bad you're. storm is, as you call to him, he'll forgive every sin. He'll dwell within you. You'll find the comfort and power of his presence in the Holy Spirit, and you will never be alone again. And all of our churches,

there are those of you you recognize you need his grace and you need his forgiveness. And today, by faith, you're going to turn from your sin and you're going to turn toward him and say, Jesus, I call on you. Would you be my savior? My hope is not in the boat. Today I put my faith in you. of our churches, that's your prayer. I surrender my life to Christ. Would you raise your hands high right now? Just lift them up and say, yes, that's my prayer. Right back here in this section. God bless you. And over here, right back over here, God bless you. Others today who say, yes, I trust in him. Lift up your hands and say, I surrender by faith. I need him to save me, to be the Lord of my life. Right back over here in this section right here, God bless you. I surrender to his lordship.

Would all of you pray right over here as well, right up here close? Others of you, others of you today. Pray aloud with those around you. Pray Heavenly Father, forgive us of our sins. Make us brand new. Jesus, we believe. You died for us. And you rose again so we could live for you.

Thank you for new life. Fill us with your spirit. So we could serve you and follow you and live for you. Our life is not our own. Today we give it to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Would you all worship big, clap, celebrate, welcome those born into God's family today.