Matt Hagee - Am I Going to Make it?
I want to draw your attention to the book of Mark 4, beginning at the 35th verse, as for just a few moments, I discuss this topic, "Am I going to make it"? Here's the Bible account. It says: on the same day when evening had come, he (Jesus) said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side". And now when they had left the multitude, they took him along in the boat as he was. And other little boats were also with him. And a great wind storm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But he was in the stern asleep on a pillow, and they awoke him and said, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing"? Then he arose and he rebuked the wind and the sea, and said, "Peace, be still". And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But he said to them, "Why are you so fearful? And how is it that you have no faith"? And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be that even the wind and the sea would obey him"?
This question, "Am I going to make it"? Is something that each and every individual is asking themselves all over this nation and in many places of the world. There are several nations and states that are watching us right now. And in your homes, somewhere in your heart, these words are echoing, "Am I going to make it"? "Is my business going make it through this economic trial"? "Are my children going to make it through this season of stress and strife"? "Is my marriage going to make it, as we walk through this storm together"? "Is our country going to make it and return to the times of prosperity and peace that we so look forward to"?
You see, as I read this text in the book of Mark, I immediately consider what the disciples must have been thinking when the familiar becomes frightening. Why? Because they're professional fishermen. A rabbi from Nazareth has come and asked them to do something that they've done thousands of times. He's asked them to get in a boat and take him across the Sea of Galilee. James, John, Peter, they've spent more hours on the water than they have on the land. How easy and how simple should this boat ride be for professional fishermen? But on this particular occasion, the familiar becomes frightening. And when the familiar becomes frightening, immediately, everything that you once held to is in question. We're in a similar situation in our world, because the simple things have become frightening.
Simply going to school is a frightening thing, so the schools are empty. Coming to church and shaking hands with your brothers and sisters in Christ, receiving hugs from your friends and loved ones are a frightening thing, so the churches are empty. The economy is rising and falling in such drastic ways: nobody knows exactly what to do. They're trying to support local businesses, but they're also concerned about their future financial withstanding. And so they're sitting here, asking themselves, "Am I going to make it"? And in the midst of this storm, Peter, he turns to James. And James, he turns to John. And these men wonder if tonight the water that has supported their livelihood is going to become their watery grave.
When the familiar becomes frightening and everything is in question, and you're wondering if you're going to make it, you start to ask yourself this very real question: does Jesus know and does Jesus care? Throughout this process, I've been reaching out to church members, and they question: what is God doing? They question: how are we going to recover? The questions are natural. The questions are normal. Do not think that it's a fault in your life if you have a question. But the good news is is that Christ has already answered the question for you. Peter and James and John want to know: does he care?
Read the text in Mark 4. They turn and they find him sleeping in the back of the boat. The disciples have fought this storm to the point they're physically exhausted. The water from the lake is now getting into the boat. And they turn to Jesus, and Jesus isn't kneeling in the back of the boat saying his final prayers. Jesus isn't flipping through his Bible looking at Psalm 91 and finding out how he can dwell in the secret place of the Most High. He's looking in the back of the boat, and there he is asleep. Now the disciples misinterpret his sleep, because they think that it's a disconnect. They see his slumber as him not caring about the situation. And so they ask him, "Teacher, do you not care that we're perishing"?
I want you to know that it's altogether natural to want others to be just as upset about the circumstance as you are. When things go wrong in our life, we turn to our friends. And if we cry, we want them to cry. And if we're angry, we want them to be angry. And if we're offended, we want them to be offended. But what do you do when you turn to Jesus and his response is not the same as yours? When something is upsetting you and it's not upsetting him, when something is moving you and it's not moving him, when something is bothering you and it hasn't even begun to bother him: don't misinterpret what he's doing. Jesus was not disconnected from the lives of the disciples. Jesus was not unconcerned about the situation.
The reason that Jesus could sleep in the storm is because Jesus was in total control of everything that was happening. There wasn't one thing that the disciples were facing that Jesus could not stop in an instant. Listen to me. God is not disconnected from this situation. God is not unconcerned about his children. God is not unaware of what we're going through. God is in total control. While this nation and this world are caught in a storm, while the headlines are saturated with COVID-19, while we watch our economy rise and fall, while we're saturated daily in headlines of despair and doom, while we're watching the world that we live in shaken to its knees: do not think for a moment that Christ is not aware. Do not be fooled about the voices of the cynics and skeptics that say, "Where's your God now"?
He's not worried about this storm. He's in control of this storm. He's not concerned about the outcome. He's the one who holds tomorrow. He knows exactly what's going to happen in our future. While these winds and these waves of turmoil seem to tear our world apart, we need to understand that God is in control! One of the things that I love about this account in Mark 4 is that Jesus Christ is asleep in the midst of the storm. But when his children call upon him, the Bible says, "Then he arose". It wasn't the weight of the water in the boat that woke him up. It wasn't the sound of the wind as it ripped through the sails that made him move. It wasn't the claps of thunder nor the flashes of lightning that disturbed him from his sleep. But the second that one of his children called upon him, "Teacher, don't you care"? Then he arose.
You need to know the thing that moves God is when you, his son, his daughter, his child call upon him. It's when you speak to him that he begins to move heaven and earth on your behalf. God is not moved by your circumstance. God is moved by your request. Throughout the Word of God, you read that he's waiting for his children on this earth to call upon him. 2 Chronicles 7:14: "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray... Then I will hear from heaven... And I will heal their land".
God is waiting to hear from you. He's waiting to hear from you, father, about your family. He's waiting to hear from you, mother, about your children. He's waiting to hear from you, businessman, about your future finances. He's waiting to hear from his children here on earth, who will cry out to him. Because when we speak to God, he then moves and he begins to silence the winds and the waves of the storm that we're facing. He begins to move and stop everything that's destroying our peace. He begins to move and open up the windows of heaven and pour out upon us blessings that you cannot contain! God is not moved by the winds and the waves of your storm. But he said, "Call upon me and I will answer you, and I'll show you great and mighty things that you know not".
Look in the Word of God at those who called upon the Lord, and see what God did. Moses goes down to the Red Sea out of Egypt. He calls upon the Lord, and the waves roll back left and right. Two million walk through on dry ground. And then God uses those waves to destroy Moses' enemies. When you call upon God, he'll move heaven and earth on your behalf. Elijah called upon him and fire fell. Daniel called upon him and lions slept. Samson called upon him and was given victory over his enemies. Jesus called upon his father in heaven, when he was here on the earth, and the lame could leap, and the deaf could hear, and the dead could live again. Why? Because when you call upon the Lord, you receive everything that you need.
I know what you're going through today. You're asking yourself, "Am I going to make it"? Call upon the Lord and see what he has to say about it. Call upon him, because he will not fail you. Call upon him, because he is able. Call upon him, and let God arise and his enemies be scattered! But when you call, call in faith and not fear. There are a lot of people crying out to God today, but they're crying out in the wrong voice. They're crying out in fear like the disciples did in this storm.
Think about the question that they asked him. "Teacher, don't you care"? That's a fearful question. That type of voice has put faith in anxiety rather than putting faith in God Almighty. "Don't you care"? When you ask God if he cares about you, you're forfeiting everything that he's already giving to you. "Don't you care"? Don't you understand that it's in him, we live: and in him, we move: and in him, we have our being? If God didn't care about you, you wouldn't be breathing. Don't you understand that it was he who gave his only begotten son: that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life?
If God didn't care about you, we wouldn't have salvation. Don't you understand that you wouldn't be where you are today if God didn't care about you? He cares about you so much that he's given his angels charge over you. He cares about you so much that he takes the time to number the hairs on your head. He cares about you so much that you were created in his image. The Bible says that he fearfully and he wonderfully made you. He cares about you so much that he said in his word, "What you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. What you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven". He cares about you to the point that he said, "I go to prepare a place for you: that where I am, there you may be also". If you forget everything that you hear today, remember this one thought: God Almighty cares about you!
The disciples, in fear, they said, "God, do you care"? Then he arose, and he said, "Peace, be still". Child of God, I want you to call upon the Lord today. But I don't want you to do it in fear. I want you to do it in faith. You see if you have faith in the midst of the storm, if you truly understand who's sleeping in the back of your boat, you wouldn't wake him up and ask him if he cares. You would speak to the storm and say, don't make me get Jesus. You would be looking at the winds and the waves, and you would say, don't you know who's in this boat with me? Don't you know that he's the alpha and he's the omega?
Don't make me wake up the one who holds the seven seas in the palm of his hands, who weighs the mountains in a scale and the hills in a balance. Don't make me disturb the word made flesh that has come to earth and is dwelling among us. Don't make me wake up the Creator of heaven and earth, who is the rock of ages, immovable. When you're walking through a storm, don't speak to Christ in fear. Speak to that storm in faith, and say, "The one who is for me is greater than all those who are against me. He's the bright in the morning star. He is the ancient of days. He is Emmanuel. He's my redeemer. He's my all in all. He's my El Shaddai. He's the conqueror of death, hell and the grave. I am his and he is mine. Don't make me turn him loose, because when he moves, I'm victorious"!
You see I believe what the Bible says. I believe that our words have power. And when you use your words in faith believing, you fight the good fight of faith and you win the day. But when you use your words in disparaging and demeaning ways, all you do is build a mountain that's too big for you to move. Jesus said, "Faith the size of a mustard seed can move a mountain". Speak in faith today. Speak in faith today. Are you in a storm? Yes, you are. But don't worry about the winds and the waves. Speak in faith today about the master of the wind who's in the boat with you. There's a storm in your business. Don't cry to Jesus if he's going to provide for you. He's already provided for you.
Look at that storm, and say, "Don't you know that I have the one who holds all things"? Use the Word of God. "It is the Lord that gives me the power to get wealth". Speak that to your financial storm. Tell that storm that you've never seen the righteous forsaken, nor God's seed begging bread. Tell that storm that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all. Are you in a storm of sickness today? Many are watching in hospitals today. Many are awaiting test results today. Speak to that storm. Declare, "I shall live and not die". "I shall declare the goodness of God in the land of the living". Declare to that storm today, "By his stripes, I am healed".
Are you full of fear and worry and anxiety? Speak to that storm today, "I'll keep them in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee". Speak to that storm today, "The Lord is my light and my salvation: of whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life: of whom shall I be afraid"? Remember what Jesus said, "What you bind on earth, I'll bind in heaven. What you loose on earth, I'll loose in heaven". What would happen if every child of God on the face of the earth today were to say, "In the mighty name of Jesus, that this virus is bound: that this evil is bound: that we have been given the name that is above every name. And at the name of Jesus, coronavirus must bow, because he, Jesus Christ, has given us victory in all things"?
You see, church, when you call upon him, call in faith, and you can move heaven and earth. But remember what he said. You see Jesus, when he woke up and he calmed the winds and the waves, he chastised the disciples when it was over. Often times we tell this story by showing Jesus wrapping his loving arms around the disciples. But you cannot read the gospel account and see Jesus in that way. He looks at the winds and the waves that they thought would kill them, and he says, "Peace, be still". And then he turns and he says, "How do you have no faith"? He looked at a boat full of fishermen, and said, "Amongst all of you, there's not one measure of faith". Why? Because they're wondering if they're going to make it.
And when you read Mark 4:35, he began the journey, saying, "Let us go to the other side". Before the storm even began, God told them where they would arrive. And he let them know, I'll be with you every step of the way. "Let us". He didn't say, go ahead of me and I'll catch up later. He said, I'm going into this boat with you. I'm going forward to our destination right by your side. If they would have simply remembered what he said, they would have looked at that storm, and said, you don't have any idea what you're Messing with. God is on our side and everything's going to be alright.
You may not have all the details of how you're going to get through this storm. But I assure you, when you look in the pages of God's word, he's already told us our destination. He said, "I go to prepare a place for you: that where I am, there you may be also". He said, "I'll never leave you nor forsake you". He said, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers them out of them all". He said, "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but they're mighty for the pulling down of strongholds". He said, "Weeping may endure for the night, but", listen to this, "Joy is coming in the morning". He's told you, church, where you're going go before the journey even began. Therefore, today, remember what he said and declare in faith:
I'm going make it. I'm going to make it. My business is going make it. My family is going to make it. My marriage is going to make it. My physical health is going to make it. My finances are going to make it, because God is on my side, and I am more than a conqueror through Christ. Therefore, no matter what the storm is, because he's with me, I'm going to make it.
I want to encourage you with a song. If you need encouragement today, if you feel down today, I want you to know there's a victory coming. And I want you to let this song minister to you, as we remember what Christ has done for us.