Stop Saying “It’s Not a Big Deal” (You Don’t Know Their Storm) | John Giftah

0:01 Speaker 1: Do you ever look around and think, Wow, the world is a crazy place and it just seems to get crazier and crazier. Ease your mind and take a break. This is Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We're a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living, in Christian discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live the life that you were created for. Your host is a top ranking podcaster, best selling author, world record holder, aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist, and founder of John Gifta International.

0:41 Speaker 1: Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta.

0:46 Speaker 2: Hello everyone, Welcome to this edition of the Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta Podcast.

0:50 Speaker 3: Today.

0:51 Speaker 2: In the next couple of days, we're going to learn various things that we can take away from the incident of Jesus coming the storm. Okay, this is an incident recorded in various gospels, in Matthew chapter eight, Looke chapter eight, as well as in my Mark chapter four. And we're going to look at various things because I always go back to the Lord and I say God. I don't want to preach the same typical cliche sermons and for me, even in my walk with the Lord, I don't want the same cliche things like oh, you know what, this is it, this is it?

1:18 Speaker 2: You know, like sometimes it becomes very cliche. Sometimes it becomes very structured, and it's like, oh, I already know this. I always go back to the scripture and say, Lord, I want something new, well in spirit, I want you to speak to me, a minister to me in a personal way. And these revelations are both out of that. And I really believe and encourage you to pursue the Word of God in a similar fashion, so that the Lord will speak to you when you turn the pages of the scripture as well. So today we're going to look at one of the aspects that we can take away from this incident of Jesus calming the storm.

1:49 Speaker 2: First things first, is that the Bible says say, if you look at math Tu chapter eight, verse twenty three, then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Suddenly a fear storm struck the lake, with waves breaking into the boat. Now, first things first, I want to tell you sometimes I've heard people say this, John, what's the big deal about a storm?

2:10 Speaker 3: In a lake. I mean, it's it's a lake.

2:12 Speaker 2: After all, we just look at it as oh, it's just a lake, right, like, I mean, how big would it be? I want to just give you guys a little bit of context here, right, this is not an ordinary lake. This is this lake was also the Sea of Galilee, okay, and mind you, it's not a sea. But then it was a huge lake. It was the length of it was around twenty one kilometers, which is around thirteen miles, and with this around thirteen kilometers or eight miles. So it's not like a small pond or it's not like a you know, like it's something small.

2:45 Speaker 3: Is it is huge okay?

2:48 Speaker 2: And so a typical boat ride could take you from one to three hours, okay, one hour to up to three hours, depending on the wind, the rowing versus the sail and the directtion. So understand, like it's not something small. It's not like a small boat ride, okay. And it was not something shallow as well. It was deep, you know, like the average depth was around twenty five meters or eighty feet, and the maximum depth was around forty three meters or one forty feet. So it's not something like they could just jump and you know, figure things out.

3:24 Speaker 2: These guys were trained fishermen, trained in this. They knew about the region, they knew about the dangers, they knew about everything, and so this was not an.

3:32 Speaker 3: Ordinary deal, all right. So now one more point took this.

3:36 Speaker 2: Okay, Now understand that the Sea of Galilee or this lake sits about two hundred meters above the mean sea level, okay, and it is surrounded by hills and mountains. And because of this, what used to happened was the lot of cold air from above would rush down and collide with the warm air from the lake, and this resulted in sudden, violent stock. So this was not an exaggeration. This was not something like made up. It was not like they were just exaggerating the situation. This was a real serious problem because of the topography or the geography of the place.

4:14 Speaker 2: This was a real serious problem. And so when somebody just generalizes and says, come on, what's the big deal, It's just a storm in a lake. Why are you making a big deal of it? Why can't you just come I understand the seriousness of this. This was a one to three hour journey depending on this situation. Of course, this was like the winds would have already been bad and understand that this was already in the evening, because one of the translations, I think in Mark chapter four, it says by evening they were going, so you know, generally water bodies and evenings and nights they're.

4:46 Speaker 3: Drift generally rougher.

4:47 Speaker 2: And on top of that, there's also one more translation not translation sorry, in one of the uh you know, in one of the Gospels, it says that once they got into the boat, Jesus that sleeping because very soon, you know, the storm came. It says in verse thirty seven of Mark chapter four, but soon a fear storm came.

5:10 Speaker 3: You know. It's not like the storm came after a while. Soon the storm came.

5:14 Speaker 2: If you see, even in the Book of Matthew, chapter eight, they get into the boat, it says in verse twenty three, but soon a storm came. It's not something like after a while it came. You know, very soon the storm came. So think about this situation here, right, they have a long journey ahead, and they're in the middle of nowhere, and it's in the evening. It's probably very dark, and in the midst of this, right, they know the danger of the place.

5:41 Speaker 3: The storms are very bad.

5:44 Speaker 2: Okay, So what I'm trying to say is sometimes in life we try to generalize a problem. We say it's just it's just, you know, a small thing, Like everybody goes through a storm, everybody goes through this trouble, everybody goes through some bad breaks, what's the big deal? But here, this was a deadly situation. This was not a general storm in a lake. I want you guys to understand the reality of the situation. This was serious. This was different. This was not like a typical storm. This was a dangerous storm.

6:17 Speaker 2: This is not like a typical lake. This was the Sea of Galery, a very dangerous place to be at this moment. So what I'm trying to say here is sometimes in life we try to solve a problem by just generalizing. Or somebody else solved this problem by this method. Somebody went through this breakup, they went through some therapy. This helped for them, and it helped them, so it should help you. Or you say that you know, you went through this financial or lass or something and you just, you know, do these ABC steps and it should work for you.

6:50 Speaker 2: No, what worked for somebody else may not work for you. Because you see, general things will not work in this situation. This was a serious thing. So when somebody just says, you know what, everybody goes through this problem. Everybody goes through you know, the season of layoff. Everybody goes through the season of you know, singles word waiting for the right person to step into your life. Everybody goes through this. Everybody goes through that. You can't generalize things, you know why, because what you, as an individual may be going through is specific.

7:19 Speaker 2: Everybody else may be going through a storm in a lake, but they're in a small league. You are going through a serious league because this is the sea of gality. Everybody else may be going through some sudden storm in life, but you are in a fear storm which came out of nowhere that you could even prepare for. Are you getting what I'm saying? This was a deadly place to be. Even professional fishermen found it deadly. Then think about the situation, guys. So what I'm trying to help you understand here is in life, you know, never think that you know what, let's generalize the problem.

7:56 Speaker 2: Okay, everybody else solve this this way, or you know what, somebody solve this. So why is this person making a big deal. You have no idea the pain this person is going through. Recently, when I always shared this last year was one of the hardest years that I went through. You know a lot of bad breaks in terms of you know, a huge financial laws and then you know, a job layoff that happened, and then you know, an attack on my health and all of these things. You know, people would come and give me sermons you know, oh you should trust God.

8:26 Speaker 2: I mean, like, come on, is it that I don't trust Gord? You know? Or you know you should pray like this you would get a job in one week. I mean, come on, guys, if you were in my situation, Like for example, one of the health issues that happened was because of you know, the doctor immediance it said, this is because of too much of stress on you. And people started attacking me saying, if you're a preacher, how can you have stress? How you're not trusting God, You're not praying hard enough. I mean, come on, if you knew what I was going through, if you knew the attack after the attack after attack I was going through last year like it was one after another attack, not not just the job laws, or the or the financial laws, or but even the attack from you know, close ones who are you know, attacking on you know, my stand for the Gospel, stand for the calling, stand for the ministry, and all of that.

9:18 Speaker 3: It was not easy.

9:19 Speaker 2: It's easy to preach to someone when you're not in what they're going through.

9:24 Speaker 3: You know what I mean.

9:25 Speaker 2: That's what I'm trying to tell you. You know, this is what I'm trying to tell you. Don't generalize because only the person who's in that moment will know the depth of what they're going through. Because outside you can just think of, you know, do these five steps you should solve a problem. It doesn't work that way.

9:41 Speaker 3: Guys.

9:42 Speaker 2: Certain things like oh, you know what, they're in the lake. They let them just come out of the lake, Like this is a huge lake. Guys, Oh it's just a storm. Let them just be calm in the storm. I mean, this is a fierce, deadly storm.

9:53 Speaker 3: Guys.

9:54 Speaker 2: So try to understand. Don't try to generalize situations. Try to understand the of the situation. Try to understand the reality, because only then you will be able to understand.

10:08 Speaker 3: What somebody else is going through.

10:09 Speaker 2: And also you'll be able to understand what you are going through and why what somebody else is saying from the outside may not work for you because they are generalizing things. But you are going through something so much more deeper and harder. So I really pray that this message, you know, open your eyes to understand the reality, so that you know even as we go and delve into this passage more in the next coming days, I pray that these sermons and this world will bless you, guys, because I pray in the name of Jesus Christ.

10:43 Speaker 2: If you are going through a storm and no one else is I be able to understand, I pray that today is going to be the day that somebody is going to understand that you know that God understands and I'm able to understand what you're going through.

10:53 Speaker 3: If you want to reach out and share so that you want me.

10:56 Speaker 2: To pray for you in some area of your life, you can reach out through social media or any other means that you are able to find on YouTube and all of that.

11:04 Speaker 3: Do it. I'm therefore you praying for you, rooting for you.

11:06 Speaker 2: Let's you know, across to the other side with the grace of God. Emen, God bless you.

11:16 Speaker 1: If you've been listening to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta, we hope you were blessed and inspired to live the life that God has for you. Make sure to subscribe to the John gifted YouTube channel for regular uploads of sermons, skits, interviews, and more. Follow John Gifta on Instagram for regular inspirational posts, and don't forget to check out the best selling books written by John Gifta, Who Am I which will help you understand your identity and the latest number one best seller Unveil your Purpose, helping you discover your purpose and to start walking in it.

11:51 Speaker 1: Make sure to leave a rating and review, and be sure to share it with your friends and loved ones. If you'd like to donate, you can find the PayPal link in the description. If you'd like to invite John Gifta to speak at your event or to get more details, go to the website at www Godjohngifted dot com. See you on the next episode of the Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. God bless you