“Jesus, in the Storms of Life”
Luke 8:22-25
November 2, 2025
Call it what you want — affliction, calamity, difficulty, disaster, disease, hardship, horror, illness/sickness, pain, persecution, suffering, tragedy, trial, trouble — life is filled with events and circumstances that seem contrary to us. It has always been that way, the Bible is filled with it:
- Murder (of a family member; Gen. 4)
- Extreme illness (Job)
- Catastrophic (worldwide) flood (Gen. 9)
- Sexual sin and the destruction of families (Gen. 19, 38; 2 Sam. 13)
- Famine and natural disaster (Gen. 41-45)
- Betrayal of friends (Pss. 41, 55)
- Oppression and poverty (Lk. 21:1-4)
- War, slavery, and starvation (Lam. 2:11-12; Jeremiah)
- Old Age (Eccl. 12:1-7)
The list of troubles in the Bible sounds so very much like the lists of troubles in our lives. They are too very real and too regular. And knowing our Bibles, we are aware that these things pass directly from God’s hand into our lives: “The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these” (Is. 45:7). It was not without reason that Naomi (Ruth’s mother-in-law) lamented, “‘[T]he Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me’” (Ruth 1:20).
As we come to the middle section in Luke 8, we are in another of these calamitous stories: a monstrous storm on the Sea of Galilee that threatens the disciples’ lives. You know the story; your children know the story. This is at least the sixth time I have preached or taught this story. I have preached it when it was the next story in a Gospel I was preaching. And I have preached it at particularly tragic events impacted our area — after Hurricane Katrina and when the tornado ripped through Granbury about a dozen years ago. The story resonates with us because it is so typical of the troubles we face in this world.
As we come to this story, remember that Luke is recounting the second journey of Christ through Galilee. He is moving through towns and villages presenting Himself as the Messiah. And He would soon leave Galilee to begin His journey to Jerusalem and the cross. Particularly from this point until He leaves Galilee (8:22 – 9:50) He is answering the question, “Who is Jesus?” and in the remainder of this chapter, He is again demonstrating His authority (akin to 4:31ff on the first journey). Jesus will demonstrate His authority over nature/danger (vv. 22-25), demons (vv. 26-39), disease (vv. 43-48), and death (vv. 49-56).
He is the authoritative Son of Man in every realm of life and in every trouble of life. In your trouble. And because He is authoritative, we can trust Him to work good in us.
Christ’s authority is revealed in troubles…be confident in Him when you are suffering.
Troubles aren’t greater than Christ’s power and authority. And troubles don’t preclude Him from working in our lives. Troubles are a gift to us — to reveal our hearts and stimulate our faith. In this familiar story, Luke reveals four principles of troubles to guide us to faithfulness:
- The Circumstances of the Troubles (v. 22)
- The Savior in the Troubles (v. 23)
- The Heart in the Troubles (v. 24)
- The Goal of the Troubles (v. 25)
Download the rest of this sermon on Luke 8:22-25.
The audio will be posted on the GBC website by Tuesday.
Rembrandt, “Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee,” Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Words of Grace 
