Do you remember a time when you felt hopeless and helpless? Did you think that you must have misunderstood God’s direction? Were you hopeless and helpless … until Jesus? What if you refocused from the problem to the solution and asked yourself 3 questions?
In Luke 8:1-21, we read that the disciples and multitudes absorbed Jesus’ teachings. Alone with the disciples, Jesus took time to explain His parables in more depth.
The rest of the chapter focuses on applying His teachings. Times of testing help build our faith—our trust in Jesus and not our circumstances.
I know that you’ve been there. The Holy Spirit prompted you to be courageous and trust Him. You stepped out in faith and volunteered to take on a project that you felt you weren’t qualified to lead. But you stepped up to the challenge, only to experience opposition—opposition from your coworkers, your friends, or your family.
Did you experience peace during the turmoil? A power that you knew was from Jesus? It’s possible, my friend … with Jesus.
Faith in Action
Seven-year-old Preena escaped from a Hindu temple in southern India. She was “married” to a Hindu god and served as a temple prostitute. She escaped from the temple but was caught. Her punishment was a hot metal rod placed in her little hands.
Life was so terrible in that temple, that she tried to escape again. This time, she met a young missionary. Preena called her Amma (“Mother” in Tamil).
Preena was hopeless and helpless until she met Amma. Amma had faith that Jesus would guide her. She knew that He would give her what she needed. She knew that God would equip her to do the work He had for her to do. Even if that work was different than what she had envisioned.
The day that she met Preena, God gave Amma a different vision and mission. There were other girls and boys who needed rescuing. Yes, boys also served as temple prostitutes. Amma didn’t know how she would rescue the children or care for them. But she had faith that God would protect her and the children that He brought to her. Wickedness and opposition faced her, including the threat of prison. But God always provided and protected.
The children were hopeless and helpless … until Jesus. Until Jesus brought Amma.
3 Questions to Ask Yourself
1. Where’s Your Faith?
“Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side of the lake.” And they launched out. But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!” Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.”
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Jesus said, “Let’s get in the boat and cross over to the other side.”
Can you imagine the looks on the disciples’ faces?
“Why does He want to go to the other side—that’s where many Gentiles live?” Jesus was on a mission. The Sea of Galilee is 13 miles long, 8 miles wide and more than 600 feet below sea level.
While they were in the boat, a violent wind swooshed through the valley. Waves came crashing down on the boat as the disciples frantically bailed out the water. Can you see them? Terror in their eyes, lips clinched tight.
Wait! Didn’t Jesus tell the disciples that they were going to the other side? He was in the boat with them. Oh! But He was sleeping in the back of the boat.
Finally, they woke Him up. Can you see them grabbing Jesus’ shoulders and shaking Him awake?
“Don’t you care that we’re going to perish?” A hopeless cry. Helpless to save themselves.
Hopeless, Helpless … Until Jesus.
Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the raging water. Even if the wind stopped during one of these storms, the waves usually continued for a while. But suddenly, all was calm.
Who’s the prince of the power of the air? Ephesians 2:2 tells us that Satan is the prince of the power of the air! Did Satan really think he could hinder the mission of Jesus?
Jesus, was with God in the beginning and He is God, the second person of the Trinity. Fully God and Fully Man. All things were made through Jesus.
The Creator of the Universe was in the storm. Satan is no match for Jesus!
Jesus rebuked the wind and the sea, and suddenly all was calm.
“Where’s your faith?” He asked.
They marveled and were afraid.
Have you been there?
“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
Joy in various trials? Trials that test our faith?
The stormy sea tested the disciples’ faith. Were they joyous?
Did they learn from that trial?
From this trial, they experienced the dominion of Jesus over Satan and Jesus’ power over creation.
Do you believe that God is all-powerful? Are you in a storm right now? Have you surrendered your storms to God? Completely?
Luke is building the disciples’ and our understanding of Jesus’ dominion and power. From teaching and healing the multitudes to experiencing the storm.
Dominion over creation.
Now a stronger lesson awaits them on the shore.
2. Where’s Your Hope and Help?
I mentioned earlier that Jesus was on a mission—a mission with several outcomes.
He demonstrated His power and dominion over Satan and creation, causing the disciples to marvel.
Jesus also crossed the Sea of Galilee to meet a man who was beyond hopeless and helpless.
Let’s continue in Luke 8:27–37
“And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!”
[The demons knew that Jesus is the Son of the Most High God without being told.]
“For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him.”[A legion of soldiers could be up to 6,000 men]
“And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.”
[Jesus did more than send the demons away. He clothed the man and gave him peace. He was sitting at the feet of Jesus.
If you are God’s child, you are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. Are you sitting at Jesus’ feet—helped by Jesus and filled with hope in Jesus?]
“They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned.”
Jesus took His disciples across the Sea of Galilee, knowing there would be a raging storm. The storm tested their faith. They were hopeless and helpless to calm the storm. They thought they would die. Until Jesus.
Hopelessness and helplessness prevailed among the tombs. Anguish stripped the man of all hope. Exiled from the city, help abandoned him.
Until Jesus.
Why did Jesus choose to go to the other side—the Gentile side? There was a man there who needed him, a man who would be given a mission from Jesus. Jesus pursued the man living among the tombs, living among the dead—dead to hope and dead to any help—until Jesus. Jesus crossed through the storm to give this man new life and a calling.
The disciples had seen Jesus heal multitudes. Now, the disciples needed to see the power and dominion Jesus has over creation and Satan.
Can you recall a situation where you felt hopeless and helpless? Did you surrender the challenge to God? Did He help you?
3. What’s Your Mission?
“Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.”
The man begged Jesus to become His disciple. But Jesus had another mission for him.
The man’s family and friends had deserted him. They left him to the tombs and chained him up (although he broke the chains).
They left him to hopelessness and helplessness … Until Jesus.
Jesus told him to “Return to your own house and tell what great things God has done for you.”
Now, he was supposed to go back and share what compassion looks like? Commissioned to share Jesus with those who forsook him in his time of need?
YES!
When he met Jesus, everything changed. Here was the Son of the Most-High God, a Man of compassion. A Man of authority. Even the demons recognized Jesus and were afraid of Him.
- Jesus conquered the storm and walked among the tombs of death to free a man from the slavery of demons.
- Jesus replaced the man’s hopelessness with peace. The man sat at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed.
- Jesus exchanged the man’s helplessness with mission-driven power.
Hope at last. Help. Peace. Clothed in righteousness. Sitting at the feet of Jesus.
- Until Jesus, there was no hope.
- Until Jesus, there was no help.
- Until Jesus, there was no mission.
Mission became the man’s focus. He had a mission to proclaim God and the new life that Jesus had given him. The mission was not in a faraway land but in his home and hometown.
I’m awestruck by these two events. Although Jesus was exhausted, He knew that the man agonizing in the tombs was hopeless and helpless.
Jesus crossed the raging Sea of Galilee and stepped onto Gentile territory. He stepped into a graveyard to meet a man. Jesus was focused on giving the man hope and help. That hope and help generated faith leading to a mission to spread the good news.
But that’s not all. Two more stories of people who hoped that Jesus would act are in Luke 8. They were also helpless to change their circumstances.
Helpless to Change Circumstances
Jesus and the disciples got back in the boat and went back to the Jewish shore.
Jairus fell at Jesus’ feet and told Him that his 12-year-old daughter was sick. Jesus and the crowd started walking to his home.
A woman who had endured 12 years of hemorrhaging, sneaked through the crowd and touched the hem of Jesus’ cloak.
“Who touched me?” (Jesus knew she had been healed.)
She confessed. Jesus told her that her faith had made her well.
Soon after, Jairus learned that His daughter had died. Hopelessness filled Jairus’ heart. No obvious help—until Jesus.
Jesus took Jairus, his wife, Peter, James, and John into the girl’s room and gave her new life.
Hopeless and Helpless. Jairus’ daughter was dead. UNTIL JESUS!
Hopeless and helpless in the storm, in demonic activity, sickness, and death. Until Jesus!
Faith on a Mission of Hope and Help
In her 55 years of mission work, Amy Carmichael freed over 1,000 children from terror and wickedness. They heard the good news of the Gospel and received the help they needed, including an education and medical help.
God gave Amy Carmichael a profound mission that changed lives for generations. In her own effort, she was hopeless and helpless to achieve. UNTIL JESUS!
Jesus Is Our Hope and Help
In Luke 8, we see Jesus as our:
- Teacher
- Storm Calmer
- Son of the Most-High God
- Healer
- Victor over Satan
- Death Conqueror
- Hope Giver
- Helper
- Faith Builder
- All-Powerful God Who Has Dominion and Power Over All!
Friends, where’s your faith today? Are you hopeless and helpless? All these people were hopeless and helpless until they surrendered their challenges, their troubles, their afflictions, their bodies to Jesus. UNTIL JESUS!
Where’s your faith today? Is your faith in your power, your hard work, or is it in Jesus?
Where’s your hope and help today? All the hopeless and helpless in Luke 8 came to Jesus in their hopelessness and helplessness.
God has prepared good works for us to walk in. What’s your mission? Where’s your focus?
Questions to ponder
- Where have you placed your hope even in the challenges of life?
- What is a specific mission or calling that God has for you?
- What steps will you take this week to begin living your mission?
Please share your mission with us and how you are living your mission.
Related Links
5 Reasons for Hope, 3 Steps to Hope
Featured photo By Rembrandt – This file was derived from: Rembrandt Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee.jpg:, Public Domain
This is an adaptation of a meditation I shared with the women of Calvary Chapel Beaumont.
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