Mark 4 – “And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

This is a truth that I have not shared in some time, but it is good to be reminded every once in a while. The Disciples were, for the most part, accomplished fishermen, many of them having spent their entire lives on the sea.

They knew what it meant to be on a ship, they knew the work that was involved, they knew how to observe the patterns of the weather. And this was not the first storm that they had been through. There was something different about this storm. It caused them to fear exceedingly, believing this to be the one that would finally take them down.

They said master, carest thou not that we perish? I want to focus on a few words at the beginning of our reading, where the Bible says that there were also with him other little ships. Not only were the disciples out in the midst of this storm, but there were others – other little ships – that were in the midst of the storm. We don’t know much about these other little ships. It is quite possible that these were people who maybe didn’t have the experience that these seasoned fishermen and sailors had. It tells us that they were little ships; we don’t know the size of the ship that the disciples were in, but for some reason God chose to point out to us that these were not large vessels. And it was a great and powerful storm. And so as we consider not only the disciples being in the midst of the storm, there were also many others who were going through the same thing.
I think about life and how it is full of difficulties and troubles. Life oftentimes can be compared to a storm where we have hardships and heartaches and we are seeking wisdom; we are seeking knowledge of how to get through.

And all those times that may feel like man I’m the only one out here in the middle of this storm. I’m the only one that’s ever faced what I’m going through right now. I am the only one who’s had it hard – there are other little ships. Everyone is out in the midst of the storm and having a hard time. 

And here’s the thing: I don’t know if you believe this or know this, but you are a leader. You may say to yourself I don’t have the position or title. You don’t need those things to be a leader. You are a leader whether you know it or not. Somebody, some other little ship is looking to you to see how you handle the storm; to see how you hold up; to see what decisions you might be making; to gain for themselves through your own experiences, your own wisdom and knowledge, the things that they might need. I know that you might think man, that’s a scary thought! But somebody is making decisions about how they handle life based on how they see you and I handling life. 

These other little ships were looking to the disciples. What are those guys doing? How are those guys handling it? Maybe we should do what they’re doing. 

Each of us has a responsibility to be good leaders for those other little ships in our lives, whether it be our family, our friends – there may be people watching you and I that we wouldn’t even consider. 

I kind of expect that my children are watching and my granddaughter is learning, but we may not expect that the person you see every other morning at the gas station is watching you. That person that has been a part of this team for so long is actually learning a lot from you, or the person who just started here is looking around wanting to learn some things about how to handle life, how to accomplish my goals, how to make it through the storm.

Let us be mindful as we go through our day and make the decisions that we make, and move all the pieces and do all the things that we do, that not only are we trying to make it through the storm ourselves and make it through and accomplish some things and get the job done, but we are also, at the same time, teaching. We are also leading. We are also mentoring, whether you may know it or not. 

And if we are mindful of that fact, then we just might be able to help those around us and not only come up ourselves, but bring everyone around us up. That should be our goal, each and every day. 

Remember – We are J-Bar — we are blessed beyond measure. We love — we are thankful beyond measure. We serve, and in so doing become the leaders that God wants us to be.”