Have you been sad this past week? This has been Yom Kippur. It is a time of looking at your life and if you find sin, you repent. It is a day of fasting for 23 hours and praying and asking God to forgive your sins. This ends with the

Day of Atonement or the day that the high priest came out and brought forgiveness for the people’s sins. This was a time of great sadness for 10 days, but this did not last too long as of next Tuesday there will be the Feast of

Tabernacles or the Feast of Rejoicing.

We read in Ps. 30:5. “…joy comes in the morning…“ After 10 days of fasting there comes a time of rejoicing. Everyone leaves their homes and go live in booths or tents. If they have a flat roof top, they do it up there. They also camp out in fields. Wherever they go, it will be a happy Feast of Tabernacles. This is a time of realizing that life is short. It is a time of realizing things about God. They go out under the stars like Abraham and realize they are looking for a home, but a home promised by God.

This is a time to remember that life and earthly goods are temporary. Our real life is the life that is to come. In heaven there will be no mortgaged homes as they are all paid for. There won’t be taxes there either. So this is a time to begin to rejoice. Even out in their booths without all the luxuries, it is a time of rejoicing for the people. The command of the Feast of Tabernacles is to rejoice with your family and servants. God is funny, you lose your home and God says, “Rejoice!” Our loss is His gain. Remember to always rejoice in the Lord….again I say rejoice. God commands us during the Feasts of Tabernacles in our rickety little tents that we are to rejoice. You do not need riches to rejoice.

The people of Paraguay are happy (it is a poor country). When Argentina was going through sadness, there was a happiness in Paraguay. There are nations that are happy and some are sad. Jesus said that life is not in the abundance of what you have. Our world is in crisis but we are to rejoice.

Four years ago when I came here to live, I did not expect to live through a year like 2008; it is not over yet. This is a special year and there are so many things happening and brewing in this year. You know sometimes you go through life and it is boring, but this year is not boring. There is enough going on to keep you wide awake. What is going on? If you know, let me know. However, I know who is doing it! What do we do in times like this? Some years drag on with more of the same. You have a big sail boat and there are no winds from God. Everything seems stale and you are stuck right there in your boat. Being stuck in a boat when the wind is not blowing happened many times.

In other times there has been a strong wind-- like the trade winds -- and you know that God is taking you somewhere. You open you sails and you let God speak. The Spirit’s winds are blowing. Sometimes storms are brewing on the horizon. There is lack of wind, blowing wind and stormy winds. In Mark 4:35, we read, “,,,He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” We are aware that great things are happening and history is in the making. Things are happening that have not happened in over a century. History is being written. These are times of transition. You can say before 9-11 and after 9-11. Now it is before September 08, and after September 08. Big changes are happening.

What day was it that Jesus said it was time to cross over?. It was the day Jesus taught the disciples about the harvest, and the seed being planted. It was the day He taught about the seed and the parable telling us that God was going to plant and have a harvest. That same day the in the evening hours, Jesus said, “Let us pass over to the other side.”

It was when evening came, If you are making a story scary, it has to be at night; so as dark came, they got into the boats. At night all the pain you had all day becomes unbearable. I do not know why, but most babies are born at night. If you are having a nightmare and you open your eyes at night it seems scarier.

There was a storm coming and brewing on the horizon. It came at night and the disciples lost sight of the land. They had no compass as navigation was by sight. Jesus had told them that they were to go over to the other side. If they had gone on their own, gotten on the boat and the storm came, they would have a lot of questions. Did we make a mistake? However, Jesus told them to go. This is God’s will for their lives. Jesus wanted them to go to the other side. They could have walked to the other side. The multitude had walked around the lake as they were waiting for them on the other shore when they landed. God wanted the disciples to be in a storm in the middle of the lake. It was His will. This financial problem is God’s will for our country. Jesus said, “Let us go to the other side.”

In Luke 8:22 we see that He went into a ship with His disciples. Jesus went into the boat first and they launched forth. They had a goal and the boat was how Jesus was going there. Jesus has the boat, the storm and He wants to get us to the other side. This was a predetermined time. He had to get to the other side as the Gadarene was there. There was no way He was not going to get there. They were delayed in the storm, but when the time to be at the shore came, they instantly got to the place they were to be.

God has a plan. He has a time and objective; we are going to the other side. Lift up your hands and wave them gently wave good-bye to the life we have known. Be sure of this, everything is about to change. Say good-bye to the old way of doing things, and let us go to the other side as Jesus told the disciples.

God is taking us to a new place. As I look back at this special year that God has

prepared for us, God spoke to me about this special year. There is a purpose in what seems to be madness. God has a plan; it is unfolding in this special year of 2008. It stared by God marking our lives and family in our special meeting in the beginning of this year. This was the hedge and covering for our lives for what was to come. Then God spoke to us about lightening up our loads before we got on the boat. There was recently a time when plane attendants had to move some people on a plane to another spot; some of the people were too heavy and causing the plane to tilt. If the load is too heavy, the plane will not take off. If a plane is unbalanced you can not fly straight. To fly safely you have to get rid of weight. We had a lot of weight we were carrying from the past. God spoke to us about leaving the past, about forgiveness, and how to get rid of the things we were carrying. As God spoke to us, we were able to get rid of our ballast. As God spoke this year, He was preparing us. He was getting our hearts ready; He has been with us.

In Mark 4:37 we see, “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.” There were no stars or moon and the water was entering the boat. Let me tell you a story. A friend brought a boat and invited me to go fishing. We were in the Gulf fishing. While we were fishing, I noticed we were taking on water. The host said he would turn on the outboard motor; it would take the water out. But the engine would not start and the water came up to our knees; there were six of us who started bailing. Then we saw huge freighter coming at us with big waves in its wake. We knew that in about five minutes there would be a wave. There we were in the water, and I said to Carlos, “Do not invite me again!” It is funny now, but it was not funny then. Then we found that we were only in about 5 feet of water. We were scared. When the water starts coming into your boat, it is not funny.

This verse says that the water came into their boat and they were afraid as their boat was full. In verse 36 we see that there were other little ships so they were not alone in the storm. However, Jesus was only on the one ship with the disciples. There will be a lot of ships in this storm, but Jesus was with His disciples. In Psalms we see that the storm shall not come nigh us.

Jesus was in the boat with all his disciples . That means not only weak Thomas was affected, but the Faith-filled Peter was affected. Everyone was affected. Every single disciple saw his life affected by the storm. This present storm is not just a local storm. You can not flee from it. This is a global storm. What do you do in a global storm while you are in the boat?

If there is no wind, you can go nowhere. If there is a nice wind, you put up a sail. But when there is a bad wind and a storm, you do not put up your sail. If you do, it will rip your mast off. You do not expect to go anywhere fast in this type of storm. You hope that this storm gets over as quickly as possible. You are not going anywhere fast. The time for advancement is not in the bad storm. The time for advancement is the time of the gentle trade winds.

The disciples were in the storm going nowhere. Let me remind you of Noah’s ark. It had no sails and no steering. There were no plans to take it anywhere. It was just a safe place in a storm. Yet when they opened the doors, they were on top of Mt. Ararat. How did they get there? I do not know. When the Lord said to get in the ark, they got in. They started in a valley, but they ended up on top of the mountain. They were where the storm had brought them.

In a storm you aim into the winds and waves. You do not want to be caught sideways in the boat. You keep rowing. There are times that you hang on and face the storm. This storm is not an ordinary squall. The disciples knew what to do and how to keep the boat righted and to bail out the water. There are times we can fight our way out of something ourselves. But this is not that kind of storm. The good news was that Jesus was in the boat with them If this is comforting, know that Jesus was there with them. If this is a storm you cannot fight through on your own, then hold on and believe that Jesus said He would take you through to the other side.

In Mark 4:38 We read, “But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” You see He was asleep on the pillow. How is that for trust. Jesus knew what would happen, but He had trust in His heart. Some people sleep so well that you can not wake them up easily. Jesus was a good sleeper. Do not get desperate at every little noise. Just go to sleep and don’t worry about the little noises. It is hard if you are not sure you belong to God. When you get into the boat, know that God is with you. You know that you are in the ark and God has closed the door.

Jesus knew He was going to get to the other side. You cannot do anything, so all you do is wait. If you stay awake in the storm you will just worry. Go to your happy place in God’s presence. You will know that God is your covering, your salvation and your strength. You will know that the ark might be tossed here and there but rest as God is taking us. Rest in the Lord and do not fear. Count some sheep. Rest in faith and trust that you will make it. This is part of God’s plan for our lives.

The house of the Lord is a happy place. In the midst of storm go to the Lord’s house even if you have to walk there. There you will get directions. When you are in the ark, you are with others; this means being together. The disciples were all together in the storm and with Jesus. In Psalm 91 we see the happy place in God. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2, I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”

The disciples security was in the Lord and not in the boat. The Lord is our security. Things are not our security, but security is God being with us. Jesus was there, but He is here too. You might not see Him, but He is here. He is telling you to not do anything. It is time to rest and buckle up our seat belt and wait out the storm. He will keep you in the storm. It is time to wait out the storm. Even when you sleep, you are to trust in God. You are not worried about things. You trust in your home, in your room, in your bed and you rest and go to your happy place. You leave your body there and you trust that your body will be there when you wake up. If you worry about things, you won’t sleep. In sleep, you trust that God will take care of your body.

Jesus said in Luke 12, “,,,I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23, Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes,… 25, Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life^[? 26, Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? That is what sleep is; it is going to the happy place and not worrying about anything. You rest in knowing that God will take care of your body.

So in the boat, Jesus slept as He trusted God. So you are to rest and wait until the day you receive your marching orders and He manifests His orders. These will come soon and your life will be turned up on its side. Now, wait until the storm is over. Sleep is not hiding. The ostrich hides its head. Sleep is a form of totally trusting and knowing that Jesus is with you.

When the disciples work up, Jesus asked them why they were so fearful. That is a good question. Why are you fearful? It is a good question. Don’t you have faith? If you have faith, there is no fear. You know Jesus is with you. Anyway, when the storm starts, what can you do about it. Can you be more than you are? Once the storm begins, you can not change it. Jesus says that the storm will not end until it accomplishes what pleases Him. All you need to know right now is that there is a wonderful place to be in Him -- a place of refuge and a hiding place.