Episode 59
Faithful, Not Comfortable: What Jesus Forms in the Storm
What if faithfulness mattered more than comfort? In this episode of Seek Go Create, the conversation focused on how storms and challenges are not proof of God’s absence, but opportunities for Jesus to form something deeper within us. Explore what it means to experience peace without control, true community beyond sameness, and courage without domination. If you’re ready to rethink the promises of faith and discover a kingdom that cannot be shaken, this episode is for you.
"Peace does not require calm weather. It requires a present King." - Tim Winders
Access all show and episode resources HERE
Episode Resources:
- NT90 Hub – This is the central website for the 90-day New Testament reading plan, with downloadable, printable plans, background information, and links to all episodes and resources.
Episode Highlights:
00:00 Storm Still Comes
00:38 Series Setup
01:58 Read New Testament Plan
03:12 Comfort Theology Recap
04:11 Peace Without Control
07:50 Faith Beyond Outcomes
11:18 Kingdom Community Unity 1
3:58 Courage Without Domination
16:34 Hope Not Escape
19:11 Kingdom Unshakable
20:46 Then And Now Application
23:28 Final Encouragement
Transcript
The storm still came.
Speaker:That is where this series began.
Speaker:Five conversations later, the question is no longer how to control the weather.
Speaker:The question is what Jesus forms in people who cannot.
Speaker:Peace without control, faithfulness without guarantees, community
Speaker:without sameness, courage without domination, hope without escape.
Speaker:The kingdom does not promise storm-free living.
Speaker:It forms people full of faith who remain faithful when the storm comes.
Speaker:Welcome to Seek Go Create.
Speaker:I am Tim Winders, and this is the final, I guess, arc in a
Speaker:six-part, series that we did.
Speaker:I'm titling it Comfort Theology.
Speaker:It's kinda like my bigger title that I kind of broke down into six episodes that
Speaker:go with all of these episodes that I've done that are a continuation of the study
Speaker:that I began doing on the New Testament, where I took the New Testament and I
Speaker:wanted to read it in context and in order.
Speaker:This is just more of the stuff that I kept finding when I did that.
Speaker:I just kept going deeper and deeper and deeper.
Speaker:So deep that I created a reading plan where I put the New Testament
Speaker:books in order so that I could go through it, and I did that months ago.
Speaker:And then all these ideas, these thoughts, these things came to me.
Speaker:And so the last, gosh, almost 30-plus episodes have just been a continuation
Speaker:of that, and I'm not exactly sure how much longer I'll continue going.
Speaker:This could be the final one.
Speaker:I haven't decided, so not sure what you'll see next week.
Speaker:But as of now, we're finishing up this episode, this sixth
Speaker:episode in this series.
Speaker:So one of the things that I highly encourage you to do, if you have
Speaker:not done it yet, I say this every one of these episodes, so if you've
Speaker:been listening in, you know that I know that you've heard this.
Speaker:Read the New Testament in order and in context.
Speaker:I wrote a plan that you can do that with.
Speaker:I put a lot of extra stuff in so you, you can understand much more context.
Speaker:I did not put in a lot of commentary of what Tim thinks it means.
Speaker:I put in items that were going on in history, different facts that we're aware
Speaker:of, different things that we know we can connect because of the text and history.
Speaker:So I added that in for you.
Speaker:Go to k2m.foundation/nt90 and just get it if you have not done it yet.
Speaker:If you've gotten it and you started reading it, keep going.
Speaker:If you haven't started, get going.
Speaker:And if you finished it, I might be getting ready to do it again.
Speaker:Maybe you should too, because I know how powerful it was the first time I did, so
Speaker:I'm looking forward to doing it again.
Speaker:So go get that download.
Speaker:Go get that plan.
Speaker:Download it.
Speaker:The link should be down in the show notes wherever you are watching
Speaker:or listening to this episode.
Speaker:Like I said earlier, this episode closes our six-part, what I'm calling Comfort
Speaker:Theology arc. We began with disciples who followed Jesus and still met a storm.
Speaker:That exposed an assumption that many of us carry.
Speaker:God's goodness should appear as safety, control, or the outcome we prefer.
Speaker:Comfort is a gift.
Speaker:It becomes a problem when we require it as evidence that God is good.
Speaker:Across the series, we saw that protection does not always mean prevention.
Speaker:The apostles received the Spirit, a mission, and one another, not control
Speaker:over Rome and all of their circumstances.
Speaker:So what does Jesus form when comfort is not the goal?
Speaker:The storm is not the center, Jesus is.
Speaker:Let's talk about that word control.
Speaker:We all kinda have control as something, and we want peace, but what does it
Speaker:look like when we don't have control?
Speaker:Jesus says, "In me, you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation."
Speaker:That's John 16:33.
Speaker:That is red letters.
Speaker:Jesus said it.
Speaker:Peace and trouble appear in the same sentence.
Speaker:Jesus does not promise peace through predictable circumstances that we control
Speaker:and all of our expectations being met.
Speaker:He gives peace through his actual presence.
Speaker:Control says, "I can rest when I know what happens next."
Speaker:Jesus says, "You can rest because you know who is with you." That returns us
Speaker:to Mark 4, where we started this arc. The disciples entered the boat because
Speaker:Jesus told them to cross the sea.
Speaker:The storm rose, the boat filled up, and they asked, "Teacher, do you not
Speaker:care that we are perishing?" What's odd about that is that He was actually
Speaker:in the boat with them, so it's like they thought they would perish.
Speaker:Maybe He wouldn't.
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Maybe a little snarky there, but Jesus calmed that storm, but Mark ends with
Speaker:the deeper question Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Speaker:The story moves their attention from the weather or circumstances,
Speaker:we might say, to the king.
Speaker:Not every storm ends on our timetable.
Speaker:That is why this cannot become another formula.
Speaker:If this, then this.
Speaker:That's not what I'm trying to do here.
Speaker:The point I believe is actually simpler, but it may not be easier.
Speaker:The storm is not Lord.
Speaker:Jesus is.
Speaker:That's the simple point of the story.
Speaker:Now, I'm not saying it's ne- necessarily easy, but it is simple.
Speaker:Peace without control does not deny pain or uncertainty.
Speaker:It tells the truth about both while refusing to let fear become king.
Speaker:We can plan, prepare, seek treatment, establish boundaries,
Speaker:and even ask for help if we need to.
Speaker:Wisdom matters, but preparation cannot even carry the work of trust.
Speaker:And I mean, I'm not saying we sit around, do nothing, and just say whatever.
Speaker:I mean, obviously, there's work and preparation and things like that.
Speaker:Matthew 6 gives us a daily practice, one of my favorite verses.
Speaker:Seek the kingdom, and it actually says to seek first the kingdom.
Speaker:Trust the Father and do what faithfulness requires today.
Speaker:That's a little bit of a interpretation of that Matthew 6:33.
Speaker:Romans 8 gives us another foundation.
Speaker:Trouble, danger, and loss cannot separate us from the love of Christ.
Speaker:Peace does not require calm weather.
Speaker:It requires a present king Now, let's look at what faithfulness guarantees,
Speaker:because we all want guarantees.
Speaker:And I know we want formulas and things like that, and I'm trying to express
Speaker:some things that may come across as formulas, but this is not formulaic.
Speaker:So I don't know how to exactly express that, but this is sort of like a
Speaker:foundational principle which, which is something that we need to have.
Speaker:It's where we build our house.
Speaker:Are we building it on sand or are we building it on rock?
Speaker:Hebrews 11 will not let us measure faith by outcomes.
Speaker:Some people conquered kingdoms, escaped the sword, and received deliverance.
Speaker:Others in that section, in that chapter faced imprisonment, loss, and death.
Speaker:Some escaped the sword.
Speaker:Some were killed by the sword.
Speaker:Scripture calls both Faithful.
Speaker:Their circumstances didn't determine their faithfulness.
Speaker:Both groups were faithful.
Speaker:Faith is not confidence that our preferred result might happen or
Speaker:that everything worked out perfectly.
Speaker:Faith is allegiance to God when the result remains outside our control.
Speaker:That does not make outcomes meaningless or just frivolous, or
Speaker:we don't care what the outcome is.
Speaker:We pray for healing, we work for justice.
Speaker:We, confront abuse, seek provision, and protect people from harm.
Speaker:we expect and want certain things to happen, but that may
Speaker:not always be the case, or our expectation could be somewhat jaded.
Speaker:Compassion acts, but immediate relief cannot become the only evidence of faith.
Speaker:The apostles received the Holy Spirit, a mission, one another, and hope.
Speaker:They did not receive a guarantee that Rome would treat them well and that
Speaker:life would be awesome all the time.
Speaker:Personal salvation does matter.
Speaker:Jesus forgives, restores, and reconciles people to God.
Speaker:But a self-focused reading where the Scripture is all about you, that can
Speaker:shrink the mission into my forgiveness, my protection, my blessing, and my
Speaker:future, and for some, the belief that it's just me trying to get to heaven.
Speaker:That's not the message of the New Testament.
Speaker:Jesus saves people into a kingdom.
Speaker:He forms a people whose allegiance, relationships, work, use of power, and
Speaker:treatment of enemies begin to change.
Speaker:It looks different.
Speaker:It's a different operating system than the world system
Speaker:and even the religious system.
Speaker:The question is not only what did Jesus save me from, it is also
Speaker:what is Jesus forming us to become?
Speaker:What are we becoming?
Speaker:And so the New Testament answer is not comfortable people.
Speaker:It's not-- there's never a you're moving towards comfort
Speaker:message in the New Testament.
Speaker:It is faithful people.
Speaker:Let's look at what that means for community and groups and, and the,
Speaker:and the kingdom that we are part of.
Speaker:Jesus called Simon the Zealot and Matthew the tax collector into the same community.
Speaker:One name carried resistance to Rome.
Speaker:The other had worked inside Rome's system, but yet they were both part of the 12.
Speaker:They walked together and basically hung out for three years as best we can tell.
Speaker:Jesus did not make their histories or instincts identical.
Speaker:He called both to follow him.
Speaker:Modern community often forms around agreement.
Speaker:Same politics, same culture, same vocabulary, sameness.
Speaker:People look the same.
Speaker:People typically wanna hang out with people that look like them.
Speaker:Sameness feels safe, but it's not the same as unity.
Speaker:1 Corinthians 12 describes one body with different members.
Speaker:The Spirit does not erase every difference.
Speaker:The Spirit connects people through Christ.
Speaker:Matthew five through seven, the Sermon on the Mount, gives that community its
operating system:mercy, loving your enemy, reconciliation, hidden prayer,
operating system:forgiveness, truth, and good fruit.
operating system:Galatians five gives us the test.
operating system:Hostility, rivalry, anger, division, and envy reveal one operating system.
operating system:Love, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness.
operating system:Your tone of your voice even changes when you say these.
operating system:Faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control reveal another.
operating system:Community without sameness does not ignore truth or harmful behavior.
operating system:It means disagreement does not give us permission to
operating system:abandon the character of Jesus.
operating system:We can correct without humiliating.
operating system:We can establish boundaries without hatred.
operating system:We can oppose falsehood without treating people as disposable.
operating system:Galatians six says to bear one another's burdens.
operating system:That is part of the kingdom's protection.
operating system:It's protecting its own.
operating system:The storm may still come.
operating system:No one should face it alone.
operating system:Now let's look at what it looks like to have courage without dominating others.
operating system:Fear can often make control look like courage.
operating system:We feel threatened, so we get louder.
operating system:We feel the culture changing, so we reach for power.
operating system:We want an enemy to defeat.
operating system:Typically, in the world system, the, the one thing that can really
operating system:unite people is a common enemy, and that necessarily… That's not
operating system:necessarily what we should desire.
operating system:Rome understands that operating system.
operating system:Rome uses fear for status and control.
operating system:And of course, by Rome here, I mean the world system, Babylon, Rome,
operating system:and of course the world system that we currently live under also.
operating system:We don't live under it, but we live in it.
operating system:Jesus shows another kind of courage.
operating system:He refuses the kingdoms offered through misplaced allegiance.
operating system:He withdraws when the crowd tries to make him king by force.
operating system:Before Pilate, he refuses Rome's method.
operating system:Jesus confronts hypocrisy and protects people treated as disposable, but
operating system:he does not seize Rome's operating system to accomplish that kingdom
operating system:work Courage is not domination with a Bible verse attached to it.
operating system:Jesus says, "Worldly rulers lord power over people," then adds, "It shall not be
operating system:so among you." That's Matthew 20:25-26.
operating system:So my citizens, the people in my kingdom, that shall not be so.
operating system:That's what he's saying.
operating system:That sentence governs every Christian use of power.
operating system:The kingdom does not remove strength, it redirects strength towards service.
operating system:Courage can speak clearly and still remain gentle.
operating system:It can resist injustice without worshiping victory.
operating system:It can protect people without turning opponents into objects of hatred.
operating system:If our methods produce rage, rivalry, division, and fear, we should not
operating system:call them kingdom methods because we prefer or desire the outcome.
operating system:The Spirit forms people who can resist Rome without becoming Rome.
operating system:Now, let's look at what it means to have hope without thinking it means escape.
operating system:I was taught to imagine Christian hope mainly as escape or removal.
operating system:That's the environment and atmosphere that I grew up in.
operating system:The world gets worse, believers leave, and then creation is abandoned.
operating system:Everything is destroyed is kind of the message that was put across.
operating system:But the New Testament repeatedly prepares communities for faithful
operating system:witness within trouble, within times of trouble, inside storms.
operating system:Revelation does not center the beast, it unveils or reveals
operating system:Jesus.
operating system:That's what the revealing of Christ is all about, revelation.
operating system:Empire boasts the Lamb reigns.
operating system:That was hope for its first hearers.
operating system:Rome did not get the final word.
operating system:Violence, fear, and death did not get the final word.
operating system:The Lamb did.
operating system:Revelation 21 and 22 end with the city descending, God dwelling with
operating system:people, open gates, a river of life, and healing for the nations.
operating system:The movement is not humanity escaping creation.
operating system:God dwells with people and makes all things new.
operating system:Faithful readers may disagree about details and timing and things like that.
operating system:I've seen plenty of that on social media when I've brought these topics up.
operating system:But the direction of the story remains clear, from alienation to
operating system:reconciliation, violence to healing, empire to the Lamb, and death to life.
operating system:Hope without escape becomes participation.
operating system:We reconcile because relationships matter.
operating system:We work honestly because daily work matters.
operating system:We protect people because they matter.
operating system:We resist evil because evil does not receive the final word.
operating system:Salvation is personal, but it is never merely private.
operating system:Jesus forms people who become signs of new creation, not perfectly, faithfully.
operating system:Now, let's look at the kingdom, the kingdom that cannot be shaken.
operating system:Hebrews 12 does not promise that nothing around believers will shake.
operating system:It promises a kingdom that cannot be shaken, Hebrews 12:28.
operating system:Matthew 7 makes the same distinction.
operating system:Both houses face the storm.
operating system:The difference is not the weather or the circumstances, it is the foundation.
operating system:One's on sand, one's on rock.
operating system:The wise builder hears Jesus and practices his words.
operating system:Mercy, loving your enemy, forgiveness, truthfulness, and
operating system:good fruit become a way of life.
operating system:The storm doesn't create that fruit, the Spirit does.
operating system:But the storm reveals what has been growing.
operating system:Comfort theology asks, "How can I control the outcome or control my outcomes?"
operating system:The kingdom asks, what does faithfulness require now, today, this moment?
operating system:And many times it asks, what does it require for the citizen of the kingdom
operating system:or another person that is around me?
operating system:The king lives, the kingdom remains, the storm is not the Lord.
operating system:Let's talk about what it meant then.
operating system:The first believers lived under Rome, faced social pressure, no doubt,
operating system:persecution, and followed Jesus without political control or guaranteed safety.
operating system:In fact, they were the outsiders because there was a lot of other groups that
operating system:were the insiders, mainly Rome and other, other, other groups associated with Rome.
operating system:And then of course, there was the temple system, which, was the Jews and Israel.
operating system:And of course, there were some other religions and things of that
operating system:time, but those were-- that was the in crowd that Christians were not.
operating system:They were not the in crowd.
operating system:Hebrews called them to endurance.
operating system:Galatians called them to the Spirit's fruit.
operating system:Revelation showed them the lamb still reigned.
operating system:They were not promised a stormless life.
operating system:They were formed for faithful witness.
operating system:This is where our modern misread messes up what the text actually says.
operating system:That we can turn peace into predictability, faith into guaranteed
operating system:outcomes, and unity into sameness, courage into domination, and hope into escape.
operating system:That reading places our comfort at the center.
operating system:The New Testament places Jesus there at the center.
operating system:Now, what does all this mean for us In how we treat people, faithfulness means
operating system:truth without contempt, boundaries without hatred, and burdens carried together.
operating system:In religion and church, it means fruit before scale, people before
operating system:institutions, and leaders who serve rather than dominate.
operating system:In politics, it means participation without panic, conviction without cruelty,
operating system:and allegiance that remains with Jesus, remembering who the king really is.
operating system:In business and work, it means integrity when dishonesty would be
operating system:profitable, power used to serve, and people treated as more than output.
operating system:People, church, politics, and work all reveal which operating system is
operating system:shaping us Finally, let's end with this.
operating system:The disciples followed Jesus, and the storm still came.
operating system:That scripture was the catalyst for these last six episodes because I
operating system:was sitting there and I went, "They were following Jesus, and the storm
operating system:still came." The wise builder built on rock, and the wind still blew.
operating system:Christian hope is not weaker because the storm remains possible.
operating system:It is stronger because the King remains present.
operating system:The King is in the boat.
operating system:The Lamb reigns.
operating system:The kingdom cannot be shaken.
operating system:Jesus forms people who love while the wind blows, tell the truth without surrendering
operating system:love, serve without dominating, and carry one another through the storm.
operating system:The promise is not a stormless life.
operating system:The promise is a present king, the life of the Spirit, and a
operating system:kingdom the storm cannot destroy.
operating system:That is where this comfort theology arc ends.
operating system:Not with comfort as the goal, but Christ as the foundation and the rock.
operating system:Not with control, but trust.
operating system:Not with escape, but hope.
operating system:Not with fear, but faithfulness Thanks for listening in here.
operating system:I wanna remind you one more time to get this reading plan, read this
operating system:reading plan, and take the time to not just listen to what I'm saying
operating system:and say, "Oh, this is great."
operating system:Study this for yourself.
operating system:Please, I urge you to.
operating system:I don't want you to listen to necessarily or follow me.
operating system:I'm glad you're here.
operating system:Thank you for being here.
operating system:My desire is that this will say, "I need to study this myself." Go get
operating system:the reading plan, k2m.foundation/nt90.
operating system:Download it, get started, and, read the New Testament in order and in context.
operating system:And if the text says something different than what you believe or what you've been
operating system:taught, my thinking is trust the text.
operating system:I am Tim Winders.
operating system:Thanks for joining me on this journey.
operating system:Keep seeking.
operating system:Keep digging.
operating system:Walk in peace.
operating system:Remain faithful, and remember who is in the boat
