Have you ever found yourself in a storm of life and didn’t know if you were going to make it through to the other side? You wonder where God is because you’re not seeing Him anywhere? Maybe you find yourself in that exact position at this very moment. If so, Kevin Groves of Hope in the Morning has some encouragement for you today. Read along as we explore how the apostles experienced this same feeling and a promise from Jesus to give you hope.
THE DISCIPLES' FEAR
There are a few things that I’m afraid of. One of them is the sea at night. I’ve been on a large ship in the middle of the ocean at night, and the waves combined with the black water below are anything but welcoming. In an emergency, there’s “nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide” to quote the great Theologians Martha and the Vandelles.
In Mark 6, Jesus performs the miracle of feeding 5,000 men plus their families with five loaves of bread and two fish. Then He sends them off into what becomes a scary circumstance.
Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. And Jesus intended to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw him and were terrified.
PASSING BY VS. STOPPING IN THE STORM
Notice it was ‘immediately’ after this miracle that Jesus sent the disciples on their way across the lake in a boat. Their conversation from this amazing church service to the shore where the boats were had to be incredible. I imagine it went something like…“Peter! Did you see what Jesus did with that kid’s lunch? How is this possible? What kind of man is this?”
And yet it was in the shadow of this divine dinner that the disciples once again doubted Jesus’ ability. In the early hours of the morning, a terrible storm caught them off-guard. However, it didn’t sneak up on Jesus. He knew when He sent them into the sea that night they would make it to the other side. We know this because we’re told Jesus intended to pass them by. He knew they were going to be ok. But, in His overwhelming mercy and patience, He chose to stop and teach them in the middle of that storm.
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JESUS TEACHES IN YOUR STORM TOO
The storm on that lake two thousand years ago represents the wind and waves you and I face as believers in our everyday life. The money storm, the relationship storm, the child storm, the job storm, the marriage storm, the health storm… they’re all scary.
Maybe you’re like me. I can look back on my life and remember the many storms I’ve found myself in. Some were caused by others, some by me. But in them all, Jesus saw me through. Sometimes by coming to my aid and teaching me in the middle of the storm, and sometimes by ‘passing me by’ and letting me face the winds seemingly alone, with only my faith that He was in control of the winds and the sea.
At the end of the day, even when Jesus seems to ‘pass us by’, He’s still there because He’s God, He’s omni-present. And we know what He has told us in Matthew 28, “I will never leave you, I will never forsake you.”
This is true even in the storm.
