Mark 6:46-51

Mark 6:46-51 After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, 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. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about 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. Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

This is an amazing story, for it tells about Jesus NOT being in the boat. In the storm depicted in Mark 4, Jesus was IN the boat. They had someone they could wake up. “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38) He was very real to them at that time. However, in the above scripture, they had left Jesus on the shore to dismiss the people who had been fed the loaves and fishes. Jesus had been miraculously with them that day, but He wasn't with them now. This passage clearly illustrates they didn't understand that Jesus was concerned about them whether He was in the boat or not. He had directed them to get in the boat and to go to Bethsaida. Even though Jesus had given them orders to go, they met heavy winds, unremitting turmoil, and they were struggling to fulfill Jesus' directive. The Bible says their hearts were hardened, so they didn't fully understand what had miraculously just happened with the feeding of the 5,000. They had already forgotten that God had performed an impossible task that day. Because their hearts were hardened, they could not remember the good things of God. The miraculous things of the past rolled off their innermost beings like water off a windowpane. But Jesus wanted them to have soft hearts, similar to a sponge that could absorb the good things of the past and remember them.

It is interesting that this passage implies that Jesus is just going to the other side to greet the disciples when they reach their destination. However, He notices that their struggle is not merely a physical one, but an attitudinal one as well. They were not only fighting the wind, they were fighting their own fears. They were trying to do what Jesus commanded them to do, but they were losing heart, losing strength. Well, Jesus said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” He was saying, I am still with you. I will help you across. I will make sure you fulfill my mission. Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. THEY WERE AMAZED. They could not believe that the wind calmed down, and they could not believe that Jesus' powerful, miraculous presence was with them again in the boat. They were not alone.

God has divinely placed many of you where you are. Your lives in the Lord have been supernaturally directed. Even though you know that God has been in your life in a marvelous way, now you are in the boat, and you feel as if Jesus is not with you. The waves are high, and you don't seem to be making any headway. It feels as if you are straining at the oars with the wind against you, preventing you from reaching your God-directed destination. You are even questioning your orders: Have I truly been chosen to carry his message, to do his will? Your strength is being dissipated, your vision is muddled, and your adversaries seem too great to overcome. However, Jesus is passing by. At different times, we are all in that boat of turmoil: the waves are high, the wind is against us, and we feel God isn't there to help us. Oh yes, we still have faint recollections that He helped us in the past, but the present turmoil is just too terrifying to clearly remember the previous victories. However, when we experienced them, we KNEW THEY WERE MIRACLES. Well, let the Holy Spirit soften your hearts today. Remember the past, remember in your life when the Lord miraculously fed the 5,000. He is still that miraculous Savior today. You might think He is walking by, forsaking you, but He isn't. He knows where you are, and even on the high seas, He is with you. You are never alone. “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”