“Nobody knows the difficulties and problems I am going through, and if they do, they sure don’t seem to care!” Have you ever felt like that? Most of us have at one time or another. Sometimes we might even think that God doesn’t see, or that He doesn’t care. Such thoughts can be very discouraging, particularly if they persist throughout a difficult time. We can feel like nothing we do is working out, no one is helping, and that there is no more hope. In our Scripture today from Mark’s Gospel, we find the disciples in a similar situation. However, as we shall read, Someone was watching. Someone did see them. Someone would come to their help. Let’s take a look at this narrative from the Bible.
After Jesus fed the multitudes, multiplying the few loaves of bread and fish, we read that He told the disciples to get into their boat and head across the Sea of Galilee to another village. It was evening, and Jesus was going to go off by Himself and pray for a while (vs. 45-46). The disciples proceed to row across the large lake, which is about 13 miles long (north to south), and a little over 8 miles wide (east to west). While out in the lake the wind was against the disciples as they rowed. They were trying to get to Bethsaida, which was the hometown of Peter, Andrew, and Philip (John 1:44), yet as hard as they rowed while out in the middle of the lake, the strong winds made it a difficult struggle, and they were getting nowhere. They were expecting to meet Jesus at Bethsaida, probably the next morning. He had told them to take the boat there, yet how would they reach their destination, where He had told them to go, with these winds? With the winds and waves, the boat could possibly start flooding over. It was getting dangerous! What could they do?
Have there been occasions where you were obeying God and His Word, following what you believed was His will for you, and found that everything was in opposition, everything was a terrible struggle? This is what was happening with the disciples here. They were doing what Jesus had told them to do, and yet this big storm came up, hindering them and putting their safety at risk. Where was Jesus? Why wasn’t He there helping them? As the Son of God, why did He allow the storm to come to begin with?
Despite what they may have thought at the time, the disciples were not alone in their struggles. Jesus had not abandoned them to the storm. He was aware of what they were going through. As we read, Jesus saw them from the hilltop where He had been praying to the Father (vs. 48). He saw the disciples struggling with the boat from where He was on the shore. Jesus could have commanded the storm and winds to cease from there, allowing them to finish the journey, and then meet them in Bethsaida as planned. However, Jesus went to be with them out on the water in the middle of the storm. He did not leave them to struggle all on their own.
As Jesus approached the boat, the disciples saw Him, but they did not recognize Him (vs. 49-50). Fear had distorted their sight. All they saw were the waves and the storm, and fear caused them to believe it was a ghost, as people cannot walk on water! The disciples had quickly forgotten all of the miracles they had seen. They had forgotten who they were coming to believe Jesus was, and cried in fear. Jesus had not forgotten them, though, and came into the boat (vs. 51). It was only after He had gotten into the boat that He commanded the winds and waves to be still.
When we go through struggles and difficult times, sometimes even situations that could have dire consequences for us and/or our loved ones, we need to remember, just as the disciples needed to, that Jesus will help us when we are in trouble. Though the disciples had lost sight of Jesus, just as we might, He had not lost sight of them. Jesus sees our struggles, and what we are going through. He sees and cares. He will come near us, and get in our boat with us. Jesus will calm the winds and waves that seek to overwhelm us, and go through whatever struggles we have with us.
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