John 6:15-21 FEAR WON'T TAKE YOU TO THE OTHER SIDE
“Perceiving then that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by Himself. When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. ”
In the Chapter 14 of Matthew's version of this story, Jesus "made the disciples get into the boat and GO BEFORE HIM TO THE OTHER SIDE." Then He dismissed the 5,000 after feeding them and He went by Himself to the mountain to pray. It was between 3am to 6am that time (fourth watch of the night) when He decided to come to the disciples beaten by the waves and started walking on water (Matthew 14:23-25).
In another book, it was said that Jesus "meant to pass by" the disciples (Mark 6:48). Even though that was the case, the disciple still saw Him walking on the sea according to all four Gospels. They were terrified, thought He was a ghost, and cried out in FEAR.
“But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.’”
Oftentimes in life, we do encounter windy circumstances that beat us up in fear. There could be times that we wake up in the middle of the night from a nightmare that almost reflects the reality that we try to sleep away. And in those times, we tend to ask "Where is God in all of this?" Worst of all, "Is God trying to "pass by" me and allowing me to drown in fear?"
DO NOT FEAR
We learn in this story that even though it may seem that God means to "pass by" our situations, He always make sure that He is visible and nearby. He does not distance Himself from us when we go through tough times. Rather He comes to us, even at the most inconvenient time, so that we know His presence surrounds us. He hover us over us in close proximity, ready at any time to respond to our call for help.
Furthermore, we also learn in this situation that God will never lead us to a place where He won't be. Jesus made the disciples to go to the other side without Him. He did not do that just so He can attend to His own needs and personal time with the Father. Although that was of much important as well. But I believe that Jesus had a purpose for that. And that is to show how much He trusts us in our decisions in life. He already promised to take us to the "other side" if we choose not to fear in the middle of any storm.
WHO IS ON YOUR BOAT?
“Then they were GLAD to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.”
When Jesus got into their boat, the wind ceased (Mark 6:51). Likewise, when Jesus is on OUR boat, not only will the wind cease, but He will also bring us out of the storm to the place He destined for us to be.
PRAYER
Almighty God, our Miracle-working God, we adore You and give You the highest praise. We acknowledge that Your presence surrounds us every second of every moment. We know that You are always around us, not letting us to be swallowed up by our situations and our own fears. You cause our faith to arise by turning our fear into gladness knowing that we won't walk alone. God, help us to focus on You and to call You for help as it arises. We can rely on You and we know that You will get us through the other side. Stay patient with us, Lord. We have got so much to learn. Thank you, Father. In the Name of Jesus. Amen!