John 6:16-25\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0Now when evening came, His\u00a0disciples went down to the sea,\u00a017\u00a0and after getting into a boat, they\u00a0started to\u00a0cross the sea\u00a0to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.\u00a018\u00a0In addition, the sea\u00a0began\u00a0getting rough, because a strong wind was blowing.\u00a019\u00a0Then, when they had rowed about\u00a0twenty-five or thirty stadia, they *saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat; and they were frightened.\u00a020\u00a0But He *said to them,\u00a0\u201cIt is I;\u00a0do not be afraid.\u201d\u00a021\u00a0So they were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.\u00a0 22\u00a0The next day\u00a0the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there except one, and that Jesus\u00a0had not gotten into the boat with His disciples, but\u00a0that\u00a0His disciples had departed alone.\u00a023\u00a0Other small boats came from\u00a0Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the\u00a0Lord\u00a0had given thanks.\u00a024\u00a0So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and\u00a0came to Capernaum, looking for Jesus.\u00a025\u00a0And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, \u201cRabbi, when did You get here?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cBut He *said to them,\u00a0\u201cIt is I;\u00a0do not be afraid.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0In the storm the Apostles were struggling.\u00a0\u00a0In the rough sea they were doing all they could to make headway but they were in a struggle.\u00a0\u00a0It does not seem that they were greatly afraid.\u00a0\u00a0They became terrified not because the sea was contrary (Matthew 14:24<\/b>) but because they saw a figure walking on top of the troubled waters.\u00a0\u00a0Now that would be at least alarming and even a terrifying sight to most of us.\u00a0\u00a0The Apostles did not recognize that it was Jesus walking on the water but thought they were seeing an apparition. (Matthew 14:25, Mark 6:49<\/b>)<\/p>\n
The rough sea did not hamper Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Since He had started across the sea after they had, and now He had caught up to them, He was not being slowed by the rough seas as the Apostles were.\u00a0\u00a0Isn\u2019t that something we should always remember, as the Apostles should have remembered?\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s not be anthropomorphic when we consider who Jesus is and His almighty and divine power. We should remember as David did (1 Samuel 17:45-47<\/b>) that what looks like situations too big for us are not a challenge to God.\u00a0\u00a0To Jesus, the rough sea was as easy to walk on as a well maintained road.\u00a0\u00a0The Apostles were struggling, Jesus was not.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s remember to bring our anxieties to He who cares for us.\u00a0\u00a0(1 Peter 5:7<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Our troubled seas are an easy stroll to the Lord.<\/p>\n
When did the Apostles become terrified?\u00a0\u00a0It was when they saw someone walking on the sea and did not recognize that it was Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0It is easy to wonder why they were not thinking about if Jesus would show up to help them.\u00a0\u00a0In fact not wondering if He would, but wondering when He would.\u00a0\u00a0Morpheus (The Matrix)\u00a0\u00a0who while awaiting fulfillment of the \u201cprophecy\u201d said with certainty \u201cI do not believe it to be a matter of hope, it is simply a matter of time.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Family they, and us, should not be thinking that God might be in control but rather that He is in control.\u00a0\u00a0It is not a matter of if God is always in control but rather we know Him enough to know, beyond the\u00a0\u00a0shadow of doubt, that He is in control.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus loved them, as He loves us, and knowing what He has done on our behalf, how He brought about a way of salvation, shouldn\u2019t we know that He knows how to bring about His will for our lives.\u00a0\u00a0Shouldn\u2019t we know that about Him?\u00a0\u00a0The Apostles should not have wondered if Jesus would show up to save them, they should only have wondered when He would.\u00a0\u00a0Trust God.<\/p>\n
Why didn\u2019t even one of the Apostles, upon seeing Him shout to the others \u201cLook, it is Jesus coming to rescue us?\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Seemingly their minds were not on Jesus, but on them dealing with the rough sea.\u00a0\u00a0Family and Friends, how often are we just like them?\u00a0\u00a0We get caught up trying to handle our trials ourselves and do not look for the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0In\u00a0Matthew 11:28-30\u00a0<\/b>Jesus asks us to take His yoke upon us.\u00a0\u00a0Now He is not asking us to continue carrying our burden and to also take up His.\u00a0\u00a0He is offering us to switch burdens with Him.\u00a0\u00a0We take His light burden and He takes our heavy burdens.\u00a0\u00a0He is offering us a substitutionary deal.\u00a0\u00a0Substitute His light for our heavy.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus is telling us to receive from Him what is ours already if we only receive what He has for us.\u00a0\u00a0Freedom in exchange for slavery.\u00a0\u00a0Light for heavy.\u00a0\u00a0This is all part of the substitutionary offer from Him we have already received.\u00a0\u00a0He takes on our death and gives us His life.\u00a0\u00a0How is it that we do not learn to give our heavy for His light?\u00a0\u00a0It is part of the freedom we who love Jesus receive.\u00a0\u00a0(John 8:36<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0It is one of the benefits of His marriage to us.\u00a0\u00a0It is part of the deal.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Trust the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0With certain expectancy, based on who He is and on His promises, the Lord is watching over us.\u00a0\u00a0And the more we know Him the more we confidently set aside trusting ourselves and instead trust God and His will.\u00a0\u00a0Whether we understand what is happening or not, because we know Him.\u00a0\u00a0Understanding the why of the trial is far inferior to knowing Him.\u00a0\u00a0Praise God!<\/p>\n
Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n
Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear\u00a0me.<\/i><\/p>\n
Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has\u00a0shown you, Oh man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; and what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of you, but\u00a0to do justly, to love\u00a0mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.<\/i><\/p>\n
Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0The\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John 6:16-25\u00a0–\u00a0Now when evening came, His\u00a0disciples went down to the sea,\u00a017\u00a0and after getting into a boat, they\u00a0started to\u00a0cross the sea\u00a0to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.\u00a018\u00a0In addition, the sea\u00a0began\u00a0getting rough, because a strong wind was blowing.\u00a019\u00a0Then, when they had rowed about\u00a0twenty-five or thirty stadia, they *saw Jesus…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[100,93,101,94,1874,90,17,2187],"class_list":["post-2804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-john","tag-mark","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-peter","tag-psalm","tag-samuel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2804"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2804\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2805,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2804\/revisions\/2805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}