By Pastor Greg
A woman comes home from visiting
her doctor and rushes to her husband.
Sobbing, she falls into his arms.
“What’s wrong honey,” he
asks. “What did you find out”? Between tears, the wife replies, “The doctor
gave me some new pills, and he told me I would have to take them the rest of my
life!”
To the husband, this really
doesn’t seem to be such a crisis, so he tries to console his wife. “There, there, sweetheart,” he says.
“That doesn’t seem to be such a big deal.” Suddenly angered at his insensitivity, she
thrusts the pill bottle in his face and says, “Oh really! Then why does the bottle say ‘No Refills!!’”
What do we do when we find
ourselves confronted with a crisis? How do we manage to get through those trying
times in our life? Truthfully, we only
have a certain amount of emotional strength.
Where do we turn when we reach the end of our rope? What do we do when our rope breaks?
This is a lesson Jesus taught His disciples – a lesson you and I need to
learn as well.
After Jesus feeds the crowd of
5,000, He teaches the disciples another valuable lesson out on the sea. In John 6:16-21 we read, 16 Now when evening
came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 and after getting
into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become
dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea began to
be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. 19 Then, when
they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and
drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. 20 But He
said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 So they were
willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land
to which they were going.”[1]
John does not indicate why the disciples started across the Sea
of Galilee, but according to Mark, Jesus had instructed them to leave while He
went up the mountain to pray (Mark 6:45-46).
Did Jesus know the storm was coming?
Of course, this was Jesus
after all. However, since this is true,
then why did He send them? Why did Jesus put His friends in such a difficult situation? Why permit something in their lives that they
could not handle on their own? Sure, sometimes
we are caught in a storm because we have disobeyed the Lord. Jonah is a good example. He dealt with a storm and a whale because he disobeyed
the Lord’s command. But the disciples
faced a storm even though they obeyed.
Why put them through this?
According to Mark, this storm was
necessary because they had not learned to depend completely on Jesus (Mark
6:52). The miracle of the loaves may
have taught them to rely on the Lord to
supply their needs, but this lesson taught them to depend on Jesus with their very lives. When Jesus sends us into something, He will
be watching and praying, ready to deliver us when we need Him the most.
Many people believe the Lord will never
give us more than we can handle on our own.
I hear it quoted often. However,
that idea is actually a misinterpretation of Paul’s words from 1 Corinthians
10:13. What he actually says deals with
temptation, not the ability to deal with a crisis. He writes, “The temptations in your life are no different
from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the
temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show
you a way out so that you can endure.” [2] What the disciples faced was not temptation
but fear and alarm. They had been placed
in a situation where their very life was in danger. That’s a huge difference. That’s like the difference between staring at
a chocolate covered donut and staring at
a gang of thugs (unless they are selling chocolate covered donuts). We’re talking trials here. We’re talking about hardships and burdens
that make you tremble with fear. We’re
talking about things in your life that make you wonder how you’re going to make
it through the day; things that make you want to run away - to give up or quit;
to reach the end of your rope.
The lesson these
disciples needed to learn is that in the midst of the storm and trial, the Lord
provided all they needed (the lesson from the Bread and the Fish), that He
watched over them and prayed for them, and that although He was not with them
physically, He saw their entire journey through the storm (the lesson from this
storm at sea).
Please don’t misunderstand the
lesson here. I’m not talking about tying
Jesus to the end of your rope. I’m
talking about making Jesus your entire rope. We don’t need Jesus to supplement our own
strength. He needs to become our strength.
That’s the lesson here. The
disciples, many of them seasoned fishermen, set out to sea trusting in their
own skills and abilities. However, they
reached a point when those skills could not overcome the obstacles. It was then that Jesus demonstrated His
ability to be unaffected by the storm and His ability to calm the storm.
You know, John the Apostle was one
of the fishermen on that boat. Later, he
would write, “Greater
is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”[3]
(1 John 4:4). Somehow, I think John
looked back to this moment and realized that he was able to overcome many
trials and storms later in life by depending on Christ, not on his own strength and abilities.
This is something you and I must
learn. We must learn to rely on the strength the Lord gives. We must depend
on Him with our very lives. This is
because we are going to face problems.
We are going to face trials and struggles. Life is going to be hard from time to
time. Life is hard. It is hard for
everyone, and those who are prepared for the trials will survive. Jesus needed to prepare his apostles for the
day He would send them to places where they were not welcomed. He would send them as sheep among the wolves
(Mathew 10:16). It is the same
today. We are Christians; soldiers on a
mission in enemy territory (compare John 15:18). We should expect storms. We should expect trials and
difficulties. We should be prepared to
battle our way through life because this world is not our home.
Your skills and abilities will get
you through life only so far. Eventually, you are going to face something
that is beyond your ability to overcome.
Something is going to rock your life so hard that you fear to sink and to
drown. This is why we need
Jesus. We need to be reminded that He is
watching and praying and that He will not
permit us to fall. Like the Psalmist, we
remember that 1 God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times
of trouble. 2 So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. 3 Let
the oceans roar and foam. Let the mountains tremble as the waters surge!
[4]
(Psalm 46:1-3).
[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Jn 6:16–21).
LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2] Tyndale House Publishers.
(2007). Holy Bible: New Living Translation
(3rd ed.) (1 Co 10:13). Carol Stream, IL.
[4] Tyndale House Publishers.
(2007). Holy Bible: New Living
Translation (3rd ed.) (Ps 46:1–3). Carol Stream, IL.
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