With Jesus In The Boat…

          Do you ever feel that while you are in the midst of a difficulty that God is sleeping?  In a counseling session a depressed person stated his feeling that way.  He said that as he was pouring his heart out to the Lord, he felt that God was not available for him.

       Mark 4: 35-41 is an example of fishermen that were caught in a “great windstorm” as Jesus was “asleep on a pillow”.  You can almost hear the indignation in their voices, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”

         In this passage the disciples, being fisherman knew the waters, but how much did they know Jesus?  I don’t mean were they saved?  I mean did they know Him? 

      They knew the waters of the Galilee so well that when the wind and the waves stirred to that degree, they knew that they were in trouble.  So much that they believed they would perish.  But did they know Jesus?  I mean His nature, His character, His Love…

      Yes he was sleeping, but when He responded to them it was not about His apparent lack of attending to their need.  Instead he responded to their lack of perspective!     

      To them His response of “you of little faith” possibly sounded cold and hurtful.  This was not His intention though.  Previously in vs. 35 he stated to them, “Let us cross over to the other side”.  Yes, Jesus wanted to take them to the other side of the lake, but even much more so to the “other side” spiritually.  Their faith was small.  The other side of their faith is another step toward a mature faith, one that knows Him, meaning His nature, His character, His Love!

      When we are in the midst of a crisis how much do we trust Him? How big or small is our faith?  How we handle crisis in our life can reveal a lot about the areas in which we need to grow.  It is important for all of us to know that He wants to take us to the other side also.  Not only physically, but spiritually and emotionally too.

      As you know, when Jesus and the disciples reached the other side of the lake He did not get rid of them and get twelve new ones.  He took them by the hand and led them truly to the other side.  With Jesus in our boat, we will get to the other side!

                                                In Him,   Dave