“Then, when they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia,
they saw Jesus walking on the sea
and coming near the boat; and they were frightened.”
~~John 6:19~~
When I read John 6:19 this morning, the word “when” struck me. Jesus sent the disciples to row across that water, knowing that a storm was coming. He sent them anyway. Ever wonder why He did that? Do you ever question why God has allowed you to go through a stormy time in your life? Yeah, me too.
Storms in our lives can be God’s perfect will or His permissive will. God is Sovereign and knows all things; so when I see myself smack dab in the midst of a storm, I can know that storm has passed through His hands before it blew into my life.
When the disciples had rowed about 25-30 stadia (which was about 3-4 miles), their circumstances had taken a turn for the worse. It was dark. The wind was blowing. The sea was getting rough. It was then that Jesus came walking on the sea toward the boat. The Solution to their storm caused them fear because they were looking through human perspective. They weren’t expecting Jesus to come to them the way He did; it was in a way they had never experienced before.
Stop and think about that for a minute. Jesus sent them. They obeyed. A storm arose. Jesus came to them.
When you take the time to look at the situation through Jesus’ perspective, He had sent the disciples into the storm so that they would learn more about His power over ALL creation. Sure, they knew Jesus could heal the sick, cleanse the leper, make the deaf to hear, and make the mute speak. He could raise the dead, and He could cast out demons. They had seen it all. But this walking on the water thing? Nope, never.
Another thing that hit me as I pondered that is that the disciples had seen Jesus do all those things for other people. And now He was coming to them, but they didn’t recognize Him. Why is that?
What hits me is how fear gives birth to fear. They were already afraid because of the wind and the rough waters. Their circumstances had shifted their focus from the fact that Jesus had told them He would come to them. Because their focus was on the storm, fear set in, and when they saw Jesus, they didn’t recognize Him.
How often do we miss Jesus’ presence in the midst of our storms because our eyes are on the storm?
How often do I miss Jesus because I expect Him to show up in a certain way?
How often do I miss God’s purpose behind the storm?
God desires to reveal Himself in a deeper way to me and to allow me to experience His deliverance personally. I will miss that if I have my eyes focused on the storm.