Don’t Miss the Rescue

Mark 6:45-56 In the early part of Chapter 6, Jesus had sent out His disciples in groups of two on a mini-missionary trip. When they returned and had shared with Jesus what had happened, Jesus invited them to go with Him to a quiet place and get some rest. When they arrived in the place where they were supposed to rest, large crowds gathered and by the end of the day they fed five thousand men plus women and children and still no rest. After Jesus sent His disciples on ahead in a boat and He had dismissed the crowd, He went up on a mountain side to pray. About 3 AM Jesus saw His disciples in the middle of the lake struggling hard against the strong wind. Jesus went to them, walking on the water, and in Mark’s Gospel we are told that Jesus was about to pass by them. Would Jesus have walked on by them and left them struggling at the oars? I don’t think so. Notice the response of the disciples. They thought He was a ghost, and they cried out in fear. Jesus didn't let them continue in their fear. He spoke to them and said, "Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid." He climbed into the boat with them and the wind died down. It is interesting to observe that Jesus got into the boat before He calmed the storm. He could have calmed it before He set out on the water or at least before he got into the boat. Jesus wants to join us in the midst of our trouble, to calm us from the inside, not to just wipe away our problems from a distance. The disciples were amazed because they didn’t understand about the loaves. With Jesus on board there is never a problem too big that He won’t have a solution for us. It is not our ability to figure it out. Not our hard work. Not our abundant supply. It is trusting that when we bring Him on board, He always has the right answer; and more often than not, uses the very things that we have in our hand to meet the need.