Mark 6:45-51
45 Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.
47 When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. 48 He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, 50because they all saw him and were terrified.
Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed…
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Unlike the storm that Jesus calmed earlier, this time the storm on the sea/lake was a little less treacherous. The passage says the disciples were straining at the oars working against the wind. I picture the disciples working hard against the forces of nature, working hard and making little progress. Isn’t that like life sometimes? I find this more relatable than the earlier storm incident because often for me life can constantly press on me and prevent me from making progress. That includes not just things I’m working on at home or at church, this also includes my own spiritual growth. Life is full of distraction and pressures that work against my spiritual developlment. It’s an uphill battle, it’s working against the current, it’s struggling against the wind.
But then in the midst of the struggle, something happens to the disciples. They see a ghost walking on the water, and they are frightened. It is something that no doubt stopped them in their tracks. I am sure they must have stopped rowing when they saw this person walking on the water next to them from a short distance. But thankfully for them, it was Jesus. And I am reminded that sometimes Jesus appears to us – in the midst of our struggles – as a distraction, even as something overwhelming. He comes as a surprise to us, and we can initially take Him not as a friend, but as an enemy. I can imagine the disciples thinking or feeling like, “Man, if things weren’t bad enough, now we are being haunted by a ghost!”
I wonder if in the midst of my daily pressing on if I miss Jesus and see His working around me as an enemy against me rather than a friend for me. Lord, help me see You in my midst as something good rather than more easily attributing “surprises” in my life as something evil. Lord, I admit that sometimes when a large obstacle blocks my path, Lord help me discern if it is You that are doing something before attributing it to something standing against me.