"If I stay there will be trouble....if I go there will be double...." Remember that song?
There are so many decisions in life. Some are little, like..."what will I eat for lunch"...some are big, like "should I move my family to the mission field?" It is true that decisions affect the people in our lives and can create chain reactions that go farther and wider than we can imagine. So how do we know in which direction to go?
I was reading in John the other day, about the time when Jesus walked on water: John 6:16. I pictured myself as a disciple. Jesus had just fed 5,000 people and sent them away so he could have some time alone.
In this story, the disciples wait for Jesus at the docks until well after sunset but when he doesn't come back they take off in the boat for the other side of the lake. Here is where they get into trouble. A storm catches them in the middle of the lake, and as they struggle against the wind and waves they see what they think is a ghost on the water. Of course, it isn't a ghost...it is Jesus, and once they realize that it is him, "they were eager to let him in the boat."
That last line reminded me of how often in life I leave Jesus behind, not waiting for him to help me make decisions. And then...when I am in trouble...I am "eager" to turn to him so he will save me from the mess I made.
So what do you think...should the disciples have waited for him at the dock? If they would have waited...they may have had some valuable time with Jesus. He only had a 3 year ministry, so I can only assume that every minute was valuable to him.
But if they had waited for him...they would never have seen him as master of the wind and waves. Maybe the decision wasn't the important thing...maybe they were supposed to know Jesus was with them all of the time, regardless of his physical presence.
Will we ever truly understand the fact that He is always with us? That we have authority over things of this world because He lives in us? I am not sure I will ever get the immensity of that statement, but I am willing to get to know him better, as a person, as the son of God, and as my Savior.
I would love to know your thoughts.
4 comments:
Such a refreshing thought. How often we forget that our God is with us always. In the small decisions every day to the larger decisions of life. Thank you for posting this. It truly made me think and also comforted me. Love you.
Heather,
Good thoughts as always. One of the coolest parts of the story for me is Peter walking on the water. Jesus walking on the water was great but He was God as a man, but Peter was only a man walking with Jesus.
Everyone says that well Peter started sinking and Jesus had to save him. I think he has gotten a raw deal in history because he was the ONLY one who got out and actually did it because Jesus said come. We all know that Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and then he started sinking. Just like so many of us have done in our own lives, doing, going, and then we start looking around and I believe, like Peter, we start saying Wow, look at what God is doing, but if we take our eyes off of HIm is when we get fearful.
The Bible doesn't say when Peter called out, but I've always had a mental picture that Peter was right there at Jesus and he started sinking and it probably wasn't until he was up to his neck that he called out for help. Just like so many people do.
Thanks for reminding us that Jesus is always there, but it's up to us to keep our eyes on Him so that He can help us to not see the wind and waves as we walk toward Him, but only Him and with our focus there everything else all around us falls to the side and pales in the light of Him.
I think they were meant to head out before Christ got there. How else would we have had that lesson to learn. We have just studied Ephesians, the letter Paul wrote to that fledgling church just starting out and encountering so many problems. I can't help but wonder what the people in Ephesis thought about their situation. I am sure they were feeling bewildered about what was going on. They had to have thought "All we are doing is trying to worship God in the way the Lord would want us to. We are good people. What are we doing wrong?" There is no way they could know they would be the rule and guide for literally thousands of years to come. Their problems have become our blessings. Talk about "all things working for the glory of God". The disciples may have thought it was a bad decision, at the time, to leave without Jesus, but I say it was great that they did. If they hadn't we wouldn't have one of the best bible stories ever.
I love these comments and the emails I have received after this post! So well thought out, and it shows me that you really think about what you read.
I think I will have to blog a little more from my journal on this topic. So cool!
Thanks so much for reading and writing!
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