Boat

I love water and I love boats, and I will jump at any chance I get to enjoy them both, but I am not a rower, and the only paddle or oar I remotely enjoy is the one that is used for a paddle-board, which for those of you who are not familiar, is a surfboard that you stand on and paddle with one paddle interchanging sides for rowing, speed and direction. I bring this up because when I hear a story, I always try to relate something about the topic at hand to something that I am familiar with. I think we all do that to some extent, and anyway if I can find that common denominator it helps the story to cling to my thoughts. I considered the rowing deal and know that it is one thing to row without wind but quite another to row with wind and big waves.  Upon hearing this story, I might not be so experienced about rowing a boat, but I can relate to rough waters and 

balance and trying to stay afloat in spite of the winds.   

So, Sunday, we were at our Austin church, Austin Ridge, and Brad Thomas’ lesson was on the story of the fishermen in the boat, Matthew 14:22-32.  We have heard that same story time and time again but there are a couple of points that were brought out that bear repeating. The story begins by saying that Jesus MADE the disciples get in the boat. Ok, I am just miffed, insecure, offset, and many times anxious and even fearful when I am forced to do something, either by authority or circumstance that doesn’t fit into my plan or my position of interest. But God, I am learning is not so interested, in what I want to do but what he wants to do through me. He allows and many times deliberately forces me into arenas that are far beyond my limited vision and for sure outreach my skill level, not to mention my comfort zone.  

God knew there a storm brewing before those fishermen ever got into that boat. And he knew they would be rowing a long while before they got to the other side. Isn’t that where we find ourselves so many times, just rowing, holding tight to those oars and over and over battling against the worldly currents. Surely those fishermen got tired, and wanted to turn back out of frustration when faced with the winds and the waves, but they were too far into the journey and there was no turning back, they just had to hang in there and paddle forward. 

But meanwhile where was Christ? Well, after he dismissed the crowd and got the fishermen on their way, Christ went up to the mountainside by himself to pray. The mountainside represents God’s kingdom, and this was his outdoor throne room.  Have you ever considered that when you are rowing your way through a storm that Christ is in His throne room praying for you? He never takes his eyes off of you!  He knows from which direction the winds are blowing and the resistance that it generates. He knows the emotional currents that are besieging you, and how fear can be such a blinding force that it literally forms an imaginary opaque wall that prevents you from recognizing the presence of God himself. It is not that he is not present it is that we have allowed worldly distractions to get in the way of our view, and we have lost focus on the best thing and have given way to circumstances.  God has kept his eye on us it is us who have taken our eyes off of God.   

The story continues and late in the night, those guys were still rowing to get to the other side; they had to be tired and you know when you are tired, you just don’t quite reason as well as you do when you are alert. So they see a figure on the water, and they were terrified, as this did not compute with the reality that they knew.  But Jesus immediately said, “take courage”. When we are faced with a terrifying set of circumstances that completely catches us off guard, and does not compute with the reality that we are familiar with, Jesus is there.....and the courage we must take is not in what we do not understand but in who we know is in charge, always and forever. Peter says: "if it is you Lord, tell me to come to you on the water."  Now really who else could it have been?  You know the rest of the story, Peter gets down off of the boat, starts walking and then starts focusing on the wind instead of the presence of Jesus and starts sinking. Point being, we do the very same thing: when we start focusing on the circumstances and not on God we start sinking too.  We sink into fear, into frustration, into insecurity, and into despair.  Peter cried out: Lord, save me! Immediately...God reached out his hand and caught him.  “You of little faith why did you doubt?  I can name time after time where I have doubted God and his power and his grace and he has pulled through every time in spite of my doubts. 

But I have to make one observation here: not once but three times the term immediately was used in this story. (1)  Immediately, after the disciples fed the thousands, Jesus sent the fishermen to the boat. Maybe it was so that they would not get too comfortable with a big head.  They had just experienced a pretty amazing deal but humility is a defined characteristic that we must remember to embrace.  For it is Christ who makes any of our successes possible.  (2) Jesus “immediately” dealt with an issue of fear.  "Take courage”, he said. Courage is the fuel that generates hope and it is courage in the power of Christ that gives us an unexplained strength to carry on. (3)  Jesus immediately  reached out his hand when Peter was sinking, as he does with us when we feel like we have held on as long as we can. Sometimes when we are too weak to reach for Christ, it is Christ who reaches and grabs us. We pray and pray and often don’t think Christ is listening; for things are slow to change and be transformed, but he knows when immediate attention is required and his timing remains in perfect sequence to his plans.        

Well when the walk on water had come to completion, they (Christ and Peter)  then climbed into the boat and the winds died down. Jesus is in our boat, and when we recognize that he is beside us the winds of anxiousness do die down and peace does set in.  I don’t know what boat you are in right now, or how hard you are having to row to get to the other side of your storm, but what I do know is that God, who can be al places at the same time,  is in His throne room praying for you, and in your boat helping you row.  

He loves you without bounds or conditions and as you weather the storms that are before you or or on their way, he is growing your faith and bringing you closer to himself.  Great faith is a result of being shaken by great measures.   Jesus has a plan for every boat.  He knows where we are and he is more concerned about preparing his people than the arrival to the destination.  God doesn’t tell us when a storm is coming or how long it will last, he has only told us that we will never have to weather it without him. So hold on to your oars, and keep paddling and when your strength has weakened and your focus faded, remember that Jesus is on board and will reach out, extend his hand and give you all that you need to endure, and he will give you rest.   

Don’t question in the dark what you know to be true in the light!  

Dear Lord, We each are in a boat that you have allowed us to journey in.   Give us the strength, the courage and the focus to faithfully row forward into the plans that you have made.  And thank you Lord  

Fear and faith cannot live in the same heart, for fear always blinds the eyes to the presence of the Lord. Warren Wiersbe                            

 
Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!