Psalm of Praise: Psalms 33:6-9
By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; he puts the deep into storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.
Bible Reading: John 6:16-21
When evening came, Jesus’ disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them.
A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.
When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened.
But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid."
Then they were willing to take him into the boat,
and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
A Reflection:
I guess there are times in all of our lives when things are going really well, everything seems settled and life is good. And then suddenly it all starts to go pear-shaped. One minute everything is going along smoothly and then, to mix the metaphors, the wheels start to fall off.
I think it must have been like this for the disciples in the boat. They have just come from an amazing experience on the mountainside where Jesus had healed the sick, taught a crowd of over five thousand people and then miraculously fed them. Now they are in a boat on the lake, Jesus is not with them, and a storm is blowing up. They go from one extreme to another, from faith to fear.
Into this situation Jesus comes to them, walking on the water and they don’t recognise him.
It is good to remember that, whatever the circumstances of life, God is with us. The storm may be raging and we may not recognise him at first, but he is there, and when we do recognise him, he says to us, ‘It is I, don’t be afraid.’ And then, if we are willing, he will get in the boat with us and steer us safely to the shore.
There is a children’s Sunday School song that goes as follows:
With Christ in the vessel you can smile at the storm,
smile at the storm, smile at the storm.
With Christ in the vessel you can smile at the storm,
as we go sailing by.
When the storms of life start to take away our peace, let us pause, and let us look for the presence of Jesus. He will be there, and when we welcome him on board he will bring his peace, and he will bring us safely to the shore.
Pray:
Thank you Lord for the good times.
And when life gets stormy, give me the eyes to see you, and the faith to trust you.
Amen
My Lighthouse