10 Dec Storms of Life
Mark 6:52 – “For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.”
I was recently at a fellowship meeting where a message was brought from this passage of Scripture, the message was very applicable to us preachers in attendance, and it was very illustrative of what that pastor had and is going though in his own life. As I followed along with the message, the Lord (as He seems to frequently do) gave me a few thoughts that I could develop into messages to present to Berean Baptist Church.
As this chapter indicates, the Apostles, after having been sent forth two by two preaching that men should repent. After they had returned with the corpse of John the Baptist, laid it in a tomb, and giving a report to Jesus…we find them all needing some rest. They came apart unto a desert place (verse 31), because there were many people coming and going and they didn’t even have enough time to get something to eat. But when the people saw them departing, they followed after and “outwent” them, and when Jesus saw them, He had compassion on them and began to teach them many things.
By the end of the day, tired and “still” hungry, they requested of the Lord that He should send the multitudes away and to make a long story short, the Apostles now fed 5,000 plus people, with the miracle of the five loaves and two fishes. An astonishing feat of endurance, let alone on the tail end of the endeavors they had been experiencing.
As they gathered up the twelve baskets full of fragments, Jesus told the disciples to get on the ship and go to the other side before Bethsaida, while He sent the people away. They boarded the ship and Jesus departed into the mountain to pray. When evening came, the ship was on the sea and he “saw them toiling in rowing” in a storm and the Lord watched them unto the fourth watch. Then, he went down walking on the water, they called to Him, He calmed the sea, they were amazed and wondered…but they considered not the miracle of the loaves earlier that day?
As I thought about this account, I focused in on the fact that after all the Apostles had gone through, the stress of dealing with the death of John the Baptist, the frustration of the crowds, the exhaustion, the hunger, then the feeding of the five thousand, as they got into that ship to rest…they found no rest, because another storm rose up and they busied themselves to stay on course. Whatever the reason, Jesus watched them as they toiled in rowing and let them do so for some time before He came to their aid. Even then, He would have passed them by had they not cried out to Him.
I am comforted in knowing, that even though I may feel like I am at the end of the rope at times, frustrated and exhausted that the Lord is in control. There are times, when my head hits the pillow for some much needed rest, and the Lord sends “one more storm” and I drag my carcass up to toil in rowing yet a little longer. All the while, my Lord is on a hillside…watching, allowing me to labor, and will come just at the right time when I need Him most. So, when you are just like that, when you are ready to give up, and you finally, just finally might get a reprieve. You may have one of those, “Really Lord, another storm?” moments. Remember, God is watching, He will never give you any more than you can handle, and He is always…on time.
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