Staying in the Boat

Jesus had just received the news about John the Baptist’s death. He wanted to be alone so he withdrew to a solitary place. Perhaps on some levels there was sadness. Obviously John meant a lot to Jesus. There is little doubt however, that Jesus likely realized an even more significant meaning behind John’s death that had to do with His own ministry. Whatever the case, He felt that He needed some time alone. But crowds of people followed Him and because of His compassion, instead of enjoying any sense of “alone” time, He healed many of their sicknesses. Also, in that same evening, He fed the five thousand.

What happens over the course of this same evening and on into the next morning has always intrigued me. Apparently after the feeding of the five thousand, still needing some time alone, He sent His apostles on a boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee from where they were. They were planning to continue His ministry there the next day. Meanwhile, Jesus planned to send the crowds of people back to their own cities. This allowed Him to have the time He needed to be alone and pray to the Father before later catching back up with His disciples. Obviously, this in and of itself, is a tremendous lesson to us in that sometimes we need to allow our busy and hectic lifestyles to stop and spend time alone with our great God (i.e, Psalm 46:10). But I think there is another lesson (actually many more) to learn here.

There was a storm that night and His disciples, whom He had sent on the boat, were in the midst of it. Consequently, they were being tossed by the strong winds and waves of the sea. There is no doubt that they were quite afraid, and understandably so. Shortly after 3 AM, Jesus came to them walking on the water. This sight startled the disciples even more as the text reveals to us that they thought He was a ghost. It is at this point that Jesus assures them it was He and that because of this, they need not be afraid.

“But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27).

“To be of good cheer” as expressed here means to lighten the spirit or mood; be full of cheer and joy; and comfort. It seems to me that more Christians today should be this way. In any event, based on what Jesus is telling them here, Jesus’ mere presence in their lives was enough to give them joy, comfort, and peace despite the storm. And us today? We are all faced with storms in life. In fact, “storms” are likely one of the most predictable aspects of our lives. In some facets, life itself can be a storm (1 Peter 5:8). And in this passage, Jesus gives us all the confidence in the world that we will indeed get through our storms. He also gives us security when He states:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Paul also seems to have understood this quite well during his time in prison (Philippians 4:13). Again, there are many lessons to be gained from this text, as we are all familiar with what happens next with Peter attempting to walk on the water with Jesus. There are some great lessons on faith here. Maybe Peter should have had more faith; maybe he shouldn’t have taken his eyes off Jesus; maybe his mistake was allowing the “stormy winds” of life to distract Him from Jesus. After all, it was when he noticed the winds that he sank. But I have to admit also; I actually wonder if Peter’s biggest mistake was getting out of the boat to begin with. Can’t we all think of times when we get ourselves into trouble by thinking we can get out of the boat and walk on water when it just isn’t possible? There is only one Jesus, and maybe the lesson here is for us to stay in the boat and allow Jesus to come to us. It seems to me that when we start thinking we can do what only Jesus can, we get ourselves in trouble. And as a result we set ourselves up for failure through our own inabilities, inconsistencies, and imperfections. Perhaps this is where Peter’s faith lacked. He thought he could do what only Jesus could when he should have just stayed in the boat.

Certainly, Jesus does tell us to "come" to Him (Matthew 11:28), follow Him (Luke 9:23), and seek Him (Matthew 6:33). And indeed, we must. These same disciples did. But when we come upon life's storms, especially those that are beyond our control, perhaps there is some wisdom behind staying in the boat and allowing God to take care of it.

Have a great day!