Mark 6:47-48 “During the night, the disciples were in their boat out in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land. He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves.” (NLT)

Two things grabbed my attention in this passage. One, the storm overcame the disciples when they were in the “middle” of the Sea of Galilee. The situation couldn’t have been worse. They were as far from shore as they could be and they were in the deepest part of the sea. There was no obvious way to paddle. It seemed as though the sea was going to swallow them up. Doesn’t it feel this way for all of us when an overwhelming trial hits. Perhaps this is why we often say, “I’m in the middle of an impossible situation.” We can’t see a way of escape.

The second thing that stood out is that Jesus never lost sight of them. I’m sure that they had lost sight of him, but he had not lost sight of them. Though he was on land and they were on the sea he had a keen awareness of where they were and what they were going through. Jesus always stands ready to step in at just the right time when I am feeling helpless and hopeless. Perhaps he plans it this way. It’s the place where he can truly show me his great power and love.

Help me Lord to remember this lesson from the Sea of Galilee. Help me to remember that you are the one who walks on water to come to me when I am in the middle of a hopeless situation.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 26th, 2006 at 9:10 am and is filed under Daily Readings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.