Devotions for Disciples

by Sonya Hayes

Since I am not a writer, words escape me to fully express what my heart experienced when reading Mark 6:30-52. It was a wow moment. The disciples had just told Jesus to send the crowd home or into town, stating they should take care of themselves. Jesus, on the other hand, commanded that they care for the crowd, and the miracle of feeding the 5,000 was accomplished. Sadly, that amazing miracle barely causes an emotional response for most of us. What followed next is what took my breath away. I have read this story many times, but I have always focused on Jesus walking on water and rescuing His people. Look at verse 45: immediately after the miracle, Jesus told His disciples to get into the boat and head across the sea while He stayed behind. Read verse 48 carefully. “He watched them struggle in the storm until the fourth watch.” Basically, he watched all night before He climbed into the boat, and the storm disappeared. It didn’t calm down; it disappeared. In verse 52, we read that the disciples were amazed because they had not understood about the loaves. They had not understood because their hearts were hardened to the truth of Who Jesus was.

I wonder how many of us have hardened hearts to the same truth. Maybe we become angry at God during a difficult, bitter moment, not fully seeing God at work in the storm. We stomp our feet and neglect worship and ministry because it is not what we asked God to do. We must be careful not to miss the moments God has intended for us. Remember, Jesus watched them struggle all night long for a reason. That means we could face long nights of rowing through the storm, too. It might be in our fourth watch of the night that He comes, but yes, He will come. He has not taken His eyes off us. He not only sees our struggles, but also He sees the clay heart inside of us grappling with our own search for that tiny bit of faith to believe and endure the rough waters while we feel our world is about to capsize.

We often struggle to understand the reasons behind our challenges instead of focusing on what God is teaching us or how we can glorify Him during these times. Instead of acknowledging that our hardships and pain lead to renewal, we tend to question God’s love and protection. In doing so, we overlook the cross. Calvary was for our deliverance from the greatest storm. Because of the cross, we can come to our Savior and find the hope and strength to keep rowing.

We also fail to recognize that the heroes of the faith all faced struggles. They were not superheroes; they were everyday, ordinary people like you and me. They experienced significant failures in their struggles, and some stopped rowing. Look at Peter. He went fishing and was willing to walk away from his calling after denying Christ in the courtyard, believing in his heart that the resurrected Christ could and would no longer find him useful. He returned to what was comfortable for him. But remember, like Peter, our failures are not our final act in the heart of God. The return to our boat might be difficult, and we might be embarrassed to rejoin our crew, but God is not done with us after our failure. Our attitude toward our struggles will make all the difference in how we overcome them. If we blame God, feeling unjustified and bitter, we will fail to see that beauty comes from pain. We will also fail to hear the voice of our Savior when He says, “Peace be still.”