Jesus, what are you doing?

Jesus, what are you doing?

Matt. 14:22 And immediately Jesus made his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.

This is a strange act that Jesus is requesting from his disciples here. In this story, they will be in the middle of the sea in a storm and Jesus will appear walking on the water. What is so strange to me is that these disciples were fishermen and they knew the weather. They could most probably predict that this was absolutely not the right time to get in a boat and depart to the other side. They have fished these waters for years and were trained by their fathers, and their fathers would certainly have taught them about the weather patterns.

What would a few hours do if they had waited till the next morning? At least they would then sail under better conditions and they would be able to see where they were going. And why is Jesus staying behind and not going with them? This story raises so many questions to think about.

Maybe you are in a place where you can read the signs of your circumstances and you can see that trouble is brewing. You don’t have to be a genius to see what will happen. You have been here before and you can tell the novices what to expect, as you have become a master at discerning the situation. What if you wait a few hours? Will you be in better circumstances then? Why does it feel like Jesus is not in the boat with you?

We see that Jesus “immediately” made them do it. The word immediately is the Greek word “eutheos” and it literally means "to put in a good/straight place". Looking at this word it looks like Jesus was putting them in a place that would be good for them even if they saw it as a bad place to be. You see, God sees storms as good places in our life, even when we hate being in them.

The storm is the place where He will show up walking on your circumstances. He will let you go in the dark so that you will not rely on your natural senses to make a way to escape. He will be outside your boat so that you will have to respond like Peter and walk where He walks. You will have to break the status quo of the boat people that will watch you as you venture out and do what has never been done before. You will have to be faced with the wind and the waves and you will have to fail as you step out and find that He is right there to grab you and take you back to the boat.

The story says that as they got back in the boat the wind ceased. You will have to go and walk with divinity so that divinity can come and walk with man. What are you bringing back to your boat? Are you bringing the one that will calm the storms in the lives of the others that are with you in the boat?

Take heart and realize that you are not alone. Your storm is His bidding and at His bidding victory will come!