Matthew 14:22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the
boat and go before him to the other side... Matthew
14:24 but the boat by this time was
a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.
Here’s the story in a gist: after Jesus fed the 5000 he put
his disciples in a boat, set them out to sea by themselves, a storm came, and
he came to them walking on the water, then Peter walked on water too, Jesus got in the
boat, and he calmed the storm. A great
story that we’ve heard since VBS as little children.
I find this first part interesting though. Jesus
put them in the boat. This boat was
going out to sea, which was going to face an overpowering storm that
night. Didn't he know that? Surely he must have known what was going
to happen...He’s God, right? The disciples
obediently followed his instructions and expected that somehow he would meet them on
the other side. They were clueless as to what they would face that
night. Jesus knew, however, exactly what
was ahead for these guys that night.
You know, God does the same thing to us. God will put you in a boat, which is going out to sea, which
is going to face an overpowering storm in the night. There are on accidents with God. He doesn't 'oops' us. Things don’t get by him. He is the sovereign God of the universe! This means that everything that takes place
happens under his control. There are no
accidents, no mistakes, and no unexpected or unplanned things for God. EVERYTHING...the good, the beautiful, the
sweet, the comforting, but also the painful, the bad, and the ugly are under
the control of his sovereign hand. Now
this doesn’t mean that he causes all things that happen to happen (it’s
impossible for him to cause evil), but it does mean that he controls and
oversees all things that do happen (he has power even over evil).
You and I will face real, painful, uncontrollable, unexpected,
unpredictable, and over powering storms in life. They cause our souls to shake, our minds
wonder, our hearts to question, and our emotions explode when the unthinkable
and unimaginable storms of life become a reality. The storms of life can stir even the hardest
of hearts. God knows this. God loves us.
God puts in the boat. He knows what is ahead for us when we get in the boat. And God knows
what he is doing when he does.
Why does he do that?
Why does he put us in a boat headed for a storm? We’ll look at that in the next post. For now, rest assured of this...even though
we can’t control what will happen in the storm...HE CAN and HE DOES. He has a purpose behind putting you in the
boat. He has a purpose in the
storm.
He’s a good God and he has a good plan for you and me. You may be in a storm right now. Listen, God is in control and he knows what
he is doing. Trust Him. He’s God.
There are things in the storm that he wants to do for us and show
us. We need the storms. In fact, we’ll never see him walk on water if
we don’t get in the boat. More on that
next time. For now, trust his plan, trust his sovereignty, and get in the boat.
