When "I Am" Steps Into Your Boat!

Jesus instructed his disciples to get into the boat and row to the other side while He dismissed the 5000+ people He’d miraculously fed. Straining against ever increasing waves and winds, they rowed and toiled for hours but made it only half way across the 8 mile lake.

As the weather grew worse their hearts and minds became more troubled – they became like their surroundings - like the water that was disturbed and disquieted. To top off the weather conditions and their exhaustion, a ‘ghost’ suddenly appeared on the lake and immense fear overtook them.

But the ‘ghost’ was Jesus, and in spite of the waves and strong winds which had kept the disciples from crossing the lake, Jesus walked toward them. He was ready to pass by if there was no invitation to come into the boat (Mark 6:48) – but as they cried out He comforted and reassured them that “I Am” was with them. As Jesus stepped into the boat the winds ceased and the waves calmed down.

The Bible says the disciple’s hearts were hardened (Mark 6:52). They hadn’t considered and understood the miracle of the loaves – they simply saw that Jesus fed hungry people. So when trouble arose on the water they reasoned out of their fleshly needs and the turmoil of their surroundings: I’m hungry, I need a physical rescue, I’m exhausted …. I need a miracle.

It’s not the unbeliever that suffers with a hardened heart – but the believer who looks for provision without relationship, often twisting His Word and making it into a list of things that God is required to give us. The hardened heart expects God to ‘perform’ a miracle and make life easier and better – but disregards the opportunity to become Christ-like through intimacy with the Living God and His Word.

The heart that is soft and pliable in the hand of God will ponder His Word and His acts with great love and understanding – seeing His character behind the miracles He performs.

God wanted them to connect the provision He gave the 5000+ with His desire and ability to care for us and love us, and for us to trust Him in all circumstances. If they had done this their surroundings wouldn’t have overtaken them – they would have recognized that Jesus was in the boat with them before He ever physically stepped into it.

Is your heart hardened? Do you recognize that Jesus is already in the boat with you? Are you willing to see the great love behind His miraculous power and his desire for a deep relationship with you?