Row, row, row your boat …

ValMay ♦ February 26, 2013 ♦ Leave a comment

“Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream.” Remember that little song? Well sometimes, we don’t get anywhere rowing and most certainly life is not always a dream!

In Mark, chapter 6, the disciples were struggling, trying to row the boat, and it just wasn’t happening. Jesus comes walking on the water and they, of course, were not expecting that, and were terrified.   They were not only not expecting Him, they were not even looking for His help, and afterwards, when the waters were calm and He was standing in the boat with them, they were speechless.

Are we so different today? Earlier that day the disciples had seen the masses fed by Jesus- an amazing miracle. They had, themselves, already gone out, two by two, sending demons packing, and healing the sick both physically and mentally.  The disciples saw lepers healed, a paraplegic walk, a crippled hand work again, a madman come to his senses, all kinds of healings: all this they had seen and experienced – yet when they looked up and saw Him walking on the water (this was the second time!), in the midst of the storm, they were scared and then shocked speechless. Again, are we so different?

All through my life I have seen God at work: little things, big things, unexplainable coincidences, twists and turns that I can look back at now and see that the Lord has always been there – over and over again –  not only in my life, but also the lives of my family and the lives of my friends. Yet still, when a new ‘storm’ hits, I struggle with my first inclination: to fall into fear or despair, focused solely on the problem, struggling to row my way through it. And yes, when I finally remember to look up, I still am amazed, even shocked, that the Lord is there! Will I ever learn? Is there hope? Of course, there is! The disciples eventually got it and I know I will and you will, too. It’s a life process, a journey, and I believe “that the God who started this great work in you and me will keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.” (Phil 1: 6 MSG) He will never quit on us. He will always be there.

I want to get to the place that I am looking towards Him always: that when nothing makes any sense in life, I KNOW with absolute certainty that everything IS all right because I see “Him walking on the sea.” I want to always hear His voice saying, “Courage! It’s me. Don’t be afraid.“ (Mark 6:49-50). Everything changed when He got in that boat with the disciples: everything changes when He gets in the boat with us!  Take courage! Press on!

On The Journey … Valerie

We are reading through the New Testament in 2013 using the YouVersion Bible app. This writing was based on Mark 6:45-52.