Daily Bread 10-31-8
John 6:16-21
16. And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea,
17. And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark and Jesus had not come to them.
18. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.
19. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.
20. But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.
21. Then they willingly received him unto the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.
ref. - Mt 14:23 - And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up in a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
Many times in our journey we will feel alone and in need of comfort. Our guidance gets off a bit or we are just in need of his presence. Just as the disciples in this scripture needed to be reassured by his presence, so do we sometimes. In our lives as disciples(followers) we will set out on many great adventures and many great journeys. We will be away from the strong presence of the Lord some times or we will face storms and not realize that he is with us. Panic will set in and we will not know how to escape the storms. But just as he always has done and always will do for his own, Jesus will show up and let us know that he is with us. Sometimes in a sign that we do not recognize or that we cannot understand. But as he draws closer we will be reassured that he is with us. We will hear his voice to tell us to be still , because he is with us. It will be then, with that reassurance, that we will acknowledge the he, once again, is with us. It will also be then that our ship will reach the shore and the storm shall be no more. We will be free of the fear and danger of the storm and our feet will once again be on solid ground. The lesson that we must all learn from this scripture is that we should never panic to the point that we "jump ship" and each time we face these storms our faith will grow stronger. He can do in the blink of an eye what all mankind cannot do in a million years. He can calm the seas, he can still the storms, and he can bring our souls and our faith safely back to the shore and safe from the storm!! He will come to us in a way that we will know didn't come from man(such as he walked on the water), and when we realize that it is him and accept him in(like the disciples did on the ship), he will take us to exactly where we belong and bring peace into our lives(just as the ship was at the shore immediately after they acknowledged him). This is the Lord we have been given in Jesus Christ! This is the God we serve!! And he will deliver us from all evil and take us from the storms of this world into a place of peace and tranquility!! A place where tears never cry and pain doesn't exist!! Let us join together and follow him as he leads us on into eternity!!! Have a great day!!!