What To Know When You Don't Know Anything

Today the worldwide number of COVID-19 cases is 549,305 and the number of deaths is 24,871. This virus is impacting these people, but it is also impacting everyone else.
 
Those who lost their jobs are trying to figure out what’s next. Those who have kept their jobs but still have to clock in, are trying to figure out ways to stay healthy and safe. Those who have the privilege of working from home, are trying to figure out this new normal. Everyone is trying to learn what it means to stay inside and be physically distant from everyone that isn’t in their house.
 
In all this chaos, what do you need to know?
 
I want to point you to a short passage of Scripture. “16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’ 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.”[1]
 
Most of the disciples were fisherman by trade, so the thought of rowing across this sea in the dark was not scary to them at all. Now the wind started to pick up drastically. So much so, it brought waves to the sea. The fisherman turned disciples have rowed and fished this sea too many times to count, but now, only have traveled three or four miles, and the wind and waves being rough. They got scared.
 
What To Know:
 
(1) Being scared is real.
Our world is experiencing something it has never experienced before. It is scary! There is no getting around that.
 
(2) Jesus calms fear.
Jesus could’ve said anything in this moment, but He chose to speak to the fear of the disciples. “It is I; do not be afraid.”
 
(3) Jesus walk on and through our scary circumstances.
Think about this, Jesus could’ve stopped the wind and the waves before coming to the disciples. He could’ve just appeared in the boat and not got His feet yet. Jesus being who He is, saw the disciples, saw their fear, and conquered it.
 
(4) Once we receive Jesus, the miraculous will happen.
We see here and all throughout the other gospels, Jesus has the power to do the miraculous. So why didn’t He bring the disciples to the other side and then talk to them? This is why: Trusting and receiving Jesus in the midst of a tough circumstance is hard, but then and only then will He deliver us from it.
 
So will you, in the midst of your storm, receive Jesus into your boat?




[1] John 6:16-21 ESV