‘Into The Boat’

‘Into The Boat’

Immediately, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd.

Matthew 14:22

Christ puts us where He wants us to be. Our text for today is one we have considered before, yet we have the privilege of drawing water out of this well again and again. The phrasing of our text tells us that Christ was very definite about the disciples getting into the boat. From our perspective, because we have read the rest of the account, we know what was coming. The disciples were shortly going to be in the midst of a violent storm. They were going to be fearing for their lives. Being God, Christ would have known all of that before He insisted that they get into the boat. Having said that, it was only by their being in the boat, under the most adverse circumstances, that they were going to have the opportunity to see Christ do the miraculous. Before they could see the miracle, they had to be in the direst of situations. It is so with us. Christ intends to do the miraculous in our lives. To the end that we may be in the position to see those miracles, He will send us places we would not go apart from His insistence. Those situations may become very unsettling, causing fear and distress to us. In spite of how dire they are, Christ knows what He is doing. He knows the end from the beginning. He will finish what He has started. He will do the miraculous. He will show us things about Himself which we would never know otherwise. At the moment, He wants us to ‘get into the boat.’

Our Wise and All-Seeing God,
we rejoice that You know all things which will occur before they do.
We praise You that You place us where You want us
for the purpose of seeing You do the miraculous.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning