The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 9 February 2024 – An Uncomfortable Experience
TOPIC: An Uncomfortable Experience
READ: John 6:15-21 (NKJV)
- Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.
- Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea,
- got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.
- Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.
- So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.
- But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
- Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
THE MESSAGE:
The account of this incident as rendered by John supplements those by Matthew and Mark (Matthew 14:22-32; Mark 6:45-51). As Jesus went to pray alone on the mountain, the disciples took a boat to cross the sea of Galilee. As it was already dark, a great wind was blowing and they had already rowed about 5.5km in the sea in troublesome waters, before they saw Jesus walking on the sea towards their boat, and they became afraid. They must have been afraid because they might have initially thought that Jesus was a ghost. However, Jesus reassured them not to be afraid.
This uncomfortable experience of stormy weather at sea came after the disciples had experienced the fifth of seven miracles of Jesus as recorded by John, proving that Jesus is God. Have you gone through an unexpected challenge after doing the will of God? It shows that doing the will of God will not prevent difficulties from coming into our lives. Remember that Jesus will always be there to tell you not to be afraid and bring calm to that situation. Keep trusting and obeying God in all you do today and you will overcome your stormy seas.
PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me overcome my hard situations now and always in Jesus’ name. Amen.
