Revelations from the Word

I have been reading through the book of John. And after Jesus feeds the 5000, his disciples hop on a boat and row themselves across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum. On their voyage, a storm arises and the boat starts getting smashed by waves. Jesus suddenly appears in the middle of the storm… walking on the water. John writes how the disciple’s first response was to be ‘frightened’. In the gospel of Matthew, it says: ‘they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.’ What a strange response! Just 5 minutes ago Jesus had fed the 5000 by multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish. Who could this possibly be walking across the water? There’s only one obvious answer: Jesus. Yet the disciples were frightened by that which had come to save.

Why are we frightened by that which has come to rescue us from the storm?

I think about my own life and how I became frightened when Jesus was saving me. After the birth of my son, our business took a dive. We lost a lot of work. And my response was to become frightened. But in retrospect, it was God’s way of giving me more time. Time to spend with my newly born son. Time to support my wife. And he was still faithful in taking care of all our needs.

Before God moved my wife and I to Jeffreys Bay - we lived in the sprawling cultural hub of Cape Town. We’d go watch live bands, frequent art galleries and take in all the city had to offer! But even though we loved God our lives in Cape Town were filled with partying and bad ideologies. I thought moving to J-Bay would be the death of everything we loved. But how God used that death to free me from a life that was killing my soul.

Sometimes God saves us in frightening ways!