Tag Archives: take courage

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – HE WAS ALWAYS WITH US

Bible Study, , ,

HE WAS ALWAYS WITH US

They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.
Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. Mark 6:49-52

What a difference understanding makes to the whole process of renewing our minds! This incident (feeding the 5,000, Jesus walking on the water and calming the wind) left the disciples no nearer to knowing who He was or understanding their circumstances than before. There was a block in their experience of God that left them bewildered and hardened in their hearts.

What is needed in our present understanding of God so that our circumstances contribute to our knowledge of Him and His ways rather than adding to our confusion? The problem with our thinking is that we associate God’s presence in our lives only from the time we acknowledged Him as our Saviour. We think that this is when He began to involve Himself with us, not realising that He knew us from before the foundation of the world. He was always with us even though we did not know it.

If that is true, then He was with us (and for us) when bad things happened although we saw ourselves as useless, worthless or abandoned. The disciples had not yet reached that point in their understanding and therefore could not grasp how secure they were in Him. They had not yet entered the rest of God where they could relinquish themselves to His perfect love for them.

Jesus intended this entire set of circumstances to be a learning opportunity for them. They had experienced His intervention when they were almost swamped by the storm on their way to Gadara. They saw Him unfazed by physical danger, by confrontation with the spirits of darkness, by a hungry crowd of people and even by a huge stretch of water He had to cross without a boat but, at this point, they just didn’t get it. They were still spectators in this unfolding drama of God.

Jesus wanted to write them into His story. He wanted them to be players in this magnificent story of God but, at that moment they were still watching and listening. They had yet to enter in.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – DWELLING AND RESTING

Bible Study, ,

DWELLING AND RESTING

They cried out, 50 because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” 51 Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened. Mark 6:49-52

Men in need! Terrified of their circumstances! Not expecting Jesus to come to them on the water, they saw a “ghost” walking towards them. Whatever lesson Jesus was teaching them would have been lost to them at that moment. Fear cancelled out everything else. Jesus’ compassion took over, and He was quick to identify Himself and to comfort them. They had a long way to go before they could take on the world.

Although they were beginning to be convinced that Jesus was the Son of God, the disciples had not yet made the connection between themselves and Him as personally involved in their lives. Were they still treating Him as a religious figure to be worshipped but not yet one they could trust with their entire lives? It took a long time to make that transition and to realise that His coming from the Father was for them and for everyone who will entrust their lives to Him completely.

Anna (Mr God, This Is Anna – Fynn) said that the greatest thing God created was the seventh day. When He started His creative work, the earth was in darkness and chaos. He took six days to sort out the muddle and bring order to the planet. When He had completed His work, He rested – implying that He had brought perfection out of chaos and everything was in order.

The fact that the disciples reacted in this way to Jesus and their circumstances meant that they were not yet part of God’s seventh day rest. Every time we embrace God’s way in another part of our lives – in our believing the truth, renewing our minds and expressing God’s peace, we take a step nearer to God’s Sabbath.

Psalm 91:1 tells us how to do it – dwelling and resting. It takes our choices, actions and reactions to let go of our way in Adam and to remain “in Christ”. He has made this possible by reconciling us to the Father by His atoning sacrifice, but God will not do our part for us – practising and growing our awareness that we are in Christ, He is in us and living our lives in and out of Him.