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And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them.
Mark 6:48 (ESV)

A long time ago a friend and I decided we would “train” for a 100K bike race in Wichita Falls, Texas. I say “train” because we rode only a couple of times before the day of the race. One of our training rides took place on one of the windiest days I ever experienced. In Oklahoma, that’s saying a lot! The wind is something we know a lot about. But this day it took us like 45 minutes to ride one mile. One mile! It was like we were riding a stationary bike! The wind was definitely against us that day.

Have you ever felt that the wind and everything around you was against you? You keep struggling but you can’t make any headway? I have felt this way. In the early days of grieving, it seemed any headway I made during the day was painful and discouraging. The decisions were hard and I was on “decision-making overload” most days. The experts say grieving widows should not make any big decisions, but what’s bigger than every detail about the funeral and burial? Every decision seems like a big decision.

I often like to read verses in several translations or paraphrases to get more depth to the verse. The Living Bible says Mark 6:48 this way:

He saw they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling.

Miracles #1 and 2

I found so much encouragement from this passage in the book of Mark. Jesus had just fed thousands of people with a little boy’s lunch. What a miracle! And the miracle continued beyond that because there was so much left over after the crowd was satisfied. It is almost beyond imagination.

He then told the disciples to jump in their boat and head across the lake where He would meet them. He went off alone to pray.

They hopped in their boat and headed for the other shore. As we see in our verse, they were struggling terribly to row the boat with the strong winds that popped up.

They were exactly where God wanted them to be. They had obeyed Jesus’ instructions to head across the lake. Why were they struggling so much?

We find out later in the passage Jesus wanted to show them His glory by passing by them.

Remember the other time this happened, when God showed His glory to someone in the Old Testament? There were actually TWO times God did this. Once was when Moses asked to see God’s glory (Exodus 33:19) and the other was Elijah ( 1 Kings 19:11).

Miracle #3

But what our verse showed me was that Jesus SAW them. That’s a miracle in itself – they were out in the middle of the sea and it was dark (Mark 6:48)!

Miracle #4

So what did Jesus do next? He got in the boat with them in their storm. I love that idea of Christ, climbing into the boat and the wind and storm immediately stopping. This passage doesn’t even say He told the winds to die down. He just got in the boat with them.

I believe that’s how God works sometimes. He allows difficulties into our lives when we are following Him in order to show us more of His character. More of His glory even. But He doesn’t just leave us there in the storm. He sees us struggling and gets into our storm with us. Sometimes He helps us row in the storm and sometimes He stops the storm. In my experience, I have discovered so much more about the character of God during the storms of life than I do during the easy times. The storms allow me to see my need and helps me realize I may not make it on my own.

The storms that hit our lives unexpectedly are never too much that Jesus doesn’t see us. We may feel alone or invisible or abandoned.

He sees you. Let Him into your “boat” today so you can face the difficulties together.

And that bike race so long ago? We finished 100 k but had trouble walking for days afterward.

Father God, thank You for seeing me today. I want You to walk with me through the difficulties today. Thank You for reminding me I am not invisible or abandoned. You are always with me and care for me beyond what I can imagine. Amen