Rowing into the Wind 

“When he saw they were distressed in their rowing,

for the wind was against them…he came to them.”

Mark 6:48

          It had been a great day!  Jesus’ disciples had seen him pull out all the stops when he fed five thousand people with a few loaves of bread and fish.  Everybody was feeling good.  They knew they had hitched their wagon to the right horse.  But, no sooner had the cheers been raised for Jesus by these five thousand satisfied customers than he directed his disciples to get in a boat and cross the Sea of Galilee.

          Maybe he didn’t want their heads turned by the ovation of the crowd, because he knew how fickle the crowd could be.  Perhaps he did not want them to be distracted from the main mission, which had more to do with the spirit than the flesh.  For whatever reason Jesus told them to shove off and he would meet them later.

          The weather changed though, and these disciples quickly found themselves floundering in the rough seas.  They were pulling against the oars with all their strength, but the wind as stronger.  The Gospel says that Jesus saw them in their distress and came to them in the middle of this storm.

          How he saw them and how he got there remains a mystery and can only be explained by the word “miracle”.  What is clear is that when Jesus sees you pulling against the storm for all your worth and still not making any progress; he comes to meet you where you are.

          We all know the against-the-wind feeling of trying as hard as we might and still not getting where we want to be.  What we need to remember is that Jesus will meet us there as well.

Lord, when we grow weak and weary and heavy you call us to come to you, but sometimes even that seems beyond our reach.  We thank you for those moments when you came to us when we were feeling down and lifted us up once more on eagle’s wings.  Amen