CLICK HERE FOR THE READINGS
S (Scripture): Mark 6:48-50
47 Late that night, the disciples were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land. 48 He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost. 50 They were all terrified when they saw him.
O (Observation): Jesus shows up in the midst of the disciples struggle.
A (Application): Our Easter theme is: ".....When God shows up." Each lesson during the easter season God seems to show up in different ways, the empty tomb, to the disciples in the upper room...so on and so forth. I mention the theme because it is here that Jesus shows up. Jesus shows up in the disciples struggling against the wind and waves, struggling to move forward, struggling to do it on their own. jesus shows up, intending to go ahead of them and stops, jumps in their boat calms the storms and they end up on land. AND THAT terrifies them...and us.
We often pray that God will show up in the midst of our own struggle, the midst of my feeble attempts, in the midst of the storms of my life and when God shows up, God may do something we weren't expecting. When God shows up, when Jesus enters the boat, the coarse begins to change. And maybe that is what scares us most, that when God shows up we might head in a different direction than we planned.
P (Prayer): Lord God, thanks for showing up in our lives again and again....even if you take us in directions of your choosing and not our own.