My Lectio Divina experience

It is the expression of God’s love that He will never let us weather a storm for longer than we can handle. This is one of the statements that I felt in my spirit after meditating on Mark 6:45-52. In this story of Jesus walking on the water, it had never come alive for me like it did during this meditation session.

At this point Jesus had performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes and sent His disciples ahead of Him to cross the sea to Bethsaida. Jesus then went to pray on a mountaintop. It was at this point that I began to feel that He was seeking the Father’s will at this point on what He should do. He then sees His disciples struggling to row the boat in the wind and high waves of the sea. So Jesus walks out to them and in verse 48 it says, “He intended to go past them.” I have read this story thousands of times, but never had I stopped on that particular part. He was going to pass them. What does that mean? I struggled with this statement for a long time and came up with what I believe was happening. I may be taking this way out of context, but this is what God showed me during my time studying this passage.

Verse 52 in Mark says, “Their hearts were too hard to take it all in.” This is talking about the disciples who after seeing the miracle of the loaves were still not letting it penetrate their hearts. How could this be? I really struggle with this, I mean after seeing what they had seen, they still didn’t truly believe yet. When I read on past 52 (not sure if I was supposed to) it said that once they got to the other side people immediately recognized Jesus and sent their sick to just touch the hem of His garment and they would be healed, and many were healed that day.

This really led me to believe that when Jesus was going to pass them, it was so He could get ahead of them so when they landed they would see the miracles of all these healings and maybe their hearts would be penetrated and unhardened. Instead, they freaked out and He had to get in the boat to calm the waves, when He may have been going ahead of them for something greater.

I see that no matter what storm we have in our lives, God will always be there to calm it. Sometimes though, He may need to go ahead of us so we can see something great when the storm passes, but we get so freaked out by the storm that He must step in our boat and calm it and we may miss this something greater.

Lord, let me never miss out on you and let me always believe in everything that you do, no matter how little it may seem to me. I never want my heart to be hardened to Your work. Thank you for showing me this passage in a new light. Amen.