“Then He directed the disciples to
get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent away the
crowds. And after He had dismissed the
multitudes, He went up into the hills by Himself to pray. When it was evening,
He was still there alone. But the boat
was by this time out on the sea, many furlongs [a furlong is one-eighth of a
mile] distant from the land, beaten and tossed by the waves, for the wind was
against them. And in the fourth watch
[between 3:00—6:00 a.m.] of the night, Jesus came to them, walking on the
sea. And when the disciples saw Him
walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, It is a ghost! And they
screamed out with fright. But instantly
He spoke to them, saying, Take courage!
I Am! Stop being afraid!” Matthew 14:22-27 AMP
It
is hard to ignore the things going on around us: robbery, murders, mayhem, dirty politics,
wars, famines, and…well I could go on and on with this list but I think you get
the picture. This week I was reading a
magazine article pointing out a number of prophecies from the Bible that have
to be fulfilled before Jesus returns.
The article kept pointing out that although things are bad now, it will
get much worse. The more I read the
article, the more anxious I became. Fear
seemed to be gripping my heart. I felt
like crying out, “Lord it is just too much, too much!” Then in the midst of this mental storm I
heard God’s strong quiet voice reminding me that He is still in control. Like the disciples I was shook up by what I saw around me and I let it rob me of the courage God has given me. Oh how those words at the end of Matthew
14:27 resounded in my heart, “Take courage! I AM!
Stop being afraid!”
Let
me encourage you; the next time you find yourself stressed or anxious over
something that is happening to you, your family, your friend or something you
hear in the news take a moment and listen for what God has to say about
it. He is still in control you know, and
He will encourage you with just the right word on the subject. It might just be, “Take courage! I AM!
Stop being afraid!”
