God’s Hope for Your Heart from Mark 4
JESUS CAN RESCUE OTHERS THROUGH YOU
And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was. And other boats were with Him. (Mark 4:36)
The story of how Jesus calmed a stormy sea is a favorite of many.
Every children’s Bible, every Sunday School curriculum, every highlight reel of the life of Jesus features this account of how His disciples were in grave danger from a raging sea. It tells of how they came to Jesus and He commanded the wind and waves to be still, rescuing the disciples and their boat and releasing them to continue on their journey.
But they weren’t the only ones on the water that night.
Scripture says there were other boats with Jesus, coming along for the ride. Other boats with other fathers and brothers, maybe even children aboard. Other boats without the same connection to Jesus that the disciples had, but still in the path of the storm.
What if the disciples hadn’t turned to Jesus in their hour of need? What if they had stubbornly refused to ask for help, believing that they would just “figure it out” or “make it work” on their own? How many of those people in the other boats would have perished?
But they didn’t.
The good news of this story is not just that Jesus rescued His disciples after they cried out to Him. That’s important and good and usually the point we zero in on, but don’t miss this other key truth. Because the disciples were humble and willing to ask Jesus for help (together, by the way; they weren’t afraid for others to see their weakness), the other boats were rescued, too.
When you cultivate the art of humbly looking to Jesus when times get tough, it’s not just your life that gets blessed. Other people around you can and will be blessed by God because of the overflow of your life!
Don’t fall into the trap of self-sufficient stubbornness and try to show the world you can handle things on your own. Instead, turn to Jesus first, because when you do, you’ll discover the hope that comes when you’re living this truth: Jesus can rescue others through you.
-Pastor Phillip
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