Scripture: Matthew 14:22-33
Journal: Where in your life are you desperately waiting for God to show up? What is it doing within you? How will you trust him in the meantime?
Reflection:
“During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on
the lake.” (Matthew 14:25) Why the fourth watch? Why did Jesus wait so long to go out to
them? After all, they had been out on
the lake, buffeted by the wind and the waves for as many as twelve
hours. Why not go out to them sooner? Why wait until they had been bruised and
battered and beaten?
Do you ever ask that
question? Do you ever wonder why God
seems to let the storms of life go on for so long before he eventually shows up
in the midst of them? Is he testing our
belief? Is he trying to see if we really
believe that he is able to calm the storm?
Or is he trying to see if we really believe that he is willing to? I know that I have little trouble believing
that he can, but much more difficulty believing that he will.
Regardless of the reason, I
have found that Jesus is a fourth-watch-kind-of-a-God. He tends to wait a while before he comes
out to us. And even when he does,
sometimes our circumstances are so chaotic that we still cannot recognize him.
The fourth watch is the
point where we just cannot do it anymore.
It is the place in time when we can row no more. The fourth watch is the time when we finally
cry, “Uncle!” When we say, “I just
cannot do this anymore. I’ve got nothing
left.” It is the time when we have
finally been brought to the point of total desperation and absolute
dependence. It is the time when we have
finally come to the end of ourselves.
And unfortunately, for most of us, that is a long, long journey. For there is something God is trying to do
deep within us and bringing us to the end of ourselves is the only way to make
it happen. Otherwise we would just keep
on rowing and rowing and rowing.
It’s like God finally says:
“I want you to trust me. Not me and your
own gifts and efforts, not me and your circumstances, not even me and
your friends and family; but me alone. And you will never trust me alone
until all of the other things have been stripped away. Until you have come to the end of yourself and
there is nothing else, and no one else, left to cling to but me. That’s when I’ve finally got you where I want
you. That’s when true growth and
transformation can take place. That’s
when you finally reach the point where you can become all that I dreamt you to
be.”
So if it takes until the fourth
watch to get me there, then I suppose it’s worth it, huh?
Prayer
Closing
Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to know that when you wait
until the fourth watch to come out to me, you are not just being difficult. You are trying to accomplish something very
good in me. Help me to never let the
storms of this life, or the timing of your coming, make me doubt the goodness
of your heart.
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