And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” Then He went up into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled.
For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.     Mark 6:49-52 NKJV

Just hours before this, they had seen Jesus feed 5,000 men (which was probably more like 20,000 people altogether) with five small loaves of bread and two fish. Yet, when they were out in their boat, about 3-4 miles from land, this awful storm came up. They saw Jesus walking on the water, they were terrified. They actually thought it was a ghost.

Jesus knows what is in our hearts and what we are thinking, so He immediately called out to them, “Cheer up, it is I, do not be afraid.” And just as the last time when Jesus had been sleeping on their boat and a great storm arose and He stepped out and said “Peace, be still” and the wind and the waves were calm, again He stopped the storm.

Mark mentioned that the disciples didn’t understand about the loaves because their hearts were hardened. What does this mean? Well, it means that even His disciples didn’t truly get it. They didn’t really understand who Jesus was. Yes, they had watched Him feed all those people with that small amount of food, heal the sick, drive demons out, and even bring dead people back to life, but they didn’t really trust that He could help them in this storm.

Now, it’s easy to think, “Wow, How could they witness one miracle after the other and not understand?” But before you get too hard on these disciples, think about yourself. Do you truly believe, or do you sometimes reject Jesus? Do you harden your heart against Him at times?

Every time we face a difficult situation and worry and fret, we are rejecting Jesus. It’s easy for us to go to church on Sunday and study our Bibles and pray and see Him at work in other people’s lives and still worry when we find ourselves in troubled times. Even though Romans 8:28 tells us that Jesus works out even the worst of times for our good if we believe in Him, love Him and are living as He has called us to live.

I can tell you that it’s easier to believe that He will work miracles in other people’s lives than it is to believe He will work a miracle in our life. Read that again and let it sink in. We pray for miracles for those around us, but when we face hard times, we doubt. Why is that? I wish I knew, but I’ve been there, done that and got the t-shirt.

I have come to realize that it’s the devil that gets in my head and tells me that Jesus won’t come through for me. He tells me that Jesus may help those around me, but not me. These are all lies. He tells me I don’t deserve Jesus’ help and that is true. I don’t deserve any of God’s goodness.

But the Bible tells me that if I surrender myself to Him, He is there for me. He is with me in times of trouble. Romans 8:28 tells me that even in the worst of times, He is working all things for my good simply because I love Him and I do my best to live as He has called me to live and to do what He has called me to do.

When we are fearful, we are rejecting Jesus. We are not fully trusting in what He can do for us. This causes our hearts to harden. It doesn’t mean that we can’t understand, it means that we choose not to.

Don’t reject Him, trust Him. Trust in His protection (Psalm 91). Trust Him to walk you through the flood and the fire (Isaiah 43:2). Trust in Him to calm the storm in your life.

Have a great day!