“Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.” – John 6:21
There’s a miraculous element of the story of Jesus walking on the water that is seldom noted or remarked upon. After hours of frustrated rowing against a windstorm and after the sheer terror of seeing their master walking to them on the surface of the water in the middle of the night, the disciples welcomed Jesus into their boat and they were suddenly and immediately transported to their destination! They quit laboring on their own against the forces of nature, welcomed Jesus into the situation, and it was immediately resolved.
There will be times in your own life where the mere act of welcoming Jesus into a difficult situation will immediately resolve it. As Christians, Jesus is always with us. However, quite often we treat Him as if He’s far away, absent, and uninterested. He isn’t! Too often, our instinct in any difficult situation or season is to row harder, work harder, grit our teeth, and grind it out as if we were alone. We aren’t! Yes, we often have to work hard, but we must do so in a way that welcomes Jesus into our labor and relies on His strength and support because ours is inadequate.
Scripture invites us to take EVERYTHING to God in prayer. Even as we’re rowing hard and gritting our teeth, we need to be praying without ceasing. We need to be inviting Jesus to take over and do the hard work while showing us what we need to do to labor in His strength and will. We need to pray for clarity about whether we even need to be rowing and if so, in which direction. We need to invite His power and strength to fill our weakness and exhaustion. Many times, Jesus will give us the strength to keep rowing. Sometimes, the mere act of inviting Jesus into the situation opens the door for Him to completely and immediately resolve our crisis. Have you invited Jesus into your boat?