Derek Grier - He Will Catch You
Mark 6:45, Mark says, "Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat". Now, Jesus had just fed 5,000 people, and in John six and 15, he gives us a little insight about what was happening. It says that the people wanted to take Jesus by force and make him king. Now, that may seem, you know, kind of strange to us all. You know, he just fed 5,000. Why would they want to make Jesus king over that particular miracle? But Napoleon famously states, "An army marches on its stomach," meaning armed resistance cannot endure unless a soldier or soldiers are well fed.
So the people that just witnessed a man who had fed 5,000 men, and there were women and children there too. So there were more than just the 5,000, with a boy's lunch, just, you know, some fish and some bread. So here Jesus has captured the imagination of his nation and they began to think, you know what? Jesus could become a great military leader like David, and he could throw off the opposition of Roman and Israel could become a light to the nations and they could rule the world a little bit like the time of Solomon. But there can be no kingdom of God on earth until after the kingdom of God is established in hearts.
So immediately, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side to Bethsaida while he sent the multitudes away. It's not easy to send people away who think you have what they want. Miles Monroe, my pastor of a lot of years, used to tell me, "Don't confuse people who love your gift with people who love you". That'll help you. See, Jesus knew the hearts of humanity. Some people will use you as long as you let them and then spit you out the minute you no longer serve their purposes. Young people, she or he will say they love you as long as they're getting what they want. But you will not see a person's true colors until you stop offering them free benefits.
"And when he had sent them away, he departed to the mountain to be alone with God and to pray". This was really the temptation in the wilderness all over again. The Bible says, after he was tempted 40 days and 40 nights, "the devil left him for a more opportune time," which meant that the devil didn't just leave him. He just waited till Jesus had, well, he felt Jesus might have a weak moment. You see, remember in the wilderness, the devil said, "Well, if you bow down and worship me, I will give you all the kingdoms of this world".
And what Satan was offering him was another way to be king. Okay, you want to rule, you're talking about your kingdom and all that stuff, okay. You don't have to go to the cross. You don't have to deal with pain and suffering and all that. Just bow down and worship me. Do it my way and you won't have to face all that.
But Proverbs 14 and 12 said, "There is a way that seems right unto a man, but its end is the way of death". Now, if the Holy Spirit quoted this to me once as a younger man, he quoted it to me 1,000 times, because sometimes the wrong thing just makes sense. Human reasoning left to itself will get you playing in the wrong grass and it will get you bitten every single time. When sin is most attractive, you need to pull aside and pray the most. So. So here we have the crowd saying, "Jesus, listen, use your gifts, use your skill. Use your anointing to become a natural king and give us a natural kingdom".
And Jesus had to contend with this because, you know, he's human. Lord, you know what, what did he say at Gethsemane? "You know what, Lord, if there's any other way, do I have to drink this cup? Do I have to hang naked with people laughing at me, mocking me? Do I have to let them put these long, thick, heavy, rusty nails into my wrists and into my ankles? Do I need to take the beating? Come on, I'm God. I created this planet. Everything on the earth was made through me, and I'm gonna let another man beat me, smack me, mock me. They're gonna put a bunch of thorns in my head. God, there gotta be another way".
So when evening came, he's praying and the boat was in the middle of the sea and he was alone on the land, and Jesus was dealing with his own crisis. You say, "Wait, wait, wait. I thought Jesus was first". He is. But the Bible teaches he was tempted on all points as we are, yet without sin. If he wasn't tempted, it couldn't be temptation. So in his humanity, any good human doesn't want to go to a cross. I mean, even people into pain are not into that type of pain. "Then he sees them straining at rowing". It's one thing to be working hard. It's another thing to be straining. All a strained muscle is is a muscle that has been stretched so far it tears.
And the only antidote and the only way you can stop a muscle from tearing when you start getting close is to rest. But in the middle of a storm of this magnitude, a storm like this, there was no cruise control. There was no automatic pilot here. And in the middle of a storm like this, if you rest, you die. So what do you do when rowing forward, moving forward is damaging you? It's stretching you to the place of breaking, to the place that, you know what? When this thing is over, if I survive, I'm going to be damaged.
What do you do when moving forward is harming you but you also know quitting will cause you to sink and die? What do you do in such a situation? So these men are straining, meaning they're being stretched on the inside beyond a breaking point. But then we also see what's going on in the outside. "For the wind was, what, against them".
Anybody ever feel like you can't catch a break? Man, you can't even catch a breath. You can't let your guard down for a minute to at least relax and get a little perspective. And you're thinking in the middle of it, "God, if you're out there, would you cut me some slack, God? Give a brother a break, God. I just need a moment, God. I'm willing to roll, but I'm at the end. I'm hurting myself, God". Matthew 14 and 25, add some details that are not in Mark's narrative, so we're gonna switch there real quick.
"Now in the fourth watch of the night". Now, a trip across this lake usually only took about two hours or so, and you get to the other side, but we just read it was the fourth watch. You see, the ancients did not communicate time the same way we do. They divided the night into what they called watches, not hours. And since they were being occupied by the Romans, I guess that's why they started using this type of language. They recognize that each watch lasted three hours. And basically, you know, they would put a sentinel out and they started telling time by, you know, when the sentinel or the lookout or the Roman lookout changed or rotated.
So a sentinel would be on duty for about, you know, three hours. But they didn't wanna overburden, you know. They wanted to make sure that that, you know, God didn't fall asleep. So, you know, they assigned him three hours and then after the end of three hours there'd be a rotation and the new guy would come in. So the first watch was around 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. The second, by the way, they didn't have technical watches like we do. They used the sun. So it's approximate. Second 9:00 PM, the second watch, to 12:00 PM the third, 12:00 to 3:00 AM, and the fourth was 3:00 AM to 6:00 AM. Now that makes sense in a minute.
"Now in the fourth watch of the night". The Bible says that they left right before the first watch of the evening, but now it was the fourth watch. It was supposed to be a two-hour journey. How many y'all are old enough to remember "Gilligan's Island"? What was it, like a three-hour tour, and they ended up stuck there forever. But nine to 12 hours later they were still rowing. How in their mind could they... Jesus made them get in the boat. Jesus told them to go to the other side. So how could Jesus love them, send them into this crisis, and then delay so long at the same time? Sometimes the focus is not what God sends us into, but what he's trying to get out of you.
If you look at the monarch and if you wanna reign and rule you've gotta sometimes go through a little bit of suffering, a little bit of challenge, and you gotta go sometimes into these hard spots because God's trying to develop something in you. "Now in the fourth..." Not the first, the second. The fourth watch, muscles are tearing. Nerves are frayed. Everybody's upset. You're taking on water. It looks like you are going to drown in the middle of what you thought was the will of God. But life is a lot like this year's Super Bowl. Games are not won or lost until the fourth quarter.
"Now in the fourth watch". Some of you are in the fourth watch. You are in the fourth quarter. Hang on to the fourth quarter. I know, you know, second, third, the fourth quarter is when you win. "Now in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them". Sure, it was later than they wanted. But last I checked Isaiah 55 and I think it's verse eight or so teaches us, "His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways".
So if you could figure everything out, you'd be God. So God in his wisdom, he knows what he's doing. But since we're not God, we don't always understand. Real faith is continuing to trust God even when life does not make sense. God, if you loved me, you'd have been here by now. How did it get so late in the game? So late in the season, Lord, before you turned it around? You told me, Lord, to get in this boat. You told me to be with these guys in this boat. And here I am sinking, almost going under. What type of God are you? All of them have these types of questions.
But then the Bible said, Jesus is the Word of God incarnate, God become flesh. "Went to them, walking on the sea". As overwhelming as their situation was, the Word of God was still above everything trying to bring them down. You might be in the middle of it, in the thick of it, but remember God's Word is the only thing that's gonna help you rise above it. The Word of God was walking on the water. "And when the disciples saw him walking on the the sea, they were troubled".
You know, a couple moments ago they thought the situation just couldn't get worse. Ever been in a situation, it could not get worse than this, but then it did. They said, "We not only have a storm. It's a ghost"! Yeah, the ancients, you know, thought the world was flat. And they grow up hearing these stories about these great, you know, beasts of the sea and Neptune and those guys, and they rose out of the sea and all this different stuff. They heard these stories from childhood and all their fears were coming to pass. First they were in a devil of a storm. Now they think they're facing the devil himself. "And they cried out in fear".
Many of us in this room are. I don't think I'd be teaching this 'cause I wanted to teach some other things. You have the answer staring right in your face, but your emotional state is causing you not to see it. You're so emotionally drained. You are so exhausted, so tired. You're confusing friend with foe, God with the devil and the devil with God. But Jesus in his mercy didn't pass them by. "He spoke to them, saying, be of good cheer. It is I".
We will all have moments in our lives that God's plan looks like the devil. Looks like the devil. The devil must have got me in that boat. The devil must have got me around these 12 men. It must've been the devil that did this 'cause God could not have created a set of circumstances that would stretch me this much, that would push me beyond my breaking point like this. God would not do that. He said, "It is I. Do not". The Word of God showed up. "Do not be afraid".
When you are at your lowest, you've gotta keep looking to the Highest. Jesus was telling them, "Stop all that worrying, that hand-wringing, all that upset. You may be surprised by this journey, but I am not. Trust me". "And Peter answered, he said, Lord, if it is you..." When you're in the middle of a storm, that's really the only thing you need to know Lord, is it you? You see, in God's economy and God's scheme and God's plan, now, the devil means the storm. The devil's trying to kill them. The devil's trying to wipe them out. But the devil has a plan but God has purposes, and even in the midst of the devil's plan, he can work his purpose.
But God's purposes in the storm are to eliminate all of our false dependencies. You see, they were trusting the boat. Peter was trusting the rowing strength of John. John was trusting the rowing strength of James. All of them were trusting the weather. Others of them were trusting the water. But Jesus said, "I want you just to trust my word". And there are things in your life that you have trusted and they have broken your little heart.
But God in his wisdom is just trying to wean you from dependencies that will hurt you and kill you and bring you down. The only thing above the storm was God's Word. And when I'm in the middle of it, that's what I reached for. That's what I cling to. That's what I gotta hold on to. He said, "Lord, if it's you, command me".
I need a commander in an hour like this. I don't need no suggestion. I don't need no bright ideas. I need the Lord of hosts. I need the commander of the seize the waves and the wind. I need the Lord Jehovah in my life. I need God to show up in an hour like this. "Lord, if it's you, command me to come to you on the water".
This was a bold ask, but what I want you to understand, the thunder of the storm did not silence or conquer the roar in Peter's heart. And don't let your last storm steal your roar, steal your desire, steal your thirst for what's next in your life. No guts, no glory. God honors bold prayers, because bold prayers honor him. Pray a prayer big enough only God can answer. Stop praying for things you can fix on your own, but pray a big prayer.