๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข When was the last time you went on a trip? What were the things that made the journey difficult?
โข Share about an instance when you asked someone for help. What led you to do this?
โข Recall a time when you had to accomplish a difficult task. Tell us about it.
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข, ๐จ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ถ๐ฎ. ๐๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐ฌ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ.ย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ฒ-๐ญ๐ณ
(Read also ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ด-๐ฎ๐ญ.)
Jesusโ disciples were on their way to Capernaum. At sea, the circumstances were not favorable to them. It was dark, there was a storm, and more importantly, Jesus was not physically with them. The disciples were caught in a difficult situation they could not overcome on their own. After rowing for a few miles, Jesus appearedโand He was walking on water! The disciples were frightened at first, but when they recognized that it was Jesus, they were assured of His presence. In this miracle, we see how Jesus alone trumps over allโincluding the elements, fear, and chaos.ย
๐ญ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ด๐ข๐ธ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ธ๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ด-๐ญ๐ต
The disciples were stuck in a storm that seemed to have no way out. But Jesus suddenly appeared walking on water. In their culture, large bodies of water and the abyss of the sea were considered chaotic and dangerous. Jesus walking on water shows that He is the only one with authority to walk over the water, an element that no one else, including the disciples, could overcome. It was not by the strength of the disciples to row, the weather, nor by any other thing that Jesus was able to do this. It was because of who He is. Why do you think we could take a familiar story like this for granted? Why is this a โblow your mindโ kind of experience?ย
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ.
๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐; ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ง๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ.โ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฒ:๐ฎ๐ฌ
The disciples were ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ by what was happening (John 6:19). Their reaction to the situation was human; fear comes when there is a crisis. However, Jesus reacted differently to the storm. He was neither afraid nor intimidated by the disciplesโ fear and the storm. In fact, Jesus walked over the troubling sea, and then proceeded to calm their fears. When Jesus said, โ๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐, ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ง๐ณ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ,โ the disciples immediately felt relieved. Jesus was greater than both the storm and their fear. If you were in the boat with the other disciples, how do you think you would have reacted to the situation? Why?
๐ฏ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ผ๐.ย
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. . . . ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.ย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฒ:๐ญ๐ด, ๐ฎ๐ญ
When Jesus came to their rescue, the disciples turned their attention to Himโno longer on the storm or their weakness in the situation. They looked to Jesus for who He is and what He can do. In the midst of chaos, Jesus brought the disciples away from the storm and eventually into safety. It is not clear how exactly Jesus brought the disciples to land, but what the Bible records is that He was able to do it, in a way that only He can. How does this truth comfort you?ย
The fifth sign shows that God has authority over any and every situation in our livesโincluding the most difficult ones. He is not limited by our circumstances or fears. Just like how God brought order in the chaos of the seas by speaking (Genesis 1), this story points to Jesus as the one who has power over the chaos of the world.ย
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Reflect on how God brought you through a difficult time. How did He show you that He is above these challenges?
โข What challenges are you going through this season? Take some time this week to remember that Jesus is always with you and to declare Godโs authority over the storms you may be facing
โข Jesus alone brought relief and comfort to the disciples in the midst of a storm. Share this particular truth about Jesus with someone this week.
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God that Jesus is always with you and that He is able to overcome every difficult situation in your life. Ask God for faith to believe this truth starting today.
โข Pray that you would fix your eyes on Jesus over any circumstance or fear. Pray that God builds your faith through the challenges you may be facingโthat Jesus is the anchor and certainty of life amidst difficult storms.
โข Ask God for courage and wisdom to share the truth about who Jesus is to those around you who are going through storms in their lives.