MARK 6:45-52 – Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

THEME OF THE DAY. WHEN THE LORD DELAYS HIS COMING. Sometimes waiting is simply an irritating inconvenience. Like waiting on family members to get ready and going someplace when we are already late. Or maybe just the duration of a really long red light or a check-out line. Other times, waiting is more than an irritating inconvenience. It causes deep anxiety, worry, fear, and a host of other heart-paralyzing emotions. This may happen in waiting for a medical test to come back; a prodigal son or daughter to return, and many other serious situations we encounter in life causing us to wait. But one area that may top the list in the pain of waiting is for the Lord either to answer our prayers or come to our rescue with His heart-calming presence and He does neither. He calls us to wait. And sometimes it might be for a good little while.

The disciples in today’s scripture are placed in God’s “waiting room.” The Lord sent them to sea. They were going ahead of Him. Now these were not novice sailors. They had sailed this sea many times. As they get underway, night time falls and the wind kicks up which means the seas got rough. And they were afraid and alone. The Master was not there but He was there . . . Mark writes, “And He saw that they were making headway painfully for the wind was against them.” He was there in His omniscience. He was also there in His sovereignty for the Ruler of the waves had sent His disciples ahead to teach them an important lesson about Himself and themselves. And this lesson would be learned in God’s school of waiting.

As the disciples fret, worry, and fear for their lives, Jesus did not immediately come to their rescue. God’s Word reads, “about the fourth watch of the night, Jesus came to them.” Remember, they got underway late afternoon, early evening. The fourth watch is between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. Jesus delayed in coming to help them. Not because He didn’t love them, but they need to learn to abandon themselves and their trying situations to Him and wait for Him to act. It is the same in our lives. Jesus will not immediately calm all our storms in life. He will not instantaneously remove difficult circumstances. Why? Not because He doesn’t love us, but to teach us persevering faith; to wait confidently and expectantly on His always good timing.

So, if the Lord is placing us in a waiting situation and delaying an answer to prayer or sense of His presence, let the waiting do its deep work. Don’t get irritated, complain, or try to “calm the sea” on our own strength. It will only frustrate us and lead to missing the important faith building situation God in which has placed us.

PRAYER: “Lord, forgive me when I grow impatient and complain when Your timing in my life doesn’t match mine.”

QUOTE: “God may delay answering a prayer or manifesting His presence to us to develop persevering faith in us.”