Is Jesus on Board?

 

I’d like to point out an interesting situation I noticed in John 6:16-17. It reads: "When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them."

 

Did you ever think about the fact that the disciples just went off and left Jesus? Why? We read in verse 22 that it was the only boat there. Did they forget Jesus? Surely not. Were they just tired of waiting for him to break away from the crowd? No, for Jesus had withdrawn to a mountain by himself to pray, no doubt. Why weren’t they praying with him? Had they set a time to leave and Jesus was a no-show? Perhaps.

 

At any rate, they left Jesus with no obvious way for him to get across the lake. And, of course, without Jesus on board they are soon in trouble. The waters are rough. But Jesus walks out to them, in spite of the troubled waters—on top of the troubled waters!—and miraculously they are suddenly safe on the shore.

 

As I thought about this, I wondered how often I leave without Jesus on board? Without waiting for him, without entrusting the journey to his care, doing everything in my own strength. And then the waters get rough and I realize Jesus is not on board. I left without him. Of course, I know that Jesus never leaves us or forsakes us, but sometimes I just forget to commit my day, my activities, my plans to him. 

 

Maybe today many of us need to ask the Lord to teach us this simple lesson of not going ahead of him, of not trying to tackle our days without him. We need to start each journey—each day—with him on board. We never know what our waters will hold for us. They may look quiet and calm when we start out, but storms can arise quickly, and we’ll need Jesus when they do.

 

Undoubtedly the disciples didn’t expect a­ny difficulty. After all, they had crossed that lake on their own many times. Perhaps they even planned to come back later and get Jesus.

 

But they soon discovered that they needed Jesus on board at all times. So do I. So do you. Don’t lift anchor until you’ve waited on him to join you. Spend quiet time with him each day before you set sail. You’ll be so glad when you hit those troubled waters that you didn’t leave home without him.