Daily Lesson for January 11, 2019

Today’s Daily Lesson comes from John chapter 6 verses 16 through 21:

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17got into a boat, and started across the lake to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18The lake became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the lake and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid.’ 21Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land towards which they were going.

It was night and a strong wind was blowing and Jesus had not come. 

Those two conditions well describe the time and season and conditions the church finds itself today. 

The seas are rough and challenging. The winds are against us. The waves threaten to overwhelm us. It is very, very hard rowing. It is very, very dark. And Jesus has not come. 

And the disciples have no other choice or mission or call than to keep going, keep at it, keep putting the oars in even as the whitecaps break heavy upon us. 

For our task is not to know the times or the seasons or the conditions of the sea; our task is to keep this boat going.

And, suddenly, perhaps in the darkest hour when the conditions are most difficult and we’re about to be swamped, Jesus comes to us across the sea and gets us safely to the next landing site.

The times and conditions are tough. The seas roar.  But we stay at it. We don’t quit. We don’t give up. We keep rowing and praying, praying and rowing, rowing and praying, and trusting, and trusting, and trusting that He will come to us again.

So we beat on . . .