The miracle in the mess...

​       Recently, while reading a book entitled, “Uninvited” by Lysa Terkeurst, she looked at the idea of a “miracle in the mess” and used the story of Jesus walking on water to illustrate her point (Matthew 14:22-33; Mark 6:45-52). As I read on, a few ideas came to mind. For one thing, the disciples missed the greater miracle of Jesus walking on water. They were so caught up in their crisis, that they were blind to everything else good, including a miracle. Maybe, that’s why Jesus did not rebuke the wind and the waves, because the miracle was that He actually walked on water NOT that He calmed a storm. Maybe, He wanted them to see that miracles do happen IN THE STORM.  The storm did not have to cease for the miracle to take place.  In fact, it happened while the storm was raging. They almost even missed Him, the miracle-worker, because they didn’t even recognize Him at first.
         How many times do we miss the real miracle in progress because our eyes are so focused on the mess we’re in. All we want is for the storm to be over, to see and reach the light at the end of the tunnel. Now, that’s normal human behavior. We all want to reach the end of our “hell,” our “mess.” But what if the greater miracle is right there IN the storm. What if the greater miracle is being able to be at peace in the storm, to experience joy, even hope in the storm and what about God’s strength? The only time we will appreciate this is when we are in a debilitating situation that is sucking the life out of us. I remember various storms in my life. I wanted them to be over but right there in those stormy situations was where I felt closest to God, where I experienced His strength, His love, His peace. It was where I developed backbone and where my relationship with God grew and matured.
         Interestingly, only Peter seemed to get a glimpse of what was going on. He was the only one who asked Jesus to bid him come to Him on the water. Only Peter seemed to recognize a miracle in progress and wanted and chose to be a part of it. He chose to take his eyes off the mess they were in – it was still there – and to be part of the miracle in progress. And he would have made it too, but he once again put his eyes back on the problem and started to sink. He never asked Jesus to come to him, he chose to go to Him. He fixed his eyes on Him and went forward towards Him. He only stopped when he lost his focus, when he took his eyes off Jesus and put them back on the problem. At that point, not only did he begin to sink, but he was unable to move forward. He got stuck.  When we get stuck it may be because we have taken our eyes off the Author and Finisher of our faith and focused them on the wrong thing. We can’t move forward anymore, or even backward, we’re just stuck. But guess what? When Peter cried out, “Lord save me,” Jesus CAME to him WHERE HE WAS and helped him. God will never leave us in our stuck position to drown. When we cry out to Him for help, He will always come to our rescue.
         The interesting part is, when they got into the boat, the stormy weather ceased. Jesus did not have to say a word maybe because the real miracle had already taken place . . . during the storm. How many miracles have we missed as we battled the storms of life? Maybe we experienced God’s strength and peace. For some of us maybe the fact that the storm did not kill us and that we’re still alive and standing and in our right minds, is the greatest miracle of all!!!

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