Page 32 - BACK TO BETHLEHEM
P. 32
said, “I want Jesus in the boat. I don’t want Him where I can’t
see Him. I want Him where I can see Him.” This is the exact
opposite of faith. We walk by faith and not by sight. When He
is in the boat we can see Him and touch Him and we can hear
Him. We are together. That is the exact opposite of faith. They
couldn’t have faith while He was in the boat.
Here’s an amazing thing. When He was in the boat He
did two wonderful miracles. Matthew 14:32, “And when they
got into the boat, the wind stopped.” Those of you who have
struggled at the oars in your own strength, you remember what
a blessing it was when God calmed the storm. My heart is
always praying, “Calm the storm.”
There is a second miracle He did, John 6:21, “They were
willing therefore to receive Him into the boat; and immediately
the boat was at the land to which they were going.” That’s
amazing! They were only half way home and suddenly they
were at their destination. I would have loved to have been
working at the marina! The boat got raptured! My natural heart
says, “Calm the storm and let me arrive at my destination.” We
think God responds to faith and that He does great miracles.
Sometimes He is responding to unbelief when He works those
miracles.
Hold that a moment; faith and sight. Let me look at the
third possibility. I can relate to a God I can’t see who is praying
for me. I can relate to a God that I can see but there is no faith
because it’s all sense. Mark 6:48-50, “And seeing them
straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the
fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea:
and He intended to pass by them. But when they saw Him
walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried
out; for they all saw Him and were frightened. But immediately
He spoke with them and said to them, ‘Take courage; it is I; do
not be afraid.’”
So, now they are on the boat and they look out and they
see a ghost. The mountain was no sight, in the boat is all sight,
in the middle it is half and half – a ghost. When it is mixed you
30

