Many years ago, I went on a fishing trip for the first time with some friends on Coronet Bay near Corinella.  I soon found out that things are not always smooth sailing.  The seas were choppy, and it didn’t take too long before I was very unwell.  I will spare you the graphic details, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience.  Recently we also travelled from Geelong by ferry to the Docklands and thankfully, the Lord provided a lovely sunny day and Port Philip Bay was as smooth as glass.  That was a much more pleasant experience.

These trips reminded me of the disciples in John 6.  They had just witnessed one of the Lord’s greatest miracles with the feeding of the five thousand (Jn 6:1-15).   The disciples were most privileged to have Jesus, the ‘miracle worker’ beside them.  The crowd’s tummies had been filled and Jesus was everyone’s hero.  That was probably a very pleasant experience for the disciples.

However, things can change quickly as the disciples also found out.  From a ‘spiritual high,’ they find themselves in a small boat on a lake with the winds and waves threatening their very lives.  And just when you need the ‘miracle’ worker, He is not with them.  It was probably a very unpleasant experience for the disciples. 

These experiences also happen in our daily Christian lives.  On any given day, because of the Lord’s blessing, things just fall into place and everything is going fine with work, family, and life is great.  But then on another given day, or perhaps even the same day, things can go pear-shape.  Loss of health, employment, or some other tragedy strikes close to home, and we wonder why the Lord seems far away.   Thankfully, the Lord can use pleasant and unpleasant, fearful times to make us grow and trust in His provision, and is a blessing, lest we are tempted to become arrogant and think we no longer need the Lord.   

I’m sure the disciples didn’t appreciate the storming seas around them, and we may not always appreciate the storms rising around us either.  However, just as Jesus didn’t forget His disciples on Lake Galilee, He doesn’t forget us either.   He not only calmed the seas and wind by the power of his word for the disciples, He has secured our eternal security through His death and resurrection, and has promised to be with us, even to the end of the age.  

So, let us be thankful for both the blessing of ‘summer’ and ‘winter’ experiences that are part of our Christian life.   Pray that the Lord would use these experiences to draw us closer to Himself, and to mature our faith.   May we be able to sing with the Psalmist, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.  JZ