Does Jesus See How Hard I’m Trying?
When doing the right thing leaves you weary, Jesus comes near and gives you courage to keep going.
Have you ever done what Jesus asked and still felt as though you were getting nowhere?
After feeding the five thousand, Jesus “made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side” (Matthew 14:22 ESV). They obeyed. Yet the wind was against them, the waves battered their boat, and Mark says they were “making headway painfully” (Mark 6:48 ESV). Hour after hour, they strained at the oars. Even seasoned fishermen could grow exhausted in that darkness.
I sometimes hear people say, “Enjoy the journey.” On my recent 5,000-mile drive pulling a camper, I wanted to do just that. But after the Alaska Highway, long stretches of landscape begin to look much the same. At times the wind and rain made driving harder; at others, the monotony itself was tiring. I was glad to be on my way home, but at times it took all I had to keep driving to get there.
Perhaps you know that kind of weariness—even when the journey you’re on is one you chose to make. You’ve tried to do what’s right, cared for someone, kept a commitment, or taken the next step of obedience. Still, resistance wears you down. You wonder whether the struggle means you heard Jesus wrong.
The disciples had not taken a wrong turn. Jesus had sent them across the lake, and he saw them straining. Sometime between 3:00 and 6:00 in the morning, he came to them, walking on the sea. Yet his unexpected approach terrified them. Thinking he was a ghost, they cried out. Whatever courage the experienced fishermen had brought to the crossing, all of them were unnerved (Mark 6:49–50).
Jesus answered their fear before he addressed the wind. Matthew records: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid” (Matthew 14:27 ESV). The words translated “it is I” are egō eimi, literally, “I am.”
The One walking toward them was no ghost. He was Jesus, the LORD, whose authority extends over the wind and waves. His Presence gave them reason for courage before anything around them changed.
Psalm 107 pictures sailors whose courage also melted amid the waves. At their wits’ end, they cried to the LORD, who quieted the sea and “brought them to their desired haven” (Psalm 107:30 ESV). The Gospel scene echoes that psalm. When Jesus entered the boat, the wind ceased; John says the boat was immediately at the land to which they were going.
I would welcome an “immediately” when the journey is long. Yet John’s account does not promise one for every journey. It shows us whom to welcome when we are weary: the One who is walking on the water faster than we can row.
Today, if you’re exhausted from rowing against the wind, listen for Jesus’s “Take courage; I am. Do not be afraid.” Welcome him into this part of your journey.
