Can God? God Can!

God Can Walk the Stormy Seas

Matthew 14:24-25
24But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.
25And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.

In Matthew 14 we read about Jesus walking on the stormy sea. That's a miracle I'm sure we all would've loved to see. I'm mean Jesus was walking on top of those crashing waves.
But something that I'd missed before came alive for me the other night when I was studying my Bible. This wasn't the first stormy sea that Jesus had walked that day.
No, He hadn't physically walked on any other body of water, but emotionally, He'd faced a storm, and He'd walked that stormy sea as well.
You have to go back to the beginning of Matthew 14 to see a bit about what I'm talking about. We'll start in verse 10:

"10And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
11And his head was brought in a charger, and given to the damsel: and she brought it to her mother.
12And his disciples came, and took up the body, and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
13a When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart:"

So Jesus had just received the news that John the Baptist was dead, murdered by a wicked king. This was the man who had proclaimed Jesus throughout his ministry. This was the man who had baptized Jesus. This was Jesus' family.
So Jesus went apart from the crowds into a desert place. I'm sure we all would've wanted a little alone time if we heard news like that.
But the crowds found Jesus. Check out these verses from Matthew 14:

"13b ...and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.
14And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.
15And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.
16But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.
17And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.
18He said, Bring them hither to me.
19And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.
20And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.
21And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.
22And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away."

Now Jesus could have begged for the crowd to give Him some time. He could've told them that He had just lost a dear friend. He could've said His emotions were too raw to help them.
But He didn't. He looked at the crowd of needy people and had compassion on them. He didn't plea for their compassion. He saw their needs and He met them.
And when the disciples said it was time for the people to go home, Jesus wouldn't allow it. He performed a miracle and fed thousands of people with the lunch of one small boy.
I don't know about you, but I would say that Jesus had faced a pretty stormy day. A day filled with sorrow. A day filled with stress. But Jesus wasn't overtaken by this emotional storm. He walked the stormy emotional sea, just as He walked the physical stormy sea later that night.
I think the most awesome thing is that not only did Jesus walk the stormy seas, but He enabled His disciples to walk the stormy seas as well. As long as they were looking to Jesus for strength they were able to walk. After all, some of Jesus' disciples had been John's disciples at one time. John the Baptist wasn't just a name to them. He was a person. A person who had led them to Jesus. But Jesus' strength through the situation helped them to have strength.
When it comes to the raging seas of my life, there is no way that I can walk on those stormy waters unless I keep my eyes on Christ. And you can't either. We need to rely on a God who CAN walk the stormy seas. Because it's only through His power that we will be able to make it to the other side of every trial!