A vast crowd was there as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. - Matthew 14:14
How do you react when somebody upsets your plans? Perhaps you have planned a lovely day at the zoo with the children, when, at the last minute, you get a phone call from work. Or perhaps you have dreamed of a special vacation. The plans are in place, but a distant relative dies and you have to go to the funeral. You get as upset as your upset plans!
Something like that happened to the disciples. They had planned a lovely vacation with Jesus. They had the place all picked out—a resort area on beautiful Lake Galilee.
They needed a vacation! They had just received the terrible news that their dear colleague and friend, John the Baptist, had been cruelly murdered. They had been terribly busy for days—keeping the crowds of people who came to see Jesus in order, helping take the sick to the master, and controlling the children who got under everyone’s feet. Feeding and housing their party and making endless travel arrangements was hard work. How relieved they must have been when they were actually on their way away from it all!
But “it all” met them as soon as they stepped out of the boat on the other side of the lake. Jesus was moved as he looked at the multitude of need. The disciples looked at the multitude and needed to have them re-moved! How would you have reacted? Take a hint from Jesus. Sometimes an upset means a special appointment made by God himself.
For Further Study: Matthew 14:1-14
Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.
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