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(upbeat music) - Welcome to Daily Drive Time Devotions. We're in day three of
our look together at John chapter six, beginning in verse 15 today. Remember
that we yesterday ended our look at this incredible miracle that Jesus worked,
but it's really not our end of the look at it because there are some lessons to
learn in it.

The miracle just starts, really, what God wants to do in our lives. One of the
greatest lessons of all time is found in one of the greatest miracles of all
time, this feeding of the 5,000. And as Jesus teaches this lesson, he
immediately gives those who were there a, well, I would call it a pop quiz.

He began in the ways that he acted, the things that he did, and then we're going
to see tomorrow and the next day the things that he taught to ask them questions
about what they just learned. Look at what happens in verses 15 to 17, verse 15.
Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him a king by force, withdrew
again to a mountain by himself.

That's where we ended yesterday. And then verse 16, when evening came, his
disciples went down to the lake where they got into a boat and they set off
across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark and Jesus had not yet joined
them.

Now the other gospels, as they tell us this story, tell us that they left before
Jesus because Jesus told them to. They weren't leaving him behind. He said, I
want you to go ahead.

I want some time alone with the father is the idea here. Jesus intentionally
separates himself from the disciples after this great miracle. Why?

Well, he does it to reject the call of the crowd. He doesn't want his disciples
saying, why didn't you let the crowd say what they wanted to say? He does it to
spend time alone with the father, but he also does it for the disciples.

He places his disciples in a position of trust because look what happens in
verse 18 is they're on their way across this lake. A strong wind was blowing and
the waters grew rough. I don't want you to miss in verse 18 the fact that these
disciples were caught in the middle of a storm because they obeyed the Lord.

The Lord said, I want you to go ahead of me. And they obeyed him and they got
caught in a storm. Sometimes we get caught in storms because we disobey the
Lord.

That happened to Jonah in the Old Testament as an example. But sometimes,
sometimes the storm that we find ourselves in, it's there because we obey the
Lord. He allows us to go through storms in this world.

He has his purposes. And then in verse 19, we see his purpose in this one. When
they had rode three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the
boat, walking on the water and they were terrified.

I want you to get the picture here. This is in the midst of the storm. A lot of
times when we picture Jesus walking on the water, the picture we have in our
minds is this smooth as a glass lake and Jesus is walking across making ripples
all the way.

No, this is a storm. He's walking on the waves and he's getting to them. This is
one of Jesus's most famous miracles, walking on the water.

It's one of his most impressive miracles. We think, well, I've seen 5,000 people
fed before, maybe not miraculously, but I've seen that happen before. I've seen
water turn to wine.

Now it had to go through grapes and then it had to go through fermentation. But
I've seen that happen before. It's just a speeded up process.

But this, walking on the water, how could that happen? Only God could do this.
It impresses us.

But when the disciples first saw this, it did not impress them at all. They
instead, they were terrified, we just read. The disciples' fear had a powerful
impact on the way that they saw things.

And they saw Jesus as a threat to keep away from their boat, instead of the
savior that they needed to welcome into their boat. The question I have, the
question I want to ask you is, where is Jesus in your life going unrecognized,
in the midst of a storm? And because of that, are you terrified of what maybe he
wants to even do?

But you're holding it at arm's length because it's confusing to you. You haven't
discovered yet that really is God at work. You haven't let it get close enough.

How do you know if it's God at work? Look at verse 20. "But he said to them, 'It
is I, don't be afraid.

'" I want to give you right now some of the most important biblical advice
you're ever going to hear about what to do when you're afraid. The advice is
this, when you're afraid, listen. When you're afraid, listen to God.

When I'm afraid, when you're afraid, you may do the same thing as I do, we tend
to run, we run in this direction, that direction. We tend to talk, try to talk
ourselves out of it. We tend to think, try to get away from it.

When I'm afraid, the first thing I need to do is I need to listen, because when
they listen, they heard Jesus say, "It is I, don't be afraid. " You want to know
what one of the most common commands in the Bible is? It's right here, don't be
afraid.

Some people call it the most often repeated command in the Bible. When people
were in situations that terrified them, when they took a moment to listen, just
a moment, they heard God say to them, "Don't be afraid. " So listen, and maybe
you need to hear it right now today.

Don't be afraid. Because that which most frightened the disciples in this storm
turned out to be Jesus. Their greatest fear turned out to be their savior.

They had an unreasonable fear. Some of our fears are very reasonable, but some
of them are unreasoned. And the question I have to ask myself, the question I
ask you is this, what are you afraid of?

What's your greatest fear right now? What's your greatest fear in life? And how
could Jesus show up right in the midst of that fear?

Jesus is there. How is your fear keeping you from seeing him? He is there.

How is your fear keeping you from listening to him? When you're afraid, listen.
Listen for God's three simple words.

Don't be afraid. When they heard those words, something incredibly important
happened, verse 21. Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and
immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

The other gospels tell us that when Jesus walked on the water, Peter also walked
on the water. One of the gospels tells us that. Another gospel tells us that the
storm was immediately still, but not John.

All he says is they were willing to take him into their boat when immediately
they were at their destination. Now, why does he focus on that? Because he's
called to emphasize what we might otherwise miss.

The most important thing in this story, they were willing to take Jesus Christ
into their boat. You see, sometimes when we're afraid, often when you and I are
afraid, we keep him out of our boat. We keep him at arm's length in our lives.

Why? Jesus is powerful. He walks on water.

He calms the storms. And we keep him out when we want to do things our way. And
often when we're afraid, we want to do things our way.

We're afraid he's going to ask us to do something that will make us even more
afraid. And so we keep him out. We intuitively know that because he is powerful,
he is Lord, once we let him into the boat, he's going to do things his way.

Now, doing things his way includes calming the storm, by the way. In our fear,
sometimes we become so self-focused that we keep him out of the boat at arm's
length in our lives. So here's the question.

How are you doing that? How can you invite him into the boat in your life? We
have here with us again today, Pastor Joel Sinagoga from Rwanda, my friend and
pastor.

And he was just this morning teaching some of our men something about fear and
some of the fears that he as a pastor and his church have had to face. And Joel,
would you mind just sharing with us before we pray together today, some of the
greatest fears that you had to face and how God helped you as you began a new
church in Rwanda? - Yes, Tom.

I remember this one incident. I was really feeling a strong conviction in my
heart to go and start a church in this poor community in the suburb of Kigali,
one of the, you know, in the outskirts of Kigali city. And I remember, you know,
because of the overwhelming conviction, remember standing before the
congregation of a very big church in terms of numbers, the church that I was
part of before I moved to start this church.

And, you know, in front of all the congregation because they were bidding me
farewell. And I had this sense of conviction. And I said something that I was
later to sort of regret why I ever made such a kind of statement.

And what was on my heart when they said, why do you want to tell this
congregation? And I said, I'm going to start a church. And I feel the Lord
leading me to do so.

And I don't believe there is enough devils in hell to hinder this work. Now that
was a positive confession out of the faith and the conviction I was having in my
heart. A few steps after that.

(laughs) Then, you know, these questions started coming into my mind. Why did
you make that outrageous statement? What are you going to do?

You just nowhere, there's no church, no nothing. And this is the confession you
are making just ahead of time. Suppose it doesn't work.

And there was this sense of fear gripping my heart. But I remember it was around
the same time that Pasarik was giving his ever first purpose-driven conference
in Kigali. I happened to be, you know, you were part of the team, Tom, I
remember.

And he said, the worst failure is never to begin. - Worst failure is never to
begin. - Yes.

Fear is the most hindrance that will lead people, you know, to fail, you know,
to never starting anything. And I went for that, and that has really helped me.
And I have lived to see my confession now come true.

- Because of God's strength. - Because of God's strength. And it's amazing that
when we yield and learn to trust him, it's amazing, you know, the great things
he can do.

- Yes. And Joel and I, as we pray today, we have fears, you have fears. Let's
bring them together to Jesus.

And as we bring them to him, as we pray, what are you afraid of today? It may be
a paralyzing fear and you realize it. It may be a confusing fear and you're not
really sure why you're afraid.

It may be just something you're avoiding, a small, unpleasant fear. It doesn't
matter what kind of fear it is. The truth is, you know it's controlling your
life right now.

It's making your decisions instead of your faith. Listen, right now in prayer,
listen. You hear Jesus' voice.

Don't be afraid. If a human being says that to you, it means little. But when
God says that to you, it means everything.

Don't be afraid. Look for Jesus, even in the storm. Invite him into your boat.

Don't try to work it out yourself. Don't be afraid of what he's going to do.
Say, "Jesus Christ, instead of working it out myself or being afraid of what
you're going to do, I trust you.

I hear you say to me, "Don't be afraid. " I thank you. In your name, amen.