A heart to understand what Jesus is doing

Mark 6:45-52

⁴⁵ Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. ⁴⁶ After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.

⁴⁷ Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on land. ⁴⁸ He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn he went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, ⁴⁹ but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out, ⁵⁰ because they all saw him and were terrified.

Immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then he climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, ⁵² for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.

Oh, the difficulty with our hearts! The disciples could not understand what Jesus was doing, and who He was, because of their hard hearts. Faith could not rise in them, because of their hard hearts. How often do I pray – God make your ways, your will, your plan more obvious to me – without even beginning to think, ‘Lord, first, soften my heart towards you, where it may be hard.’

These disciples had Jesus with them, every day; here He was, walking on the water, calming a raging sea. And still they did not understand him. Perhaps my inability to see God’s ways, will, and plan is more to do with the state of my heart than it is to do with the state of His activity on my behalf!

Lord, soften my heart towards you, where it may be hard. Show me where hardness of heart is preventing me from hearing from you, seeing you at work, understanding what you’re doing, and knowing what I must do in response. Amen.

Written by Ps. Rob Waugh