Idiots?

Sometimes when I read the Bible, I am inclined to think the disciples might have been idiots, but usually I remember that they were just humans, without the benefit of hindsight and a New Testament to explain a few things to them. It must have been awfully confusing traveling around with the Son of God without quite understanding who he was or what he was up to. Let's face it: we have the whole Bible and we still don't really understand the Son of God and what he is up to on Earth.

So the poor disciples often appear utterly faithless. They often seem to be freaking out about something that turns out to be nothing -- which means that the poor disciples appear to be a whole lot like us; and though we might think we'd do better if we had some time to hang out with Jesus, Emmanuel, here in the flesh, I am guessing that is just our ego talking and we wouldn't do any better than they did. I recently read these verses from Matthew 14: Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them [the disciples, in a boat], walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

It struck me that much of life is just like the disciples' experience that night. We're just doing our thing -- living our ordinary lives -- and the next thing we know, something scary comes our way: sickness, job loss, relationship troubles, kids making bad choices, etc. And our reactions are the same as the disciples: we are terrified. We don't understand that Jesus is out there on the water and that all circumstances present an opportunity to meet him all over again. I cannot explain your sickness or bankruptcy or divorce or depression or your child's drug use. This world is often a desperate and sad place. I don't have the first idea how God will make a way for these objectively terrible things to work for good, as he says they will. That's the miracle business, and God doesn't need us to see it or understand it in order to make it happen.

Like the disciples, we panic when the unexpected comes our way because we don't yet have the benefit of hindsight and because trust is not our strong suit. But Jesus is on the water, walking toward you. This I DO know. It looks scary, yes, it does. But I hear Jesus saying, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."