Many times God has answered prayers that we've missed. Dr. Tony Evans says that happens when we limit our expectations of how we think he should respond. God is just coming to you in a different way, and He's coming to you on the very problem that's messing with you. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans.
Even when you feel at the top of your game, you can count on hitting a slump sooner or later. Let's join Dr. Evans as he talks about what to do when that happens. If you soak a sponge in water and then put pressure on the sponge, what the sponge absorbed is what comes out. Pressure reveals what has been taken in by the sponge.
If the sponge has not soaked in anything and you apply pressure, nothing's gonna come out because nothing was taken in. When God wants to see whether we were really paying attention, really we're absorbing the truth that He's trying to communicate, He applies pressure, because pressure will reveal what is truly inside. The pressure that God causes or allows to come into our lives are called trials.
Trials are adverse circumstances that God causes or allows in order to develop us spiritually and increase our faith. Throughout the life and ministry of Jesus, in His desire to develop His disciples, He would allow them or put them in adverse situations, because those adversities would reveal whether they had taken in the lessons He was teaching. In chapter 6 of Mark, Jesus has just performed one of His great miracles with fish and barley loaves. We're told in verse 44 of chapter 6 that He fed 5,000 men, and we learned that did not count women and children, because this story is told in the other Gospels as well.
So He is now having fed almost 20,000 people. They have just seen a miracle. Immediately, Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side of Bethsaida, so they get in the boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. Remember, the Sea of Galilee is 8 miles by 12 miles, so they are crossing in the boat in the will of God, because He told them to do it.
So they are obeying God. Crossing the Sea of Galilee, He tells him to meet Him on the other side. As they are doing what they were told, we're told that Jesus Himself was sending the crowd away. He bid them farewell, and He left for the mountain to pray.
He was not going with them. We find in verse 47 that the boat is now in the middle of the sea. Halfway over, they get stuck because the wind was against them. So evidently, you can be doing exactly what Jesus tells you to do and find yourself in difficult waters. Just because you're in the will of God don't mean that you don't have rough sailing in life. It says, when they hit the middle of the sea, halfway toward their goal, they were straining at the oars.
They were struggling to keep going because the winds were contrary that is working against them. Have you ever tried to go forward but circumstances don't let you move? You want to keep going. You want to fulfill what God told you to do. You want to complete the journey that He's given you. You want to obey Him, but stuff just keeps coming up, keeping you from going the way you want to go. And you know it's bad when you got a strain to try to make it. When you got a grunt and groan and cry.
When it gets so hard that you got a sweat because you're trying and you're straining and you're doing everything you can, but the circumstances won't let you move forward. Not only that, but we're told in verse 48 that it was the fourth watch of the night. The fourth watch is 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. That's the fourth watch.
Wait a minute now. So Jesus feeds the 5,000 in daylight. They're struggling at three o'clock in the morning. That means that they've been stuck in the middle for a long time because sometimes when life gets you stuck, you stay there for a while. You can't move forward.
You're trapped in your situation and you can't get out and nothing changes. And on top of all that, it's dark. You can't see.
Your circumstances have blinded you, and you've been there for a while. So Jesus is on land. Jesus is praying. They're struggling, and Jesus is watching them. But wait a minute.
It's the fourth watch. It's dark. Jesus knows what you're going through. He sees you straining at the oars. The darkness of night does not hide your struggle from Him. Even though it was dark and even though they've been struggling for hours, Jesus is watching them straining at the oars, and He's praying.
This is called the intercessory work of Jesus Christ, spoken of in Hebrews chapter 7 verse 25, where the intercessory work of Jesus Christ is where He prays. He told Peter in Luke chapter 22, he says, Peter, I'm praying for you that your faith fail not. You're going to struggle, but I want to see you hold on to your faith in the middle of your struggle. I want to see you not give up on me when the time gets hard. I want to see you not turn your back on me even though you have failed.
I want to see that you're going to keep going even though you're in rough sailing right now. There are many people here today who have thought about giving up on God because you've been straining at the oars too long, and things are so dark that you don't see that things will ever change, and you're tired of crying and sweating. You're tired of doing this and this and this and this, and Jesus is nowhere to be found. He's on the land, and I'm doing the best I can to be in His will, doing the best I can to serve Him. If you're in the will of God, and if you're struggling, and Jesus is aware that you are struggling in the will of God, there must be a reason He's got you struggling.
There must be a reason He's allowed it because He knew it before He sent you on the trip. There must be something to this struggle that has a purpose tied to it that there must be some purpose in this vein. There must be a divine reason for my struggle because I'm doing what He told me to do.
In a sense, they could have gotten away from their struggle, but to get away from their struggle, they would have had to disobey the will of God. Okay, let's back up. Jesus said, go to the other side. I'm gonna meet you at Bethsaida.
That's where I want you to go. They get halfway, and they're struggling. Nothing is happening.
We're out here for hours. Nothing is moving, and the reason nothing is moving is because the winds are contrary. In other words, I'm trying to go this way, and the winds are going this way. So I can't get that way to where God told me to go because stuff keeps coming up that keeps blocking me from getting there. But if I turn and go back where I came from, the winds that are stopping me are going to help me because they're gonna blow me back because the winds are contrary to me. And a lot of times when you're in the will of God, and you're struggling, and you get tired, you want to turn around. God, I can't take it no more, and I want to let the wind blow me back. Let it blow me back because the winds were pushing them against the will of God.
But they were struggling. They were struggling, and Jesus was watching and praying that their faith fail not, even though the struggle was rough, and they're stuck in the middle. We'll return with the second part of Dr. Evans' message in just a moment.
Don't go away. dive deep into the mysteries of enigmatic prophecy where solace awaits the weary soul. Dr. Tony Evans' unparalleled mastery and deciphering the complexities of Scripture will ensure clarity in the face of confusion and illuminate the path towards hope. Arm yourself against the impending storm, and let not the hour of reckoning catch you unaware. Be prepared for what's to come by picking up your copy of Thy Kingdom Come at TonyEvans.org. Comes with a bonus sermon series, Staying Right with God.
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Here's Dr. Evans. It is at this point that in the fourth watch, he came to them walking on the sea. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. They came to him walking on the sea.
But wait a minute. The sea is the problem. The sea is the thing that's causing the difficulty. The sea is the trouble.
The sea, the wind is blowing the sea, and so they can't move forward because the waves are being pushed against the direction of the boat. The sea is the problem. So if Jesus is walking on the sea, He's coming to them on the problem. He's coming to them on the very thing that's causing the difficulty. When He walks on the water, they saw Him, verse 47 says, and supposed He was a ghost and cried out.
I guess so. You see, you need to know something about Jesus. He often comes to us in unexpected ways. Many times, God has answered prayers that we've missed, because we have this limited way that the answer should come.
And so Jesus hears their cry, and He says, take carriage. It is I. Do not be afraid. But the problem has not yet been solved. They're still in the storm. You're gonna see in a moment, the storm has not stopped yet.
So while the storm is still raging, He tells them, take carriage or be of good cheer while the storm is going on. And the thing that will give you good cheer is I want you to recognize I'm here, even though the problem is here too. At first, you had the problem, and I wasn't here. Now that I am here, even though you still have the problem, I want you to change your perspective. I want you to look at your problem in light of my presence, not your problem in light of the problem. I don't want you to deny that you're in a rough sea.
I just don't want you to find yourself alone by the rough sea, because now I've shown up. In other words, He gives them a word from God before He gives them a solution to the problem. We want the solution to the problem, and sometimes we don't care that we hear a word from God. God wants to give His word before He gives a solution, and the reason He wants to give His word before He gives a solution is He's trying to increase our faith in Him. Everybody wants God to solve the problem. God in the problem wants you to see Him, and so He will let you be at the oars for an extended amount of time until you look for Him.
He wants it to be about Him. In the midst of the struggles of life, and you can keep your oars, you can keep struggling, you can keep fussing and complaining and saying, I wish you could keep doing that, but until you recognize Him, He says, you have not grown yet. You have not, you don't understand yet. I want you to see Me. Look for Me in your mess. Look for Me in your heartache. Look for Me in your hurt. Look for Me in your disappointment. Look for Me in your struggle. I want you to look for Me, and I want you to be of good cheer, not because the problem is solved—they're still on the scene—but because you see Me, and My presence changes the equation until the problem is solved. When you are in a struggle, God is calling you to pursue Him, to cry out to Him.
So the first thing He does is speak to them. Have you ever been in a plane? And the plane is in turbulence, bad turbulence, and it makes you uncomfortable. You tighten the seat belt that's already tight.
You start digging into the rails of your seat, like that's gonna do something you do, because you're uncomfortable. You're a little scared, particularly if it's bad turbulence. Do you know how it is when you hear the captain come over, the loudspeaker, and he said, ladies and gentlemen, we've come into some rough air. This should go on for about 20 minutes, or we're looking for calmer air, so just buckle your seat belt until we can get out of this turbulence. Do you know how that settles you down?
You go, okay, I ain't gonna die. In other words, when you hear the captain's voice—you don't see the captain, he's in the cockpit—but you hear his voice. And when you hear his voice, it settles you down, even though you're still in the turbulence. Have you ever been in church or listening to a ministry, and you were in a troubled situation, and you heard a word from God that settled you down, even though your circumstance has not yet changed? That's why, in the struggles of life, you want to look for a word until things change. Don't just look for things to change, because you don't know how long you're gonna be in the middle. But while you're waiting on things to change, look for a word from the Savior. Lord, give me a word.
Yes, I want the sea to be calm. I want my struggle to be over. But while I'm stuck out here in the middle, give me a word to be of good cheer. That's why Colossians chapter 2 verse 7 says, when you're in the struggle, it says, give thanks because it will increase and you'll abound in your faith. Lord, I'm thankful that you're here, even though I don't like where I am. I'm thankful that you have answers to questions I don't understand. I'm thankful that even though it's dark, the boat has not flipped over and I'm still alive.
I'm thankful. And so it was in the middle of this crisis situation, that they come face to face with the Lord, take courage in His eyes, do not be afraid. Verse 51 says, then he got into the boat with them. When he gets in the boat with them, the wind stopped and they were utterly astonished, shocked, surprised. When God wants you to see that He's bigger than you think He is, when God wants you to see that He can do more than you thought He can do, when God wants to give you the experience of Ephesians 3.20, now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask or think, He creates a situation that forces it to happen.
He creates a scenario where in order for you to deal with whatever you're dealing with, He has to be bigger than you expect. It says that Jesus got into the boat and the waters were calm. So He's moved from the land, He's walking on the problem, He gives them a word, now He's in the boat. When He gets in the boat, problem solved. Struggle over. And if that were the end of the story, that would be enough.
But it's not. John says in John chapter 6 verse 20, but He said to them, it is I, do not be afraid. Okay, we've heard that in Mark, but in verse 21, so they were willing to receive Him into the boat and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. Oh no, wait a minute, wait a minute.
No you didn't. Last time I checked, in Mark, they were in the middle of the sea, which means they had four or six miles to go. But when they got Jesus into the boat, it says immediately they had arrived at land.
Immediately they had reached their destination. If they hadn't taken Jesus in the boat, they would have still been stuck in the middle for who knows how long. But the moment they brought Jesus into the boat, they arrived at their destination. Some of us have been in the middle of our struggles too long because we keep Jesus out of the boat. But when they got Jesus in the boat, it says immediately they arrived four to six miles quicker. So you may not have to struggle as long as you think.
You may not have to struggle as long as you've been struggling. It's just Jesus is still not in the boat. You haven't brought Him to bear in the situation because John says when they got in the boat and they received Him, that is welcomed Him, and said come on in here. I don't want you out there. I don't just want you in church.
I don't just want you for religious persons. I need you right here, right now, with me in this. And when Jesus got in the boat, bam, they were arriving at the intended destination.
I got good news for you. Jesus can get you there quicker than you think when you embrace Him in the middle of your struggle. Dr. Tony Evans talking about how the authority of Christ brings us safety and security even in the middle of our toughest times. Now if you'd like to review this lesson again on your own or share it with someone else, just contact us about the title, Victory in a Trial. Better yet, get it as a part of that special offer I mentioned earlier. All six full-length messages from the Having Faith During Fear audio series, as well as the Hope for the Hurting Leader Kit. This entire bundle is yours with our thanks when you make a donation to help us keep sharing the good news on this station and others like it. Contact us today at TonyEvans.org to get the details and make the arrangements, or call 1-800-800-3222 any time of the day or night and let one of our team members help you.
That's 1-800-800-3222. I'll let you know what's coming up next time, right after this. It was my first time meeting Jesus in the Bible. That's what one student is saying after studying bibliology through the Tony Evans Training Center, taught by renowned theologian, Dr. Tony Evans. These online courses feature compelling and exclusive video and audio teaching, plus an interactive scripture-based curriculum you can access online or through the mobile app. Sign up now at TonyEvansTraining.org. Take a course with Dr. Evans and explore the kingdom anytime, anywhere. TonyEvansTraining.org. When our plans and dreams are blown away, Dr. Evans says the Lord is still in control of those who trust in Him. Tomorrow we'll explore how the storms of life can actually benefit us when we have the courage to listen and respond to Christ. I hope you'll join us for that.
