GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 6:48
Never Alaone
Obedience to the will of the Father does not prevent troubles. In Chapter Eleven of the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, he listed some of the opposition he encountered while doing work for Christ—hard work, prison, flogging, stoning, shipwreck, and frequent danger. In England, William Wilberforce (1759-1833) opposed the slave trade on religious grounds and confronted the opposition of those who profited from the slave trade. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), a Lutheran theologian and pastor, opposed the Nazis in World War II, and he paid the ultimate price for his convictions when he was executed in 1945. Missionary Jim Elliot (1927-1956) and those helping him lost their lives at the hands of the people they was attempting to evangelize. During my last visit with a close friend, who had served as an evangelist and was then serving as a pastor, he informed me that he was losing his sight. He continued to serve the congregation faithfully until his death—even after his sight was gone. All these men and women faced opposition while they were serving the Lord.
After the long teaching session and the miraculous feeding of more than 5,000 people, Jesus told his disciples to get into a boat and go ahead across the lake to Bethsaida while he took time to pray. Sometime between 3 and 6 a.m. (the fourth watch by Roman time) the disciples had only traveled about halfway across the stormy lake—three to three and a half miles according to John (6:19). They were obeying Jesus’ command, but the trip was still difficult. “And when he saw them straining while they were rowing, for the wind was against them, around the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking upon the sea, and was about to pass by them.” (Mark 6:48)
The word Mark used for “straining” has an intensity that is often lost in the translation. The word could be translated as “torment, battered, pain, or to examine by torture.” In their obedience to Jesus, the disciples were facing a perilous situation that was pushing them to the extreme limit of their skill as sailors. Yes, even while they were obediently following Jesus’ command.
One lesson from Mark’s story is that even when one is doing the will of the Father, the wind may be contrary, just as St. Paul, Wilberforce, Bonhoeffer, my pastoral friend, the disciples, and many, many others have experienced.
In 1897, Ludie D. Pickett published the hymn “I’ve Seen the Lightning Flashing,” with the famous chorus lines: “No, never alone, no never alone / He promised never to leave me, / Never to leave me alone.”
Father, even when the wind is contrary, may trust, confidence, and obedience in you never waver.
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