“The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.” Psalm 34:17.

The book of Matthew in the fourteenth Chapter gives an account of Jesus sending His disciples in a ship to cross over to the other side of the mountain. However, at sometime during the journey they began to encounter extremely dangerous conditions. “But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.” Matthew 14:25.

Matthew wrote in the very next verse that Jesus came to them during the fourth watch of the night. The fourth watch is defined by the Roman watch as a time spanning from 3am – 6am. Someone once said that the darkest hour is just before dawn; we can imagine the mindset of the disciples during this incident. But Jesus showed up right on time! “And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” Matthew 14:25-26.

There are several lessons to be learned from this incident with Jesus and His disciples that we can apply to our walk on this journey of life. The scriptures point out that the disciples were in a bad situation . . . dangerous conditions surrounded them; but look who shows up right on time! Jesus comes to them walking on the sea, fear immediately grips their hearts because they weren’t aware that it was the Lord; but He immediately assures them that it is Him and to be of good cheer and not to be afraid.

It is just a fact of life that:

• Trouble will come in our lives, even when we are being obedient to the will of God. Jesus sent the disciples ahead of Him on the sea to the other side. Did he not know that the storm would come? Certainly, He did. Once again, we see the manifestation of God’s glory as Jesus appears to the disciples walking on water and assures, rescues, and gives them peace during the storm. Praise God…He does the same for us in the storms of life!
• Fear of the unknown is a normal response, but faith can dominate our fears. “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.” Psalms 34:4. Every child of God recognizes His voice. It brings us into subjection to His Holy power; fear, anxiety, loneliness…whatever it is will dissipate when our Savior says “peace, be still” to the raging storms in our lives!
• God is omnipotent and can do the impossible. He showed up that night walking on water; this was a miraculous occurrence and gives us a glimpse at Jesus’ omnipotence and ability to protect us in any situation.
• He assures, comforts, and encourages at just the right moment in time. Jesus knew the fear that grip their hearts at that very moment; but He gently commands the disciples to be of good cheer and not to be afraid because it was Him. Our hearts can rest in assurance that He is always with us, and He will take care of us!

The disciples learned a lesson in faith 101 that night . . . we can identify with situations in our own lives that gives witness to the faithfulness of our Great and Almighty God to come to our aide.

These types of incidents are what we can refer to as “faith reports” and praise God, we can readily pull them out in times of distress and fear. God is always on time, and we can depend on Him. The scriptures tell us in Psalms 34:17 “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”