The Other Side
Darkness, huge crashing waves and dangerous high winds were life-threatening factors pressing upon the disciples and rocketing fear and dread to heights they had never known. They were panicking because, if the present unconventional factors continued, they and their boat would go to the bottom of the lake. Initially, Jesus had told His disciples to go to the other side of the lake (Matt.14:22-27). At first, they were probably focused on their Lord’s instruction and enthused about following those instructions. They likely had a point of 
destination in their minds and could see it with the mind’s eye as they planned their route and even had a spot in mind to tie up their boat when they landed. But, en route, unconventional elements interjected themselves and the disciples were forced into an entirely different form of effort in which they could no longer see the conventional path or destination. They could only focus on immediate surroundings and attempts at survival. We must beware of reaching a point at which we are merely dwelling on just the facts. Focus on present circumstances and abandoning “the other side” and abandoning instructions or putting them on hold, will take the heart out of us which is a must-have factor in getting us beyond the choking grip of present factors. These may be the present facts but they are not the conclusion of the matter. In the Bible, present facts and final conclusions always looked very different from one another.
An Extraordinary Savior
The disciples were not expecting anything out of the ordinary from Jesus when He entreated them to row to the other side of the lake (while dealing 
with the throes of a violent storm). Ps. 50:21 “These things you have done, and I kept silence; you thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you, and state {the case} in order before your eyes.” (NAS) They may have been thinking that He was like them, being subject to the same limitations they were subject to. They were expecting ordinary things from an extraordinary Savior. If only they could have grasped the concept that He is THE MASTER OF THE STORM. After Jesus had calmed the storm in Mk 4:41, they asked one another, “What manner of man is this?” (KJV). In other translations it reads “Who is this?” Not fully knowing who He was, and was therefore capable of, little did they know that He would be coming to join them walking on the water. “The Master of the Storm” is the answer to the question, “What manner of man is this?” When the Master is called on and relied on it is possible to get results that are out of the ordinary, for He has power over the power that threatens, even over the storm.
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martygabler 