Jesus Walking On Water (Matthew 14:22-36)

After the crowds have eaten their fill, Jesus obliged his disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while He sent the crowd away. And having sent the people away, He went up the mountain by himself to pray. At nightfall, He was there alone.

Meanwhile, the boat was very far from land, dangerously rocked by the waves for the wind was against it. At daybreak, Jesus came to them walking on the lake. When they saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, thinking that it was a ghost. And they cried out in fear. But at once Jesus said to them, “Courage! Don’t be afraid. It’s me!”.

Peter answered, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you walking on the water”. Jesus said to him, “Come”. And Peter got out of the boat, walking on the water to go to Jesus. But, in face of the strong wind, he was afraid and began to sink. So he cried out, “Lord, save me!”. Jesus immediately stretched out his hand and took hold of him, saying, “Man of little faith, why did you doubt?”. As they got into the boat, the wind dropped. Then those in the boat bowed down before Jesus saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God!”.

They came ashore at Gennesareth. The local people recognized Jesus and spread the news throughout the region. So they brought all the sick to him, begging him to let them touch just the fringe of his cloak. All who touched it became perfectly well.

Reflection:-

Now we shall not look at Jesus sleeping on the boat while it sinks, nor rebuking the winds and the waves with a single word, so his disciples may be amazed (Mt 8:23-27). But, today’s action is no less disconcerting, whether for his first disciples or for us.

Jesus had obliged his disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side; and after the crowds have eaten their fill, He had sent the crowd away. And, then, He went up the mountain by himself to pray. And He remained there alone. (Mt 14:22-23). Without his Master, the disciples were having troubles to face the wind. It was then when Jesus came to them walking on the water.

As plain and simple people would, the disciples were terrified to see him: men do not usually walk over water, so they thought they were seeing a ghost. But they were wrong: it was not an illusion what they were looking at, but the very Lord, who was inviting them – as He did quite often – not to be afraid and trust him to awake their faith in them.

This faith was first demanded to Peter, who said: “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you walking on the water” (Mt 14:28). With these words, Peter showed that faith consists of abiding by the word of Christ: he did not say “let me walk on the water” but he just wanted to follow what the very and only Lord could command him to do, to believe the truthfulness of the Master’s words.

His doubts, however, made him reel, but they led the other disciples to bow down and confess before their Master: “Truly, you are the Son of God!” (Mt 14:33).

The group of those that already were apostles, but did not yet fully believe, when they saw the waters waving below the Lord’s feet and appreciated his steps were firm through the stormy waves (…) they believed Jesus was the true Son of God, and accepted him as such. – St. Ambrose.

- – – reflection by Fr. Lluc TORCAL Monk of Santa Maria de Poblet

God has a beautiful plan for our life and the troubles that we face would be paving the way for it.

He found them wandering through the desert, a desolate, wind-swept wilderness. He protected them and cared for them, as he would protect himself. Like an eagle teaching its young to fly, catching them safely on its spreading wings, the Lord kept Israel from falling (Deuteronomy 32:10–11)

Any hurdle can be overcome if we place it to the Lord’s hands. All we need to do is surrender. It’s been two and half years since my marriage and the Lord has helped me and my husband Binod to overcome many hurdles in our life.

2009 and 2010 – The year of the recession. The year when so many people lost their jobs in US. The year when many were sent back to India due to project cost cutting. The year when it was difficult to get a company to file an H1 (The work visa needed to legally work in US) The year when the Lord gave me my H1 and a legal status to work in US. Yes, the scripture verses Deuteronomy 32: 10 :11. He accomplished in our Life Word by Word. Praise the Lord!

I came to US in 2009 after marriage. I knew it was not easy for me to get a job in US since I came on a dependent or a H4 Visa Status and I did not have a technical or IT background. I thought to myself that if the Lord does not want me to work here, so be it. But deep within I really wanted to work. I surrendered this to the Lord and kept trying.

2 months after I came to US after marriage, Binod’s project got over and we had to move from St Louis to Dallas TX, for his new project. I kept applying to companies in Dallas but due to the recession , no company was ready to file my H1 visa. I somehow did not want to pursue further studies to get a job and since most companies gave me a negative response that seemed to be the only option to start working. 4 months after Binod joining the new project in Dallas, suddenly his project went through budget issues and he had to come out of the project.

During this time my mom told us about a retreat in Malayalam conducted by Shalom Team in Dallas. Though both of us do not understand Malayalam that well, since we are born and bought up outside Kerala, the Lord helped us to attend the retreat and lead us to have reconciliation with Him through a good confession during the retreat.

I kept wondering why things were happening so negative with us. It was a difficult time for us since the recession was on. Getting another project for Binod was difficult and his company asked him to go back to India. That’s when the Lord blessed him with a new project and a job in a new company. This happened in September 2009. Since his company was far from home, Binod had to drive almost 45 min to work.

A few days after he started this new project he was introduced to a lady by a common friend. She used to work in a company near Binod’s office but did not have a car to drive till there. So Binod, that lady and another colleague began to car pool everyday to go to work. One day her family came to visit us and a few months down the line her husband introduced me to his friend for getting trained on technical skills and help me in filing my H1. Through this company, my H1 was finally filed . This company was also very close to home. Praise the Lord !

This happened even without me asking that lady to help me out. If Binod had not got out of the first project in Dallas, probably we would not have met this lady. Even today I do not know why she helped me with my H1. But I know that the Lord sent her. It was His plan that Binod’s project get over, and we move from St Louis to Dallas. It was His plan that Binod move out of the first project in Dallas and get into this new company. It was His plan that he get introduced to this lady by car pool. Everything happened after attending the retreat.

The company filed my H1, but I would be able to start work only in October 2010. Till then it was like a training period .Binod project also was going good and he started asking his company to file his green card for him. But his company was not giving a proper answer for his green card since Binod was working on a contract at a client site and the company didn’t know the future of the project.

In Sept 2010 again another hurdle came in. We were not sure if the project is going to get extended or not , there were a lot questions in our minds. If it did not get extended, will Binod’s company ask him to go back to India. What if his next project is not in Dallas, how will I work if we move out of Dallas. What will be my company’s reaction when they realize that I can’t continue working in Dallas. Will they stop my salary processing in October. Will they stop my H1 process. There were a lot of such doubts and confusion in our minds.

We used to place it to the Lord’s Hand everyday during our evening prayers and prayed that “ Lord you know what is best, You guide us and help us to accept your will happily in our life.” We had made ourselves mentally prepared for whatever happens. If the Lord wants us to go back to India , maybe that is what is best for us. If the Lord wants that we stay here , that’s what is best for us.

Suddenly one day, Binod calls me up from his office and tells me that his client company decided to hire him as a permanent employee with a salary hike and his green card also will be processed. The only thing is that we will need to move out of Dallas to a place called Austin. We were really happy and thanked the Lord for this great blessing , but now the hurdle was how to tell my company about all these changes. Moreover, it was that time that the Lord blessed me to conceive our baby.

Again we placed this situation into the Lords hands. Finally I spoke to my employer about me having to move to Austin. And to my surprise, without any hesitation, my employer allowed a Work from home option for me. Today I work from home in Austin and Binod works for one of the best IT companies and his office is a walkable distance from home. We are blessed with a Baby boy Daniel. Whenever a hurdle has come in our life, the Lord has helped us overcome it.

God’s Promise in Jeremiah 29:11 has been fulfilled in our life. It says, “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for.”

We may not understand why things are not happening the way we want to. But He has a plan and that plan is the best for us. He has brought us thus far, He will take care of our needs ahead too. All we need to do is surrender our desires and inabilities to Him with a humble heart and He will work wonders.

- – - written by Jean Binod, Austin, TX, USA

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