Mark 6:47–52 KJV
“And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land.
And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them.
But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out:
For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.
And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.
For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.”
There is something remarkable about the way Mark records this miracle.
The disciples were in trouble.
The wind was contrary.
The night was advanced.
They were tired.
They were rowing hard and getting nowhere.
Jesus was not physically in the boat with them.
And when He finally appeared, they did not recognise Him.
They mistook their Deliverer for another reason to be afraid.
That can happen to us too.
Sometimes the storm becomes so loud that we forget who Jesus is.
Sometimes what is happening now becomes so overwhelming that we forget what God did before.
Sometimes we become so consumed with the problem in front of us that yesterday’s testimony seems to have disappeared from our memory.
And perhaps one of the strongest statements in this passage is not that Jesus walked on water.
It is this:
“For they considered not the miracle of the loaves.”
The Holy Spirit deliberately connects the storm with the miracle that happened earlier.
The problem was not simply that they had never seen Jesus do anything extraordinary.
They had.
They had just watched Him feed thousands of people with five loaves and two fishes.
They had handled the multiplied bread with their own hands.
They had distributed the miracle.
They had collected the leftovers.
Yet when another impossible situation arose, they responded as though they had never seen His power before.
The Storm Revealed What They Had Failed to Learn From the Loaves
Earlier in Mark 6, Jesus had performed an astonishing miracle.
Mark 6:41–44 KJV
“And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.
And they did all eat, and were filled.
And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.
And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.”
Jesus had already demonstrated that natural limitations were not limitations to Him.
Not enough food was not a problem.
Five loaves were enough in His hands.
Two fishes were enough in His hands.
Thousands of hungry people were not beyond His ability.
The disciples should have learned something about Him.
If Jesus could multiply bread, why should walking upon water be unbelievable?
If He could take authority over insufficiency, why should He not have authority over the sea?
If He could solve yesterday’s impossible problem, why should today’s impossible problem make them conclude that everything was lost?
The miracle of the loaves was supposed to become a revelation of the Person of Christ.
But they experienced the miracle without fully learning the lesson.
And that is where many believers can find themselves.
We remember what God did, but we fail to carry the revelation of who He showed Himself to be into our next battle.
Don’t Just Remember the Miracle — Remember What the Miracle Taught You About Jesus
Every testimony is meant to teach you something about God.
David understood this.
When Goliath appeared, David remembered the lion and the bear.
1 Samuel 17:36–37 KJV
“Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.”
Notice David’s reasoning.
He did not say, “The lion was small, therefore Goliath will be easy.”
He said, in effect:
The God who delivered me then is still my God now.
The circumstances had changed.
The enemy had changed.
The size of the challenge had changed.
But God had not changed.
That was what the disciples needed to understand.
And that is what Jesus is teaching us today.
The Jesus of Your Previous Victory Is Still Jesus in Your Present Storm
The greatest danger during a storm is not always the storm itself.
Sometimes it is spiritual amnesia.
You forget.
You forget the prayers God answered.
You forget the doors He opened.
You forget the provision that came when you did not know how you would make it.
You forget the healing.
You forget the protection.
You forget how He carried you when you thought you could go no further.
Then another storm comes and suddenly you begin asking:
“Where is God?”
“Can God handle this?”
“Will I survive this?”
“Has Jesus forgotten me?”
But the Jesus standing before the disciples on the water was the same Jesus who had multiplied the bread only hours earlier.
And the Jesus in your present situation is the same Jesus who brought you through everything behind you.
Hebrews 13:8 KJV
“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
Your circumstances may have changed.
Jesus has not.
Jesus Saw Them Before They Saw Him
There is another beautiful statement in this passage:
“And he saw them toiling in rowing.”
They could not see Jesus.
But Jesus could see them.
They were struggling in darkness.
But they were never outside His sight.
They might have wondered where He was.
But He knew exactly where they were.
That truth should strengthen somebody today.
You may not presently understand what Jesus is doing.
You may not presently feel His intervention.
You may be exhausted from rowing against contrary winds.
But your inability to see Him does not mean that He cannot see you.
Jesus saw every stroke of the oar.
He saw every struggle.
He saw every moment of exhaustion.
He saw the contrary wind.
And He came.
Sometimes Jesus Comes in a Form You Did Not Expect
This is another reason the disciples were frightened.
They knew Jesus.
But they did not expect Him to come walking on water.
So when He came in an unfamiliar way, they interpreted His presence incorrectly.
“They supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out.”
Think about that.
Their answer was approaching them, and they were afraid of the answer.
The One coming to rescue them looked frightening because He was coming in a way they had never seen before.
We must be careful not to reject God’s intervention simply because it does not arrive in the form we expected.
We may pray:
“Lord, deliver me.”
But we already have an idea of how the deliverance should happen.
We pray:
“Lord, provide.”
But we have decided which person the provision should come through.
We pray:
“Lord, open a door.”
But we have already chosen which door He should open.
Then God begins to move differently, and because His answer does not resemble our expectation, we fail to recognise Him.
Do not become so attached to the method that you miss the Master.
“Be of Good Cheer: It Is I”
Before Jesus dealt with the wind, He dealt with their fear.
“Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.”
That is powerful.
The first answer to their fear was not:
“The wind will stop.”
The first answer was:
“It is I.”
In other words:
“Recognise Me.”
“Know who is here.”
“Remember who I am.”
“Do not judge this situation only by the wind.”
Faith is not merely confidence that the storm will stop.
Faith is confidence in who Jesus is even while the wind is still blowing.
Sometimes we want Jesus to say:
“The problem is over.”
But He first says:
“It is I.”
His presence becomes the foundation for our peace.
They Were Amazed Because They Had Forgotten
When Jesus entered the ship, the wind ceased.
The disciples were astonished.
But Mark explains why their astonishment was so extreme:
“For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.”
A hardened heart here does not necessarily mean that these men had rejected God.
It describes a heart that had become dull in understanding.
They had not properly processed what Jesus had already shown them.
They saw the miracle, but they had not fully considered it.
That word is important:
considered.
They should have thought about it.
Meditated upon it.
Drawn conclusions from it.
Asked themselves:
“What does this tell us about Jesus?”
Because testimonies are not merely stories to celebrate.
They are evidence to remember when the next battle comes.
What Have You Forgotten?
Maybe the question Jesus is asking somebody today is:
Have you considered the loaves?
Have you considered the last time you thought everything was finished and God made a way?
Have you considered the time there seemed to be no provision and He supplied?
Have you considered how He protected you?
Have you considered how He restored you?
Have you considered prayers you once cried with tears that are now testimonies you barely mention?
Before you decide that today’s storm is impossible, consider the loaves.
Before you surrender to fear, remember what He has already done.
Before you conclude that Jesus has abandoned you, remember how faithfully He has carried you.
The storm may be different.
But Jesus is the same.
Don’t Let Today’s Storm Cancel Yesterday’s Revelation
This is one of the greatest lessons in Mark 6.
Every encounter with God should add something to your revelation of Him.
Every deliverance should strengthen your confidence.
Every answered prayer should become another stone in the foundation of your faith.
Every testimony should say:
“I know something about God now that I must never forget.”
Psalm 103 gives us this instruction:
Psalm 103:1–5 KJV
“Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
Forget not.
Because forgetting what God has done can weaken your response to what you are presently facing.
The Wind Was Contrary, but Jesus Was Greater
The Bible specifically says:
“For the wind was contrary unto them.”
Sometimes life feels exactly like that.
You are moving forward, but something keeps pushing back.
You are praying, but circumstances seem contrary.
You are obeying God, but things seem more difficult rather than easier.
You are doing everything you know to do, yet progress appears painfully slow.
Remember this:
Contrary winds do not mean Jesus has lost control.
Jesus did not stand on the shore wondering what to do about the sea.
The very thing threatening the disciples became a pathway beneath His feet.
The water they feared would swallow them was under His authority.
Whatever is over your head is still under His feet.
Your Present Crisis Has Not Made Jesus Less Powerful
Perhaps you are facing something today that you have never faced before.
That does not mean Jesus has never handled anything like it before.
Your present problem may be new to you.
It is not new to Him.
Your circumstances may have surprised you.
They have not surprised Him.
Your resources may look insufficient.
Five loaves looked insufficient too.
The wind may be contrary.
The Sea of Galilee was contrary too.
The night may be dark.
Jesus still knew exactly where His disciples were.
Do not measure Jesus by the size of your storm.
Measure your storm by the greatness of Jesus.
Remember Before You Panic
Before fear speaks, remember.
Before anxiety writes tomorrow’s story for you, remember.
Before you conclude that God has forgotten you, remember.
Before you say, “This time is different,” remember.
Remember the loaves.
Remember the previous deliverance.
Remember the answered prayer.
Remember the door He opened.
Remember what should have destroyed you but did not.
Remember how He carried you.
And above everything else, remember who Jesus revealed Himself to be through those experiences.
Your faith is not ultimately in yesterday’s miracle.
Your faith is in yesterday’s Miracle Worker, who remains today’s Lord.
The Lesson Jesus Is Still Teaching Us
Jesus was teaching His disciples something much greater than how to survive a storm.
He was teaching them:
Know Me.
Know Me beyond one miracle.
Know Me beyond one answered prayer.
Know Me beyond one season.
Know Me so deeply that when another impossible situation comes, you do not have to begin your faith journey from zero again.
Yesterday’s revelation should become today’s confidence.
What He showed you about Himself yesterday should strengthen you today.
The God who was faithful then is faithful now.
The Jesus who multiplied the loaves is the Jesus walking upon your sea.
And when fear tells you that everything has changed, listen again for His voice:
“Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.”
Final Thought
Perhaps the storm you are facing is not only an opportunity for Jesus to deliver you.
Perhaps it is also an opportunity for you to discover whether you truly learned what the previous miracle was meant to teach you.
Do not allow the size of today’s storm to make you forget the greatness of yesterday’s God.
The same Jesus who brought you through before has not changed.
Consider the loaves.
Remember His faithfulness.
Recognise Him in the storm.
And trust Him again.
Prayer
Father, in the name of Jesus, help me never to forget Your faithfulness. Forgive me for the times I have allowed a present difficulty to make me forget what You have already done in my life.
Open the eyes of my understanding to recognise Jesus even in the midst of contrary winds. Let every testimony You have given me become a foundation for stronger faith in the next season.
When fear rises, help me to remember Your Word. When circumstances look impossible, help me to remember who You are. When I cannot see what You are doing, help me to rest in the knowledge that You still see me.
Lord Jesus, I receive Your Word today: “Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.”
I declare that the storms of life will not make me forget Your faithfulness. I will remember the loaves. I will remember the victories. I will remember the deliverances. I will remember Your goodness.
You are Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.
Cornelius Bella, The Message Bearer
