See Jesus, Fear Not, and Arrive

"20But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. 21Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went." (John 6: 20-21)

In John's Gospel, Jesus greets His disciples as He is walking on the water.

The disciples are struggling against mighty storms and strong winds, trying to get to their destination. They have been rowing for a long time, much more than the length and width of the sea.

Then they see Jesus walking on the water.

Unlike the responses recorded or us in other Gospels, Jesus right away announces Himself:

"I am."

Jesus is fully God, beginning, middle, and end. He was, is, and is to come. He is before all things, and all things exist because of Him.

Notice that Jesus announces Himself, I AM, then tells the disciples not to be afraid.

Right away, we should receive great comfort from this verse.

Never should we feel ashamed because we are afraid. Never should we assume that we have to get rid of our fears in order to receive from God.

Just see Jesus, and know that He is the great I AM, even in the midst of your storm.

If you have fear of any kind, the solution is not to try and get rid of your fear. The solution is to know more of how Jesus is I AM, the fullness of God Almighty, ready to meet any need in your life.

Jesus does not barge into our lives, either.

The disciples willingly received Him into the ship. They had been rowing all night and got nowhere. When they saw Jesus, they were not afraid, and they welcomed Him into their ship.

For many of us, we often keep trying in our efforts, not quite convinced that Jesus is all that we need. We still have our own strength, our own smarts, and we are convinced that whatever needs to get done, we can still trust and strut in our own efforts.

Yet Jesus did not shame the disciples for working so hard, He did not shame them because they had refused to call out for His help. He did not refuse their invitation when they willingly received Him into their ship.

Now, the miracle which took place afterwards has not received the proper celebration which it deserves. The moment that the disciples welcomed Jesus into their boat, they immediately reached the place where they were going.

That word immediately is so powerful, and so prevalent in the Gospels, especially in the Gospel of Mark, where Jesus is presented as the untiring, eternal servant. The moment that you welcome Jesus into your situation, recognizing Jesus as the Great I AM, greater than any situation, any setback, any circumstance in your life, you will find that immediately He turns your troubles into triumph:

"37Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Romans 8: 37)

and then

"Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place." (2 Corinthians 2: 14)

Much of the time, we toil in our lives because we do not see that Jesus has everything that we need, that in Christ we are blessed with all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1: 3), that we are Accepted in Christ the Beloved Son of God (Ephesians 1:6).

Jesus brought the disciples from the storm to the and immediately. After He died on the Cross and rose again on the Third Day, Jesus has now brought us into Himself, and we are seated in Christ at the right hand of God the Father (Ephesians 2: 4-8)

We are in Christ, Beloved, and Christ now lives in us. We can rest assured that we are already above every storm, that the Great I AM greatly loves us.

See more of Jesus, fear not, and you will arrive wherever He wants you to go.