Message 05: The Solution to My Problems

TURN TO JOHN 6:16
The events of the day had been utterly mind-blowing. Right before their very eyes, Jesus has miraculously fed thousands and thousands of people! And a result, when Jesus opened His mouth to speak, the people’s hearts were responsive like never before. The buzz in the crowd was electric! The people were ‘getting it’, so much so that they tried to take matters into their own hands and make Christ King by force.

Jesus, of course would have nothing to do with this, and verse 15 tells us that he ‘withdrew’. At some point in the afternoon, Jesus must have leaned over to one of His disciples and said, “I’m going off to be with my Father, gather the disciples, and get in the boat to go to Capernaum. I’ll catch up later.”

And so we read in verse 16:
“When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them.” V. 16-17

Can you imagine what the topic of conversation must have been like in the boat?
• Andrew might have said: “When I brought the little boys lunch to Jesus I was just being funny! Never would I have dreamed that He’d take it and do what He did!”
• Philip might have said: “I knew that we didn’t have the money to buy the food, but I never imagined that Jesus could create food!”
• Peter might have said: “Did you see the eyes on the big fat guy under the tree when I told him he could have as much as he wanted! He couldn’t believe it!”
• And John might have said: “Yes! And did you hear the crowd get quieter and quieter in amazement as they realized exactly what Jesus was doing! Awesome!”

Verse 17 tells us that “Jesus had not yet joined them…” Where was He? He was off in some quiet place in the mountains overlooking the Sea of Galilee spending time before His Father in Heaven!

Mark’s account of this event says:
“After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray.” Mark 6:46

The disciple’s weren’t particularly surprised by this, it apparently was common practice for Jesus to break away from the crowds and get alone with His Father. Why did Jesus do this?

Jesus said in John 5:
“I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” John 5:19

Only as Christ spent intimate time in fellowship with His Father, was He empowered to do His Father’s will! Look back at John 6:5
“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming towards him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.” John 6:5, 6

How did Jesus know what to do? The Father had already revealed it to Him in a previous time of fellowship!

Remember last week, when Jesus was about to do the miracle – He instructs His disciples to have the crowd “sit down” – and how we talked about how we need to ‘sit down’ before the Lord and cease the constant running, striving, effort and stress that so often controls our lives? Jesus spoke this from personal experience. He came and sat before His Father frequently because in doing so, He found what he needed.

Do you have responsibilities? Do you have things to do? Goals? You need to pull away from task-oriented living and move into the quiet places of communion with God. For it is there, and there alone, that He can speak most clearly to your soul. You won’t enter into the supernatural dimension of Christianity, until you move into the inner places with God.

Now, let’s read on. Verse 18…
“A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.” V. 18

The disciples are on the boat, in the middle of the sea, when suddenly a large, powerful storm comes up on the lake. The lake is fairly large – some 13 miles by 8 miles. And these men are in the dark and in the midst of a major storm. This encourages me: Even the disciples of Jesus are susceptible to storms. Problems happen even to people who love Jesus, serve Him and worship Him!

Jesus said in Matthew 5:45 that… “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:45

One of satan’s tools is to get Christians to believe that just because they’ve embraced Christ, that their lives will be problem free. I want you to understand that I believe that the more dedicated you are to living for the glory of God, the more likely you’ll encounter troubles!

You see, if you are sitting back, living for self and not involved in advancing the Kingdom of God, you don’t need to be attacked by the enemy – your lifestyle of compromise doesn’t make you a threat to satan at all. But, when you rise up, discover who you really are in Christ, and begin to live authentically as a powerhouse of God in the Holy Spirit – you can bet you are going to be attacked!

Some of you are thinking: “Well, when you put it that way, I think I’ll stay compromised and complacent, because I don’t want to be attacked!” But, if you adopt that attitude a number of things will be the result:
1. You’ll miss out on Christ’s remedies to your problems!
2. You’ll miss out on Christ’s calling in your life!

“Playing it safe” is always the wrong response to the call of God! Christ calls us to Himself and He says: “Die to self, and I will give you abundant life!” And that’s what He is doing in millions of people right now. Why not join Him in what He is doing and let’s give the devil what he deserves!

So the storm rages, and we read verse 19:
“When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified.” V. 19

The rowing is important. These guys were trying desperately to solve their problem. This isn’t ‘row, row, row your boat…’ This is the perfect storm. This is an epic battle for survival. This is a fight for life!
Everyone knows that you can’t walk on water. It’s a matter of physics. Heavy things sink. You’ll never see a rock float. It just doesn’t work that way.

But Christ’s authority is greater than physics. His power supercedes natural law. So, He walks across the stormy sea to meet His friends in their moment of trouble.

Walking on water means more than simply walking across the top of the water – it also means that Christ can overcome your problems! Your storms must bow to the Lord of Creation!

Some of you are in this storm right now. And you are rowing. You are doing everything you can to stay afloat. Yet, at the same time, you are growing weary, tired. You are at the edge of desperation, and you don’t know what to do except row.

And Jesus comes and He offers the Solution. He is the Solution. How do I know this? Because Jesus is walking on the problem. He is walking across the storm tossed sea. And He is more than able to walk on your problem. He doesn’t answer to your problem, your problem answers to Him.

There is no problem that Christ cannot overcome.
• Your marriage is a mess – Christ can straighten it out!
• Your kids are off track – Christ can get them headed the right way!
• Your finances are a lacking – Christ can feed 5000 with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish – He’ll meet your needs!

I absolutely love the response of the disciples: “They were terrified!” Think about this: Were they terrified because of the storm or because of the person they saw walking towards them? Remember, it’s dark. Remember, the wind is blowing. Remember, the waves are coming up over the side of the boat – and in this scene – they look out across the bow and there is someone walking towards them. FREAKY!

• “Peter – what is that?”
• “John – do you see what I see?”
• “It’s a ghost! No, it’s a demon!”

But, of course we know that in fact, it is Jesus – the Solution to their Problems. Even though they don’t yet recognize Him, He is the Solution.

Many times, we are more afraid of the Solution than we are of the Problem. Christ calls us to Himself, and we are afraid of what He might want, so we keep Him at a comfortable distance. We accept Him for “Fire Insurance” but we don’t move in close for “Friendship”. We want a little bit of Jesus. But, we don’t want to go overboard with Him!

And the results – we are afraid on all fronts. Afraid of our problems and afraid of His Solution.

Now, look at verse 20:
“But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” V. 20

He sees their terror. And He speaks directly to it.

You and I cannot hide anything from Him. You may say “I’m fine”, but He knows you. He knows how many hairs are on your head, and He knows your heart. You really cannot pull the wool over the eyes of the Son of God. And the great news, you don’t need to.

He says to His followers: “It is I.” He says to you this morning: “It is I.”

No words can bring more instantaneous comfort than these. “I AM with you. I AM here.” There is nothing more important in all of our lives than to be in His Presence. His Presence overcomes all. His Presence brings us to places that are filled with His glory. His Presence changes things. Jesus says: “I’m here now, and everything is about to change!”

The Lord has impressed upon me that I need to do a series of teachings on moving into the Presence of God. That will be coming soon.

Here’s the Miracle: Christ is with you.

And what is the appropriate response to His Presence? “Don’t be afraid.”

His Presence banishes fear. When He is here, there is simply no need for it.

David put it this way:
“Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.” Psalms 73:25-28

One of the reasons that we fear, is that we often think: “If it is to be, it’s up to me.” We grow up believing that if anything good is going to happen, it will be because we make it happen. But nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is this: “If it is to be, it’s up to HIM!”

Jesus says to you in the midst of your storms – “It is I, don’t be afraid.”

Now, look what happens next:
“Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.” V. 21

Here’s what happens: Faith happens. The disciples heard His voice, and faith in the midst of the storm arose.

They were willing to take into the boat. Very funny! The boat represents their security and their life. In the midst of the Stormy Sea, it’s all they had. And upon hearing Christ’s voice, they willingly give Him access to their security. They say: “Yes! Yes! Come quickly!” The solution had arrived. The Presence of Christ is far more important than anything else – even than the storms of your life!

What would have happened if they’d of refused Him access to the boat? They would have drowned. Some of you are drowning today because you refuse to let Him into your boat. You reject His Presence, and you just keep rowing – fruitlessly!

Lifeguards teach that if you are swimming in the ocean, and get stuck in a riptide that you are to swim parallel to the shore, until you are out of the riptide. But, the sometimes fatal mistake that people make is to do what seems obvious: To swim directly towards shore! When you are facing storms, you try to swim – or – row – directly towards shore, the obvious thing, but what will save you is you swim towards Christ instead!

It must break the heart of God to stand by and watch as people stubbornly and fearfully seek to maintain control and reject His voice – “It is I; don’t be afraid.”

But, He is still walking on the waters. He is still calling out to with the same message: “It is I, don’t be afraid.” And He still waits for the invitation to come aboard.

The invitation looks like this: “Lord, in the midst of this storm, I will trust You. I will not look left or right, up or down for the Solution to my Problem – YOU are the SOLUTION to my problem! I am counting on YOU to lead me to safe harbor!”

Look what happened when Jesus came aboard. V. 21
“Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.” V. 21

When did they reach shore? IMMEDIATELY. These guys had been rowing hard – without much success – but as soon as they embrace Christ – their storm is calmed and safety is restored.

CONCLUSION:
The solution is right before you. He is Christ, the Son of the Living God.

The question is also before you: Will you keep rowing seeking to solve your own problems – or – will you be willing to accept Christ’s offer: “It is I, do not be afraid.”