22 Immediately afterward He compelled the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23 After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 24 But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Matthew 14:22-27 

When Jesus tells His disciples to cross the lake or what is better known as the Sea of Galilee, three things are absolutely clear:

God orders the disciples to get into a boat to cross over to the other side. The Lord orders us into our own version of the boat to get to the other side. Now, the Sea of Galilee symbolizes our lives. We’re all crossing the Sea of Galilee. We’re all in our boats, trying to get to the other side. Our boats are different. Our jobs, families, and way of life constitute our boats, and we “ride” these things through life. Some of us are teachers, office workers, factory workers, business owners… whatever we’re doing to get through life, that is our boat. 

God gives us our boats to get to the other side. But we get into trouble when we forget the purpose of the boat. It becomes the be-all and end-all of our existence. What God gave us as a tool to get to the other side becomes the most crucial thing in our lives. Instead of using the boat to get to the other side, the boat uses us. We become its slave. We do as it commands. Think about how ridiculous our lives can become. Instead of using the tool God gave us to cross the lake, we become submissive and passive to the instrument we’re supposed to govern. Don’t let this happen. Remember, your job or whatever you do in life exists to get you to the other side. It does not exist for you to fulfill its every desire and wish. 

God gives the disciples a purpose, a destination. “He compelled the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away.” The other side is the Kingdom of Heaven for us. We cross the Sea of Galilee (our lives) to get to the other side (heaven). Yes, live for the day. Live for the moment. We hear it all the time, but God gives us a boat and a destination. When we get caught up in life, we can forget we’re all headed for the Kingdom of Heaven. So we need to prepare and live a life worthy for us to thrive in the afterlife. Remember, God sets our destination. We are crossing the Sea of Galilee- we’re not living in it forever. We will get to the other side one way or another. Our challenge is to think about the glory of living next to God on the other side and applying it to our present-day lives. 

When God orders them into the boat and tells them to cross the lake, the disciples do it without a shred of doubt. Why? They just witnessed God feeding five thousand people with fives loaves and two fishes. They believed in His omnipotent and omniscient power. But what happened along the way? As they were maneuvering their boat through the waters, they reverted to their old ways as fishermen. Rowing the boat, checking the wind and current… instead of believing in God’s power to get them to the other side, they fell back into their old ways. And when waves and strong winds battered them, they were long gone, just simple fishers in the sea instead of disciples believing in God’s power. So much so, when they saw Jesus approach them, they mistook Him for a ghost. 

This is the story of our lives. We forget God ordered us into the boat. We forget God set our destination. And we forget His omnipotent and omniscient power. We hit rocky times, and our boats get stuck or fall in danger of drowning. We aguish and try harder to get the boat back on track but to no avail. Finally, when we hear the Lord’s voice saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid,” we remember our purpose and voyage. Like Peter, we get out of the boat and walk on water, only to sink again when seeing the wind. Jesus reaches out to us again and says, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 

We’re all crossing the Sea of Galilee. We’re all on our different boats, trying our best to get to the other side. Remember God gave us our boats. He told us by what means to cross the sea. Use it for the proper purpose. God sets our destination. Keep your eyes on the other side. And when you hit hard times and challenges, examine where you are with these three points, and cry out to the Lord. God is the only one who can calm the waters and guide us peacefully to the other side. 

Click for Korean sermon https://soundcloud.com/yhpaik/1984-3-25-long-1