Comfort Zone

Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.  And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray.  Now whem evening came, He was alone there.  But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.  Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus wen to them, walking on the sea.  And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!"  And they cried for fear.  But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid."  And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."  So He said to him, "Come."  And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.  But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and begining to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"  And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  Then those who were in the boat came and worshipped Him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."
Matthew 14: 22-33 NKJV

Where is it that we go to feel comfortable?  There are obviously those places each of us has where we retreat when we feel anxious or worried.  For some, this "Comfort zone" comes in the form of one addiction or another.  However, neither alchohol nor drugs will usually keep our feelings of anxiety in check for very long.  And so,we seek that place where we can lay aside our anxieties and at last find the comfort we seek.  I find it interesting that in the story of Jesus's disciples on the wind swept sea in Matthew 14, that Jesus in nowhere to be found at first.  As the winds and waves buffet the boat, where is Jesus?  I'll tell you where He was, Jesus was in His comfort zone.  For after He commanded His disciples to take the boat and go to the other shore, Jesus had remained behind to send away the multitudes which had come to hear Him teach.  Now, Jesus certainly could have immediately returned to the disciples after He had sent the crowds away, but He didn't.  Why?  I believe that it was in this time that Jesus retreated to that place where He felt comfortable with the Father.  We see in scripture that Jesus certainly was in the habit of retreating to somewhere quiet and secluded to pray, and this was no exception {Luke 22:39, Luke 4:16, Luke 5:16}.  We ourselves will often seek somewhere quiet to commune with our heavenly Father.  It is in these moments of solitude and silence in which we may better hear the soft, still voice of our Father.  And so it was with Jesus.  Jesus was not in the habit of abandoning these men who were His disciples.  He was, however, in the habit of retreating to that place of comfort to be closer with His Father.

Now when He got into the boat,His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are Perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"
Matthew 8: 23-27 NKJV

Who indeed?  Here again we find Jesus and His disciples in that old boat as they traveled across the sea.  Inevitably, the wind and the waves would come again and buffet the boat.  Then,as the winds and the waves swirl around them, where is it that we find Jesus?  Of course, He's asleep in the back of the boat!  This certainly puts His disciples out of their comfort zone.  For even though many of these disciples make their livings on the sea, they retain a healthy fear of the storms which can suddenly form as if out of nowhere.  Growing up on the shores of Lake Superior, I can attest that I have seen sunny calm weather turn into gale warnings in a matter of minutes, not hours.  Despite increased advances in weather prediction technology, it is a foolish man who will work his trade upon the great lakes without a healthy respect for the gales which can appear in short notice.  It is here where we now find Jesus and His disciples on their latest sea adventure.  The disciples reacted appropriately, in fear.  Now, we can look at this story from our perspective, that the Son of God would NEVER perish in a storm on the sea, especially when He had a mission to fulfill.  However, His disciples did not know that!  The disciples reacted as we do when faced with something out of our comfort zone, with fear and dread.  Then, as we ourselves do, they cried out, "Lord save us!"  Then, in the midst of that raging storm, Jesus was able to teach them in the middle of their fears.  "Why are you fearfull, O you of little faith?"
Where is it that we are afraid to go?  What storms are we afraid of facing?  I myself have that comfort zone which I am rarely eager to step out of.  However, as He so often does, our Lord will at times gently lead us into those stormy waters into that which we are unfamiliar with.  He hasn't left us, He is  beside us a s we navagate these new and uncharted waters.  Often, if not for Him, we would not have stepped out of that comfort zone on our own.  Then, as we are tossed by the storms of those unfamiliar waters, we hear His voice, "Why are you fearfull, O you of little faith?"

~Scott~