With Jesus!

[AI translation] There are some high mountains where even the most experienced hiker should not go alone, without a guide, as this can easily become a fatal undertaking. It is not enough to be brave and skilful, you must know the paths to follow, the narrow paths that take you through cliffs and gorges. That's why there is a guide, because he or she knows just where to go. Such is the mystery that looms before us like a great mountain before us each new year. Who knows today what mysterious depths and heights and perilous precipices will be revealed to us as we reach them? Let no one set out without a guide, for it is easy to lose his way, to get lost, to be in danger, and to end up in a fatal adventure! Brothers and sisters, do we believe that Someone is here now? Invisible, but in his personal, living reality, God is here among us! The Lord who knows the way! Hear, in our Word, He Himself offers Himself as a guide: 'Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, the Saviour, I am the Lord, who will teach you usefulness, and will lead you in the way that you should go.' For those who now accept this offer, He gives some good advice and practical guidance in advance. He warns them in advance what to look out for in certain circumstances, in different situations of life. We can now hear all this from the lessons of a well-known New Testament story. If only we could truly hear His word with our hearts!The story begins with Jesus not leading his disciples, but sending them. He goes somewhere else. He goes up the mountain to pray, and commands His disciples to go on ahead to the other side. In the meantime, it gets dark, a headwind comes up, a storm breaks, and the disciples are alone in the middle of the night in the middle of the sea, in the midst of the raging waves. It looks as if Jesus has left them alone to struggle against the elements. How can he pray quietly at a time like this, immersed in great, silent devotion, retreating alone to a mountain top, when his own are in trouble, in agony, sweating and struggling?! The disciples are in peril, but Jesus is safe on the mountain! Our Leader says that the same situation may happen on our journey. So, the wind blowing in our faces, the foams churning on our boats, the great darkness, the hopeless night falling on our lives, must really strain all our strength. A terrible struggle with sin, temptation, Satan, people, tasks, and all seemingly alone, left to ourselves. There may be situations when we need the Lord most, and it looks as if He is not with us! As if He doesn't care that we are lost!
Well, it's not like that! The same Jesus who prayed that night on the mountain while His disciples were in trouble is now at the right hand of the Father, in the highest place, performing this precious ministry, this holy ministry of intercessory prayer. The Word of God testifies to this, "We have a high priest who sitteth on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven," and "liveth every where to make intercession for them." (Heb 8:1; 7:25) Jesus himself prays for us in heaven. The believer knows what it means to pray for Him. "Pray for one another,... for the fervent prayer of the righteous is very profitable." (James 5:16) How useful even the prayer of Jesus can be!
He is not idly watching our agony from on high, but guiding the powers of the unseen world. He sends it to those who are connected to Him by faith even on the stormy sea! Today, no one is surprised that a ship in the middle of the sea keeps in constant contact with the shore, with the harbour, by means of a spark telegraph. It has been the precious experience of many believers that a much more real connection can be established between the soul tossing on the sea of life and the shore of eternity. It is all right to storm, but be careful not to break the invisible link! Only never, under any circumstances, believe that the Lord does not care for you, has forgotten you! "Can a mother forget her child, that she have no compassion on her womb's son? And if they forget, I will not forget thee. Behold, I have carved thee in my hand: thy walls are ever before me." (Is 49:15-16) Think of what the Lord Jesus has done for you. Could I forget the One who willingly took all the torments of hell and damnation for Him? For whose sake He agonised so bloodily in the Garden of Gethsemane, in the courtyard of the high priest, before Pilate and on the cross? So think of Him in the storm!
We read further that in the fourth part of the night Jesus came to them walking on the sea. Now we see how much He did not forget them. Though it will be long, but surely not too late, he will arrive at last! Not only then, but now! The storm and the darkness may intensify, but by the time it is needed, Jesus will surely come after us, reaching us in due time! Just trust Him how, He will find a way and a way! Lo, He went after them walking on the sea. Yes, the very thing that was causing the problem, the very thing that was so fearfully storming around you, the very thing that was so hopelessly separating you from Him, is coming on top of it! The very thing that would never have made thee go to Him, above which He walks with royal power and majesty, and so draws near to thee! No one and nothing can restrain Him from bringing help to His own in due time! If in the fourth hour of the night doubt should arise in you as to where Jesus is, reassure your soul that He must come, He may be on His way, He will not be late!
"And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were afraid, saying, This is a ghost; and they cried out for fear." Look! What were they afraid of? Not of the reality, but of an imagined calamity! It is usually the case: most of the time it is not the reality that is really frightening, but what our own imagination dresses reality up in, what our imagination colours, magnifies and projects it into! How good it would be to know this in advance, and how good it would be not to forget it, and not to imagine all sorts of horrors, and to be frightened out of one's mind, when there is no real reason for it! Behold what a soul unbalanced by its own fantasies can do: it sees the Jesus who comes to its rescue as a frightening terror! There too he sees danger approaching, when Jesus wants to show Himself in even greater glory, in even greater reality, than the soul has known Him!
Oh, how many times has it happened that Jesus came very close to a soul in an event that seemed very frightening, that was frightening, that the soul would have liked to run away from! And, Brothers and Sisters, the Lord Jesus is not content to be thought of from a distance. He wants to get into the boat of each of our lives! He wants to be at the centre of our lives, and that very often does not go smoothly! He comes in events that make our hearts tremble! But we also hear his encouragement, "Trust, it is I, do not be afraid!" You may be threatened with material loss, sickness, suffering or even death, but remember that the Lord has foretold that He will come to you in Him! With His forgiving grace, His renewing Spirit, He wants to enter and reign in your heart! "Trust, I am he, fear not!"
Then Peter also steps out of the boat at the word of Jesus, he walks on the water just like Jesus! The Lord wants us to know that it is by faith, with eyes fixed on Him, that we can walk on water! What does this mean for us? It means that it is possible to miraculously remain in the midst of total uncertainty. Do we remember these old concepts: fixed salary, dowry, stafírung, landed property, bank deposits, capital and interest? Those who had it put all their trust in it. And those who did not have it, strove for it with all their might. It was impossible to imagine a peaceful and quiet life without it! Now all that is far behind us. And with that, God is teaching us to walk on the waters. There is a special beauty in this for the believer. We have stepped out of human certainties - or at least the ones we thought were certain. We have stepped out of the convulsive, unbelieving effort with which I wanted to secure everything for myself, I wanted to establish my future. Now we are free to experience that we have a mighty and gracious God, with whose power we can walk on water! A believer does not mourn for the old and tremble for the new, but at the call of Jesus, steps out of the boat, sets sail, and has a happy experience of walking on the waters! The waters are not only under the feet of Jesus, but under the feet of the disciple who looks to Jesus in faith, and obeys the Lord! Where there is faith in Jesus and obedience to His Word, His Word, the impossible becomes possible! It is an incomprehensible thing, but it is an experiential truth. In the sobriety of faith and obedience, miracles are always happening today! Peter went out on the water at the call of Jesus. Jesus said to him, "Come! And Peter dared to take the Lord at His word: He said, "Then it may be! Go on then! Whoever dares to put his life on the word of Jesus in this way will always find that His Word is more solid ground under his feet than dry land!
There is one more precious encouragement in this story: when Peter's faith was shaken by the surrounding danger and uncertainty, and he began to sink, even here, in this danger of being swallowed up, there was deliverance for him! 'Little hypocrite,' says Jesus gently, 'why did you doubt? Shy: the literal translation of the Greek text would be: of short faith. Faith can be as short as a blanket: you don't have enough of it when you need it most. Not faithless! He has faith, but it is not enough, it does not last! And even in this desperate situation, there is help!
When my arm of faith can hold on no longer, He reaches out and He grabs me! How wonderful: the closest Peter came to Jesus was when he was diving and crying out! So it is everywhere in the Bible: where the need is greatest, the Lord is closest with his help! Where sin increases, grace expands much more! It is in the lowest points of our lives that we experience the saving grace of our Lord in its most real reality!
Finally, "when they entered the boat, the wind stopped!" When the time is right, when the Lord sees fit, He will calm the storm! He has the power, for to him is given all authority in heaven and on earth!
"And they that were in the boat came and worshipped him, saying, 'Truly, you are the Son of God.'" Brothers and sisters, with which this story ends, let our new year begin with this: with prostration before Him, with a joyful confession of faith, "Truly you are the Son of God! Lead us, Jesus, and we will go with you!
Lead us, Jesus, and we will go with you.
Life calls us to fight,
Let us follow you:
Take our hand, Till we arrive.
Give us a strong heart, That we may be believers.
And, if we must carry a burden,
Our tongue will not complain;
Though our way be rough, we come to you.
Our wounded hearts will sigh when we are wounded,
Or when sorrow burns for another,
Give us patience and peace,
To look to You with hope.
Guide our steps to the end of our lives,
And, if we walk in ruins,
Let us find support in you,
Till the road runs out, And you open a door in heaven.
(Canto 434, verses 1-4)
Amen
Date: 1 January 1952 New Year.