Mark 6:47-52. And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.
The twelve disciples saw me feed thousands with a few fish and loaves of bread. They saw me perform many miracles. They then saw me walking across the turbulent water to them and climb into the boat. Even then they did not understand the meaning of it all, they did not understand who I am. So it is today. At times your faith is not as strong as it could be. At times you forget who I am and what I can do. At times you don’t trust me as much as you could. It’s ok. You have believed and trusted without seeing me, without sitting and eating with me, without touching me physically. Your faith is there. You are just human, and sometimes it ebbs and flows. Just keep working on it. Yes, it does take work sometimes in the world in which you live, a world that would do everything possible to deny my existence, to make anyone who believes in me seem to be an idiot, brainless and weak. It does take work to believe in someone you can’t physically see and touch and hear. But you do believe, and I will honor that. Notice that many people who only saw me once or twice immediately recognized me and brought their sick to me for healing. How interesting that sometimes those who walked with me did not recognize me, but those who hardly ever saw me did. Familiarity can lead to blindness, or at least to a lack of vision. Keep your eyes open, and fixed on me, that you never lose your vision. Remember that all it took for healing was to touch the hem of my garment. Just a little faith, that’s all it takes. I will take care of the rest. I will always turn to you and hear your cry. I will always deliver you when you ask. Look always to what I have already done in your life, and doubt will leave you. (2003)
Amanuensis 