IT IS TIME TO CROSS OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE

“…Let us cross over to the other side.”—Mark 4:35

For many years, time after time I made New Year’s resolutions; but, by the end of February or earlier they were abandoned, for one reason or another.  Have you ever started forward on a project, but it seemed like it was stalled and not going forward?  Have you ever felt left behind while others are moving forward?  Does it seem like you have been stuck in a rut and you can not move forward?   It could be job advancement, family matters, relationships, projects, or any number of things.  I think that most people have had something in their life that did not look like any progress was being made, and it was not long before whatever it was, got abandoned for one reason or another.  We stopped pursuing the dream, and it ended up in the junk heap of all those other things in our lives that have never got accomplished.  Consciously or unconsciously, it became just another thing that added to our sense of self-doubt.

The following is an example of a project that seemed to be moving forward, but then something happened to make it appear that all hope was lost and the disciples would die.  One evening, Jesus and his disciples used a small boat to cross over a large lake.  While they were crossing over to the other side, it had gotten dark and a storm came up.  The blowing wind caused the waves to crash into the boat filling it up with water; however, Jesus remained asleep.  The disciples became frighten and woke up Jesus saying, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?”   Jesus got up and rebuked the wind, and told the sea, to be at peace and to be still.  He then turned to his disciples and said, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” (Mark 4:35-40).

Let’s look at a few things that will help us in our CROSSING OVER.  First, the disciples began to look at the winds and the waves through the lens of their past experiences.  Several of the disciples had been fishermen by trade.  They had experienced windstorms and knew that boats did get overturned and lives lost as a result of the storm. 

Psychologists have studied what causes a person to have movement—why they do things.  They have determined that words, pictures and emotions cause people to have a movement.  Recollections of subconscious thoughts cause you to have a reaction in the present.  For example, seeing a picture brings up recollection and causes the emotions associated with it.  The disciples responded to the picture they were seeing: the windstorm and waves were associated with fear and loss of life.  

 

 Secondly, when Jesus asked them the questions, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”  He was not condemning them.  He wanted them to take responsibility for their actions (no excuses), and to reflect as to why they were responding like they did.  Jesus is teaching us that we must ask questions of ourselves so that we can get to the root of our behaviors.  He never condemns. 

Thirdly, Christ’s love reverses our mind-sets and emotions with past experiences, and erases the self-doubt so that we can cross over to our new beginning when we respond in faith.

Prayer—Father I thank you that Christ’s love is eternal.  I repent for old mind-sets that keep me tied to past experiences and thought patterns of self-doubt. With your help I will cross over to Your new beginnings for me, in Jesus Name. Amen.