Have you ever faced a problem and then tried to solve it, only to make it worse? If so, you’re in good company. Jesus’ handpicked twelve disciples managed to fall prey to the same problem.
Steve Brown, writing for Key Life, says perhaps by seeing what they did, we might learn how not to solve a problem. He takes the story from Mark where the disciples are in a storm at seas and wonder if they’re going to survive it.
Here are their mistakes:
The disciples thought that Jesus was unaware of their problem. He wasn’t. He saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them”. Jesus was well aware of their situation, and he is of ours too. Don’t ever forget that.
The disciples actually thought their problems were worse than they really were. Jesus knew the problem was not as bad as the disciples thought. He looked at them and knew they are having trouble; he knew they had to row hard. But that was good for them. He knew they were not going to go down.
The disciples confused the solution with the problem.
If you want to make your problems worse, see every problem as an accident. If you want to make your problems better, learn to see God’s hand in them.
The disciples failed to realize that Jesus had the power and the willingness to still the storm. Our real problem is that Christ isn’t in our boat to stop those terrible headwinds. We haven’t asked him to come alongside us and help.
And the disciples refused to let past victories deal with present panic. Our hearts harden too when we forget about past circumstances and past victories.