The Significance of Middle Moments

I share a lot about grief, loss, heartache, hardship. And maybe you don’t currently see yourself in any of those categories.

But what we do all have in common is that we are all on a journey of where we are now, to where we want to be one day.

We are all on a journey to where God is calling us.

And if you’re like me, you’re very eager for the day when you arrive. When you reach that destination you’re working so hard for.

But it is vital that we don’t miss out on what happens in the middle of our journey. It’s crucial that we don’t rush so fast that we lose out on the significance the middle has.

The gospels, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, all tell of the same story, just through different perspectives.

The book of Mark is very straight to the point. He just wants you to understand the significance of the moments without sharing too many details. He tells one story and then is right onto the next.

In Mark 6, Jesus had just finished the miracle of feeding 5,000 people with only five loaves of bread and two fish.

Mark 6: 45-47 reads, “Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side of Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. After he said good-bye to them, he went away to the mountain to pray. Well into the night, the boat was in the middle of the sea and he was alone on the land.”

The disciples had just been a part of this miraculous feeding and Jesus follows that up by sending them out into a boat to journey alone to the other side. Something that probably felt completely ordinary to them considering they were fishermen and had probably rowed a boat countless times before.

Jesus was sending them on a journey, with no explanation, only promising to meet them on the other side.

That’s kind of how grief feels. You’re thrown into this unknown journey with no explanation of why. You feel alone. Abandoned. Left to just figure it out as you go along hoping that God will meet you somewhere along the way.

During their journey, they encounter a storm, where they must work tirelessly rowing through the huge waves of the sea.

The book of John provides us a little more detail than the book of Mark about this scenario.

In John 6: 17-21 it says, “When evening came, his disciples went down by the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. A high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. After they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea.”

There are a couple significant details in these verses.

“Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. A high wind rose and the sea began to churn.”

Jesus had allowed that storm to come. He let the darkness set in.

Sometimes he will use our pain to instill in us resilience for what he has planned ahead.

“After they had rowed about three or four miles.”

If you’re using a rowing machine, it would take an average of about 8 minutes to row one mile.

So, we’re talking about the disciples having to row around 30 minutes, in complete darkness, in the middle of a raging storm, and all they have to go off of to ensure their safety is that Jesus said he would meet them on the other side.

Talk about a scary middle moment.

It’s not ironic or just by coincidence that the enemy waited until the middle of the disciple’s journey to throw them into a storm.

The enemy knows that the middle is where you are the most vulnerable. He knows that the middle is where you will feel like giving up. He knows that the middle is, more often than not, the most significant part of your journey.

It takes a lot of faith and a lot of grit to continue pushing when you are in your middle moments. But the middle is the place where you are built.

When the middle feels mundane, we have to remember to draw back to the place where we heard God last. He is always speaking to us. But sometimes we are too distracted to notice.

“After they rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea.”

I love this story because it shows that Jesus upholds his side of the promise. He showed up, just like he said he would.

But he doesn’t just wait for us to arrive at the end destination. This story shows that he also meets us right in our middle moments.

John 6:19-21 picks back up and says, “He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

He didn’t leave the disciples alone in their storm to figure it out on their own. He was there. And when they felt fear, reassured them they didn’t need to be afraid.

Jesus is always there with us in our middle moments.

He’s there for you in the middle of your anxiety, in the middle of your feelings of depression, in the middle of your panic. He longs for you and waits for you to refix your eyes on him.

He patiently waits whenever we lose track of him. He doesn’t run away. He doesn’t disappear. He doesn’t hide.

He waits for us.

Your middle either reminds you of your purpose or it becomes your prison.

Let the moments that bring you to your knees be a pause, not the ending to your journey.

And remember, that no matter the storm, Jesus is there, waiting to calm the chaos and chase away your fears.