Our text in Mark is one of the of the greatest stories in the bible. This is more than a story, but a revelation. This occurs just after the Jesus teaching the multitude and the feeding of the 5000. Jesus sent his disciples into the boat to travel to the other side of the sea of Galalie . It was purposeful. It was not an accident, Jesus sent them. It was part of the plan and purpose of God. They were sent, but they were not sent without trouble. The sea of Galilee, was a sea of trouble. It is situated in such a way that it was rife for storms because of the mountains and it's elevation. Storms could and did arise quickly. We live on the gulf coast where storms can come up and disrupt life. We may not like it, but this is where God has placed us. We will have to go through things in life to get to where God wants us to be. There are moment when trouble comes quickly upon us and we find ourselves in the midst of turmoil. The disciples did not understand the command, but they did not question. They got into the boat and struck out. Mark describes the scene as they made their way across the sea. After the high of the teaching and the miracle of the feeding of the 5000, the disciples find themselves in a situation where the winds were contrary. The winds were against what they were trying to do. The winds of life were trying to stop them from doing what God had told them to do. The events of life are not always directed to help us. The winds conspired against them. The cause seemed lost in the futility of the moment. The sea of Galilee was only about 6 miles wide. Normally the transit time was very short, but on this night, these men were out for over 9 hours and had only traveled 3 miles. That is a lot of rowing and toiling for nothing. The disciples must have been exhausted, but Mark describes how these men managed their situation. He said they were toiling. The English word does not fully describe what the original text meant. Literally the word means tormented. They were tormented in their work. It was only by painful effort that they could make headway. They were simply battling and trying to stay on course. Here is where contrary meets committed. The thing that brought them to the place where they ultimately met up with Him again, was that they continued to row. Life is not easy, but they were committed. They continued to work to do what He had told them to do. If we stay on course and keep rowing, we will rondevaeux with Him. That is the answer to life's problems: keep rowing. They could not tell on open water if they were making headway, but God knew and had the situation in control. It does not matter if we can see if we are making a difference, if we are making progress, God knows and out job is to keep rowing. They harder they tried, the harder the wind blew, but they kept rowing. What elements have conspired to stop us from our path: Poor decisions, financial trouble, broken marriages. The answer to living for God in each of these situations is to keep rowing. When we keep rowing, we will find ourselves where God wants us to be. Why did Jesus send them to be in the storm for so long? The bible tells us that He saw them struggling, but He did not go them until the 4th watch of the night. There are some who have given up on God when He waited to answer a prayer. Perhaps the reason he lingered so long was to teach them that trouble is part of life, and we must continue the struggle in order to over come it. His coming sooner would not have thought them the lesson that the Lord needed them to learn. These men went on to take the gospel to the world and suffer other hardships. This story taught them and us that He will be right on time to take us to where He wants us to be. If they had given up after one or two miles, they would not have been in position to meet up with Jesus. Keep rowing.