Constrained!

Have you ever felt like God is forcing you into a situation you’d rather not be in? After Jesus fed the five thousand, he sent his disciples away on a boat to the other side. This is how Matthew narrates it.

“And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.” Matthew 14:22

Constrain means to force, restrict or limit. For some reason the disciples were resisting being sent away. They wanted to stay with Jesus but He insisted they got on the boat. He gave them no choice.

Shortly after that they encountered a fierce storm on the sea! Of course Jesus knew the storm was coming and still sent them into it! Well they had to get to the other side and that was the only way to get there: by way of the sea and through the storm. They had to work with Jesus if they wanted to get to the other side.

Sometimes, God has to narrow your options in order to get you to where you need to be. Sometimes He has to narrow your options to force your faith to grow. Left to you alone, there are some things you won’t do, places you won’t go to and because God knows that, He closes some doors, removes some people from your life and gives you no other option.

They got into the boat, worked their way through a terrible storm, Peter walked on water and the other disciples also received a revelation about who Jesus was. All in a night’s work.

So allow God to constrain you, work with Him and you’ll be better for it.

Blessings!

Love,

Lady Monica ❤️