Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Our most recent Sunday School literature has been from Tony Evans' book Between a Rock and a Hard Place.   I will be honest; I haven't read anything written by him.   I know who he is but not much else.   I have really enjoyed this study.   This past week we studying when Jesus walked on water.   If you'll remember, he had sent the disciples out in the boat while he stayed behind to pray.  A storm arrived and the disciples were frightened.   I wanted to share just a little bit of the lesson:

"No doubt they questioned why Jesus has sent them across the lake at night.  That's a question many of us might raise we find ourselves having been sent by God directly into a storm.   We're not asking Jesus why He sent us out on a boat, but we are asking Him why we ended up between a rock and a hard place when our obedience to Him actually took us there to begin with.  That's the most difficult kind of trial, because it makes us question the heart of God.   After all, we had stepped out in faith, but when we did, the very act of doing it led us straight into the storm.
Not only were the disciples straining against the storm, but they were also struggling 'about the fourth watch of the night.'   That would be between 3 and 6 a.m.  It was the dark just before the dawn.   The disciples were not only in a contrary situation when they faced resistance, but they couldn't see clearly either.   It was probably pitch-black all around them.
That's often the case with us, isn't it?   When we are pressed between a rock and a hard place, God can appear like a blur.   You don't hear Him.   He don't see Him.   It's dark.   It's the final watch of the night.  Nothing seems clear.
A number of emotions come out during those times:  worry, doubt, fear.  Another one is hopelessness.   We all know what it feels like to experience hopelessness in varying degrees.  In fact, many people define hopelessness as looking forward to something that they know they will never get, seeing no possibility for improvement or change.   Many of us today are drowning in a sea of hopelessness surrounded by a land of emptiness where there seems to be no way out.
When Jesus sees us between a rock and a hard place, He not only understands what we are going through from an informational standpoint, but He also knows what it is like to have gone through something where there seems to be no good way out.
No doubt the disciples felt forsaken as they strained against the fierce winds.  Jesus' prayer for them could have been that in spite of what they were going through, their circumstances would not overrule their faith.
When we find ourselves caught between a rock and a hard place, our tendency to lose faith is like Israel's when they were taken out of Egypt and thought they had been left in the wilderness to die either by the Egyptians chasing them or by drowning in the Red Sea.   It is easy to question God and lose sight of His goodness because of the negatives that have come about.
Jesus' solution is both strange and intriguing.  Jesus came into their chaos by walking on the water.   He entered their struggle while walking on the sea.  
Jesus is walking on top of their problem.
When we are caught between a rock and a hard place, we generally look to God to take us out of our situation.  That is a normal response because we don't want to be in conflict, confusion, or pain.  But what God often wants to do is join us in the situation."

I have some very dear people in my world that might need to read that.   Some of my best people are struggling right now.   And I sure hope they don't miss Jesus right in the middle of their storm.