After Jesus walked on water, saved Peter from drowning and calmed the winds as he got into the disciples' boat Matthew says that the disciples worshiped him saying, "You really are the son of God."
I've always wondered... what did that look like? Did someone break out a guitar? Did they scratch their heads a little, say "Huh... you must be the Son of God," and go on about their sailing duties? (They had seen him perform several miracles at that point... maybe the supernatural was becoming more of a normal occurrence than an out of the ordinary event.) Did they get down on their knees or raise their hands? Did they sing the 1st, 2nd and 4th verses of Hymn #257? What would "the disciples worshipped" have looked like.
Last week at Falls Creek my cabin participated in the 1 Hour of Solitude Prayer Walk. It's an area they have set up where students can go on a guided prayer walk through a very pretty section of the arbuckle mountains. There are stations set up every few feet with prompts and things to pray for. Students are encouraged to pray at each station for about 4 mins and when they are finished they will have spent 1 hour in prayer. In addition to it being a great spiritual exersize... it makes REALLY great camp video!
After collecting a number of shots of the students I didn't have time to walk through myself. So instead I just sat on the bank of the creek and was planning to pray through a few of the prompts silently. While I was sitting there I spotted a brilliantly colored frog sitting 3 feet from me and started to think about how God designed his colorings to blend into the exact area he was sitting in. If you had taken him off that bank he would have stuck out like a sore thumb. He had two bright yellow "racing stripes" marking his back, but tucked into the blades of yellow/green grass he was almost invisible.
Just then a butterfly landed on my leg! I guess I had been sitting still long enough for it to not be afraid. He was quite a brave little guy and I eventually coaxed him up onto my fingers. It was beautiful! Being someone who is slightly obsessed with "capturing the moment" I pulled my phone out of my pocket and snapped a couple pictures.
After playing with this butterfly for 3 or 4 minutes I thought, "Hmm... I should really be praying and setting a good example for the students." I even started to feel bad for getting off track, but almost as soon as that thought crossed my mind I also thought of Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God" along with some other places in Psalms and Job where we are told to be in awe of our the awesomeness of our living God.
I don't know what worship looked like for the disciples on the boat that day, but I think that what is important is that they were recognizing Jesus as God. I also have to wonder if my sitting and marveling at my Heavenly Father's creation, recognizing that He is God, was more pleasing (and worshipful) to Him than my attempt to remember prayer prompts from the signs would have been.
I've always wondered... what did that look like? Did someone break out a guitar? Did they scratch their heads a little, say "Huh... you must be the Son of God," and go on about their sailing duties? (They had seen him perform several miracles at that point... maybe the supernatural was becoming more of a normal occurrence than an out of the ordinary event.) Did they get down on their knees or raise their hands? Did they sing the 1st, 2nd and 4th verses of Hymn #257? What would "the disciples worshipped" have looked like.
Last week at Falls Creek my cabin participated in the 1 Hour of Solitude Prayer Walk. It's an area they have set up where students can go on a guided prayer walk through a very pretty section of the arbuckle mountains. There are stations set up every few feet with prompts and things to pray for. Students are encouraged to pray at each station for about 4 mins and when they are finished they will have spent 1 hour in prayer. In addition to it being a great spiritual exersize... it makes REALLY great camp video!
After collecting a number of shots of the students I didn't have time to walk through myself. So instead I just sat on the bank of the creek and was planning to pray through a few of the prompts silently. While I was sitting there I spotted a brilliantly colored frog sitting 3 feet from me and started to think about how God designed his colorings to blend into the exact area he was sitting in. If you had taken him off that bank he would have stuck out like a sore thumb. He had two bright yellow "racing stripes" marking his back, but tucked into the blades of yellow/green grass he was almost invisible.
Just then a butterfly landed on my leg! I guess I had been sitting still long enough for it to not be afraid. He was quite a brave little guy and I eventually coaxed him up onto my fingers. It was beautiful! Being someone who is slightly obsessed with "capturing the moment" I pulled my phone out of my pocket and snapped a couple pictures.
I don't know what worship looked like for the disciples on the boat that day, but I think that what is important is that they were recognizing Jesus as God. I also have to wonder if my sitting and marveling at my Heavenly Father's creation, recognizing that He is God, was more pleasing (and worshipful) to Him than my attempt to remember prayer prompts from the signs would have been.
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