I took a boat ride this past week. Specifically, I rode the Golden Gate ferry from Larkspur to San Francisco and back again. Although I enjoy the open water, I don’t have occasion to travel by boat very often, so this was a welcome treat.

On the return trip, I thought about the many boat rides that figure into Biblical events. Some might think first of the great ark Noah built for the salvation of his family in the days of the flood, or the ill-fated ocean trip Jonah took in an effort to escape his duty to God. Some might reflect upon the shipwrecks Paul suffered during his travels. But I thought about the occasions during His earthly ministry when Jesus was on or around a boat, and some of the remarkable things that happened there.

Jesus encountered boats frequently for a number of reasons. For one thing, several of His closest disciples were fishermen by trade: the brothers Simon Peter and Andrew; their business partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee; Thomas; Nathanael; perhaps others also (John 21:2).

Also, because He spent most of His ministry in Galilee, Jesus often found it necessary to travel the region’s largest body of water, twelve-mile-long Lake Gennesaret — also known to locals as the Sea of Galilee or the Sea of Tiberias — to get from one place to another to preach.

In fact, Jesus delivered one of His most famous parables — the sower and the seed — while sitting just offshore in a boat, as His audience gathered at the water’s edge (Matthew 13:1-2; Mark 4:1). Using this method, He could be seen and heard by a larger multitude of people than would be possible otherwise. It was a method of presentation Jesus would use at other times also (Luke 5:3).

Jesus sometimes used boats to provide Himself with solitude. When His disciples reported the execution of John the Baptist, Jesus “departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself” (Matthew 14:13). On another occasion, after miraculously feeding a crowd of four thousand men, plus women and children, “He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala” (Matthew 15:39). Perhaps, like many of us, Jesus found the quiet of the water and the gentle lapping of waves against the sides of the boat soothing.

But other occurrences involving Jesus and a boat were anything but soothing for His disciples. Following a long day of teaching, Jesus sent the apostles ahead of Him by boat while He took time to pray. As the craft sailed to its destination across the lake, a storm arose. Suddenly, the disciples saw the Lord walking toward them on the surface of the thrashing water. “Be of good cheer!” He called to them. “It is I; do not be afraid.” Peter, now recognizing Jesus, asked the Lord to allow him to come out to meet Him. Jesus beckoned Peter, who began walking across the water toward Him. But Peter became fearful when he saw how the storm raged, and he started to sink. Jesus caught Peter and rebuked him: “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And as they reached the boat, the wind stopped.

Another time Jesus was in a boat with his disciples, again with a tempest howling around them. The men were terrified, but Jesus slept as though blissfully unaware of the danger. They awakened the Master and pleaded for His help. With a word, Jesus quieted the storm. “Who can this be,” they wondered, “that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Matthew 8:27).

My boat ride last week was uneventful. Though it was an overcast and chilly day, no tempest blew up that needed to be stilled. I saw no one walking on the water, and no one invited me to do so. I had nothing to fear, and indeed, I was not afraid.

But being in a boat surrounded by water reminded me yet again of the greatness of the world in which I live, and my own relative insignificance. It reminded me how little control I have over the forces that surround me, and that often rage mightily against me. And it reminded me how desperately I need my Lord at the helm of the little boat that is my life, lest it be capsized by the waves of circumstance.

In the words of a favorite hymn:

“Chart and compass came from Thee —
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.”