The day had not turned out as the disciples had expected. They wanted some respite from their mission activities; they wanted to tell Jesus what had happened, and they were also tired. Instead, they spent the day stewarding 5,000 families who came to hear Jesus and receive healing. Then in the afternoon, Jesus set them a test to feed the crowd, but all they could find was a boy's picnic. However, Jesus multiplied the food so that they fed everybody and there was a lot left over for them to collect.
 
At the end of the day, instead of camping out under the stars, Jesus ordered His team back into the boat to travel towards Capernaum, while He stayed behind to pray. There was no argument; Jesus commanded them to sail off into the night. He stayed to pray. His lonely prayer vigil was essential because God was at work in the hearts of the disciples.
 
They men had each other for company but soon faced a problem. They were in the middle of the lake when the wind shifted and blew strongly against them. We presume that they had to take down the sail and row against the growing swell of breaking waves. That was certainly not what they wanted; they hoped for rest and got work, they wanted Jesus' company and He was not with them, they were tired and now they had to row. It may have seemed that Jesus did not care about them. But the Lord was teaching them a big lesson; however at the time they could not see it, nor did they find it comfortable.
 
Many believers have a similar pattern of learning spiritual lessons. The Lord seems to obstruct what we have chosen to get us involved with what He is doing, and we feel out of our depth. Then when we crave rest, He seems to give more work or extra responsibilities. Just as things are starting to go wrong, He appears to be distant and we may think that He does not care. How wrong we are. It is only afterwards that we can look back and see that He is training us to trust Him and not rely on our own comfort, resources and plans. So, when that sort of thing happens, remember this passage and thank the Lord that He is equipping you to understand Him better, so that you can work well with Him in the future.