Verse of the day: Matthew 14:31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”
An all too familiar account in Scripture; Jesus
constrains (commands) His disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee, also known as
the Lake of Gennesaret, and go to the other side while He sends the multitude
away (after the feeding of the 5,000). Jesus then goes to the mountain to pray
while the disciples are still traveling. Suddenly a storm arises and their boat
is being tossed by the wind and waves. Jesus goes to them, walking on the water,
and their initial response is fear, but once Jesus identifies Himself Peter
desires to meet Jesus on the water. Jesus invites Peter to come, and he begins
to walk on the water also, but begins to sink, needing Jesus to pull him up.
When we really stop and think about this; how amazing is it that a man (other
than Jesus) actually walked on water? What an impossible task! Yet, as amazing
as this is, doubt marred the miracle. What caused Peter’s doubt? We see that
Peter was first willing to take the step of faith that no one else in the boat
was apparently willing to take. The Word of God tells us that even if we have
faith the size of a mustard seed we can command a mountain to move from one
place to another, and it will (Mt 17:20-21). We see two things about what Peter
did that enabled him to walk on water. First, He did not just jump into the
water, but He sought Jesus’ permission first. This is a lesson that we can all
learn. Too often we set out to do “great things” for God, but never stop to ask
God if that is what He wants for us. We say that we know that it is God’s will,
but often it is about making a name for ourselves. We must serve God
prayerfully, seeking His will and guidance by reading and studying His Word.
Secondly, because Jesus told Him to come, it was Jesus that enabled Peter to
walk on the water. What the Apostle did had nothing to do with his own personal
ability, but everything to do with the power of God working in Him to enable
him to walk on water. We will accomplish nothing of any value to the kingdom if
we insist on operating in our own strength, rather than allowing the power of
the Holy Spirit in us to accomplish God’s will and plan in our lives. Remember,
what is impossible with man is always possible with God (Lk 18:27). With that
said, we must also be careful to start in faith, continue in faith, and finish
in faith. Peter started out believing, and with a little faith, walked on the
water; but then he made the mistake of taking his eyes off of Jesus and
focusing on the storm that surrounded him. As big and tempestuous as this storm
was, it was small in comparison to the One who called Peter to meet Him on the
water. When we are called to serve God, we MUST expect the storms to come.
Jesus sent the disciple across knowing full well that the storm would arise.
Too often we focus on the circumstances and the trials, losing sight of the One
who can just speak a word and calm the storm (Mk 4:39). Many times it is the
storm within us that defeats us. Yet, the Holy Spirit who indwells us has the same
power to calm whatever storm arises in us by bringing about the same peace that
we see when Jesus calmed the storm (Phil 4:6-7). Our enemy wants us to
accomplish nothing for the Kingdom or the cause of Christ. He wants us to doubt
what God has called us to. He wants us to take our eyes off of the Lord and
focus on the storms so that they appear bigger than they really are and become
insurmountable in our minds. There is no ministry or situation that God sends
us into that He will allow us to go through, and accomplish, on our own. We
must make sure that whatever it is that we undertake is coming as a result of the
Lord sending us. Our priority and motive must be the glory of God, and not our
own success and glory. If we set out to glorify self, then regardless of how
successful we may be in our own eyes or the eyes of man, we have failed because
we have taken the glory that belongs to God. If the accolades for what we do
come to us because people see more of us than they do of Jesus, we failed. Our
life’s goal, as born again believers, should always be to glorify God in all we
do. As we serve God, we must not let doubt creep in and cause us to drown in
our worries and fear when troubling times arise suddenly. Know this, that when
God sends us out to accomplish His will and plan for our lives, there will be
opposition. It is in those times that we must remember to keep our eyes on Him
and realize that whatever the storm, the Lord Jesus can enable us, through the
Spirit, to walk on the water of any storm. Just as Peter prayed a simple prayer,
but urgent, prayer, “Lord, save me”, we too have the ability to pray in the
midst of our storm(s), being confident that Jesus will answer and pull us up
out of the water before we go under.
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